Nov 25, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland, Oregon, met with about 125 parishioners from St. Clare Parish earlier this week for a 90-minute question-and-answer evening on some of the Church’s moral teachings.
The archbishop had accepted an invitation to speak at the parish, which more than 100 parishioners had extended in a September letter. The letter requested a meeting to clarify questions that had been raised by two columns the archbishop wrote in the Catholic Sentinel, the archdiocesan newspaper.
In the first letter, published May 7, Archbishop Vlazny said he would not refuse Communion to Catholics who publicly disagree with Church teaching. Instead, he asked Catholics to refrain if they found themselves at serious odds with the Church, such as voting for a pro-abortion candidate and endorsing same-sex marriage.
The questions from parishioners included a range of topics, including homosexuality, Communion, the clergy-sex abuse crisis, the role of conscience, what it means to be in public disagreement with the Church, reported The Oregonian.