San Francisco parish cancels teen-targeted homosexuality play

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Comments: 11

Archbishop George Niederauer

San Francisco, Calif., Mar 7, 2009 / 10:47 pm (CNA).- Archbishop of San Francisco George Niederauer has ordered a parish to cancel the performance of a “gay-friendly” play directed at teens. The play was to be performed by students from a Catholic preparatory school.

Archdiocesan spokesman Maurice Healy told the California Catholic Daily that Most Holy Redeemer Church had canceled the play “Be Still and Know” at the request of the archbishop.

The parish bulletin said the play, based on the 2007 book “The God Box,” explores “the subject of homosexuality within a Christian, adolescent context.”

The book on which the play is based won an award from the homosexual advocacy organization the Lambda Literary Foundation. It was praised by the Episcopalian Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, who said it opens up “long-abused biblical passages often used as proof texts to denigrate homosexuality.”

The play was first performed on Jan. 30 at the Campbell Theatre for the Performing Arts on the campus of Sacred Heart Preparatory School in Atherton, California. According to a school press release about the play, it “explores the Bible’s view on homosexuality and the struggle adolescents have with their sexual identity and their identity as Christians.”

John Loschmann, drama director at the preparatory school, adapted the book for the stage.

The California Catholic Daily quoted the account of one teenage participant in the play. She said on a blog that the play “does a beautiful job of defending homosexuality with the Bible, the very thing most commonly used to condemn it.”

According to her report, the play links the condemnation of homosexual acts with the condemnation of shellfish, a common talking point used by advocates of homosexuality, which confuses the ritual purity codes with the moral condemnations conveyed in the book of Leviticus.

“The show is smart, and powerful, and will cause many people to reconsider their beliefs about homosexuality,” the teenage girl wrote.

Most Holy Redeemer, located in San Francisco’s Castro District, has repeatedly been in the news for its attendees’ homosexual advocacy. The parish once hosted the transvestite “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” fundraising bingo games and used to send a contingent to San Francisco’s “gay pride” parade.

Despite its friendliness to homosexual causes, the church was targeted by vandals suspected to be protesting the passage of Proposition 8, California’s same-sex “marriage” ban. In January, the vandals painted on the church building black swastikas and the words “Ratzinger” and “Niederauer,” the respective last names of the Pope and the Archbishop of San Francisco.

Comments: 11

Subscriber comments:

Published by: Doc
Bear, DE 04/11/2009 06:47 AM EST

Two questions remain for me:

1) why is this parish still operating?
2) why is the Bishop still the Bishop?

Published by: Warner
Belgrade, Mt 04/09/2009 12:46 PM EST

Devine Mercy Sunday will be here soon. Please pray for our Bishops and The Holy Father as they are attacked for speaking TRUTH in a world that grows darker each passing day. Pray for Gods mercy on our world and our country.

Published by: Michael
Chicago 03/10/2009 07:29 PM EST

Um...so it is OK to defend child molesters within the church and pay parents in order to keep them quiet about priests who have had sex with their children. But to show kids that there are gay people in this world who are Christians is against God's wishes. I don't think so. And for those of you who quoted bible passages, remember, if you don't follow EVERY tenet put forth in the bible and you use ONE to condemn homosexuality you are a hypocrite. And you lose all credibility.

Published by: S Dowling
San Diego, CA 03/10/2009 02:13 PM EST

Rate: Regular

Shame on Archbishop of San Francisco George Niederauer. Youth today does not have the bigotry that their parents do. As long as the Catholic Church goes down this road, they will cease to exist in the future.

Published by: Lily
SLC, UT USA 03/09/2009 05:54 PM EST

kelsieb - how about a little respect? Like him or not, Archbishop Niederauer is a man of God and as such deserves to be referred to as such. He is also only doing his job - homosexual plays have no place in Catholic society, (or any other, for that matter) especially schools. Next - I really hope you get over your personal self-loathing. Try praying - it works. All you do is fuss - why do you even read these stories? Your comments are usually vitriolic - they aren't helping your cause, whatever the heck that is. Are you just trying to pick fights? I'll pray for you.

Published by: Kelsieb
San Diego, CA 03/09/2009 12:26 PM EST

It's a pity Mr. Niederauer can't bring himself to stop contributing to the self-hate learned by gay young people. A man that inhumane shouldn't be in his position.

Published by: Tory
Avon, CT USA 03/09/2009 10:44 AM EST

These kids were using the Bible to defend homosexuality (I assume with the blessing of the Pastor). This is what happens when you subscribe to "Sola Scriptura." The Bible gets misinterpreted. Holy Mother Church, in Her wisdom, teaches that the truth comes from Scripture AND Tradition.

Shame on that Pastor.

Published by: James
Tampa/FL/USA 03/08/2009 07:57 PM EST

This time is truly a very dark age to raise up children. The Truth and the light of Christ and the teachings of the Church must be made brilliant to the world in this darkest of times where confusion and sin have become the norm, even in our Catholic Schools. Praise the Lord for ArchBishop Niederauer and His vision of Christ for our sake and the sake of the children who are being corupted by the officials at San Franscisco's Most Holy Redeemer school as made obvious from the young girls mesmerization with the so called biblical defense of homosexuality. Satanic twisting of the Lord's words must not be allowed in our schools. Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me; it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea. We have abondoned sound teaching for foolishness! Lord Have Mercy on Us!

Published by: Chris
CT 03/08/2009 07:56 PM EST

One has to wonder if the author of this book, the adapter of this play, or any of the student actors who praise it for using the Bible to defend homosexual acts, have ever read the absolutely unambiguous passages from St. Paul's letter to the Romans 1:26-32 (NKJV translation):

"For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."

It's one thing to think what you want for the sake of pursuing your own wants, but let's not have any more deliberate misreading and tampering with the deposit of faith given to us in Holy Scripture.

Published by: linda
England 03/08/2009 06:38 AM EST

You just never know what these Catholic schools and universities are going to come up with next!

Have they a clue at all about Catholic beliefs??

Published by: bill ware
mount olive, nj 07828 03/07/2009 11:44 PM EST

Thank God!!!

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