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Saturday, June 27, 2015

ALL IN A DAY'S MINISTRY!

Fox 24 Macon (with yours truly interviewed)

And From NBC 41, Macon (with yours truly interviewed)

10 comments:

Jdj said...

Father, a "grassroots" legal question here:
Can you be sued individually if you refuse the marriage sacrament to one of those "couples" who are married civilly? And would the Diocese provide counsel, or would you have to obtain personal representation?

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Yesterday's decision won't cause the Church any problems; Going forward today will when activists try to force the Church to hire same sex couples (or retain those who get married in a same sex marriage). There will be licensing issues for some ministries. Cardinal Wurel of Washington is being challenged by Washington, DC's city government over a number of things that has led to law suits, wasted money and wasted time. Larger dioceses especially in the northeast are in for it.

I can see a day when a gay Catholic wants to get married in his parish might sue for it. He can't sue the priest but the bishop. It could well happen.

For example, I've had non Catholics who want to rent our Church for their wedding and rent a priest I guest. I had one young lady who was Baptist who wanted her marriage in St. Joseph Church because it is so beautiful. It would be a valid marriage for her since she was marrying a male who was free to marry. I told her that we could not allow her wedding to be here because she's not Catholic nor her fiance.

She could have challenged that in a lawsuit, especially since I had allowed a Lutheran wedding here for a Lutheran graduate of our Catholic high school whose own Lutheran Church was too small for her wedding. If I allow that in one case, then the Baptist bride, gay or straight, might have had a case. I don't know.

I no longer will allow non-Catholic weddings to take place at St. Joseph Church precisely because of the liability. Also we could rent our our gym or social hall to other groups for fund raising. But if we do, then someone could have a gay wedding and reception combined in our facilities. So we only rent out to Catholics for parish or sacramental reasons.

rcg said...

Good answer, Fr. And good policy going forward.

Anonymous said...

I know without a doubt that the U.S. Bishops.....spineless, faithless bunch that they are, are frantically in the process of devising some kind of loop hole that will permit "blessings" of same sex couples. You know it is happening.

They will even develop a Rite of Blessing for Same Sex Love. And it will look something like this.

The ministers enter and reverence the altar.

The president greets the assembly using one of the 12 options provided.

The minister briefly welcomes the people to this celebration of love.

A reading from what will be published after the Synod on the Family, on love and compassion and mercy.

The couple will stand before the minister, who in the name of the community, blesses their commitment.

The couple bring flowers and lay them at an image of Pope Francis.

Then everybody receives communion, sings a hymn and goes to the nearest pancake house for lunch.

Of course the translation will have to be approved by the Vatican. That may be a problem if the language is to formal. So, sorry, no there's or thous permitted.

YOU KNOW those bishops are scrambling to find a way to do this. And when the first priest actually does this, NOTHING will be done to him.

This is what my crystal ball tells me Father.

Anonymous said...

Catholic priests, and ministers of other religions as well, refuse to witness weddings of straight people all the time, for religious reasons. No one suggests that a church can be sued or forced to marry anyone, gay or straight, who comes and asks for it.

Anonymous said...

Fr McDonald, thanks for showing that some priests are prepared to stand up for truth. Deo gratias!

Jan

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Many people just 10 years ago would not believe that gay marriage would be the law of every state by judicial fiat on June 26, 2015. Today I would not discount anything!

Paul said...

The clip for channel 41 is actually the clip from the earlier post about Pope Pius XII in color.

Good policy, Father. I suspect that there are groups and "couples" that are going to test these policies in many churches, parishes and Dioceses via lawsuits that work their way up to the Supreme Court, if they get that far. I also suspect that these "tests" will be designed to punish the Church, drain the Church and Diocese of funds, remove 503c status and give some sort of disordered pleasure in making the Church do something against Church teaching.

Angry Augustinian said...

Anonymous @ 10:12…first they have to decide who is going to be the wife (great jokes about this, but Fr. won't post). Then, after the blessing of the couple, he blesses their sex organs because this is their total identity, anyway. They'll probably like that oil part, anyway.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:31

You haven't come to appreciate the status of victimization. There is only white racism and homosexual persecution. If you belong to a privilege class of people in this septic tank nation you have the right to claim outrage and offense otherwise nobody cares.

Mike