We hope you’ve read our 3-part series on Bryan
Hehir keynoting an April 30-May 1 conference with a “gay priests” proponent who thinks heterosexuals should “stretch our imaginations” by reading gay novels and watching gay-themed movies. (Special thanks to Pewsitter for giving our news a world-wide reading audience!). If that post was troubling to you hold onto your seat. Today we share with you about a Fr Hehir speaking gig from not long ago as Cabinet Secretary in the Boston Archdiocese at a gay-friendly church in an adult education series with a prominent gay activist who published an illustrated guide to gay sex.
The Paulist Center. The Weekly Standard described it as a place “where people who hate the Church go to church.” They participate in the annual Boston Gay Pride parade—both with adults, and with teenagers who attend “Youth Pride” and the Boston Area Gay Lesbian Youth (BAGLY) events, and it’s well-known as a gay-friendly church. When pro-abortion Sen. John Kerry is in Boston, thats where he worships. Yes folks, its the Paulist Center of Boston and you guessed it, Bryan Hehir has felt right at home speaking there.
When you visit their website today, youll see the problems with the place immediately. The mission statement describes the ideology of folks they attract, “Attentive to the Holy Spirit, we are a Catholic community that welcomes all, liberates the voice of each, and goes forth to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” There’s a Lesbians, Gays, and Friends group (“for men and women who celebrate their lives in the context of a faith community), a Liturgical Dance group, Pax Christi, and Voice of the Faithful. The Weekly Standard’s “A Curious Kind of Catholic” explains there are no kneelers in the church and at times the Mass departs from the Catholic text.
In 1995 the Paulist Center awarded their Isaac Hecker Award to Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Fr. Robert Nugent…
For their bold ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics, their families and friends
The pair was subsequently banned by the Vatican from speaking on homosexuality as their views were contrary to Church teaching:
About a year ago, the Paulist Center’s LGBT & Friends group featured a speaker talking about the experiences of gay and lesbian people who choose to adopt children. You get the idea.
So, in fall of 2005, while the Archdiocese of Boston and the state of Massachusetts was still in the thick of a public battle to pass a constitutional amendment to ban “gay marriage” (in which the Catholic Church helped gather 170,000 signatures for a referendum vote banning “gay marriage), where does Cardinal Sean O’Malley’s Cabinet Secretary Bryan Hehir give a talk on poverty and social justice? The Paulist Center, naturally. And whos the first guy up speaking in the adult education series that also featured Fr Hehirr? Prominent gay activist and founder of the AIDS Action Committee, Larry Kessler.
We don’t have the time to go into all of the history of Larry Kessler. Heres the best example of what you need to know. His AIDS Action Committee published an illustrated sexually-explicit guide to safe sex for gay people called the “Little Black Book: Queer in the 21st century”. Its gross. Really gross. MassResistance has a copy of the book online, but warning, it’s very explicit and very disturbing. It opens with “Hey Queer Boys! Is this is a great time to be gay or what!” WARNING, the following 2 links are very graphic. Apologies for the graphic language and pictures folks, but topics include “watersports”, “fisting,” “mutual jerkin’ off,” and “Handy Dandy Condom Guide.” Under condom usage, the book says, “Condoms say ‘I care’ and using a condom lets your partner know you think he’s worthwhile as a __ck.” On May 19, 2005, the Boston Globe reported that these booklets were given out by mistake at a Brookline High School event on gay and lesbian issues attended by high school and middle school students.
In case its not clear, the Paulist Center felt good about sponsoring a talk by the guy whose organization published this vile immoral material. And Fr. Hehir agreed to be a featured speaker in the Paulist Center adult education series along with the publisher of this material. Anyone yet questioning Fr. Hehirs judgment at this point?
One might ask, what if Fr. Hehir was somehow unfamiliar with Larry Kessler? Not likely. Here’s the sequence of events in 2005:
May15 | Paulist Center promotes participation in Boston Area Gay Lesbian Youth (BAGLY) Event, which takes place May 21. (Here’s an example of what takes place at BAGLY) |
May 19 | Boston Globe reports that Kessler’s AIDS Action Committee Little Black Books given out at a high school on April 30. |
June 11 | Paulist Center, along with Dignity and Our Lady Help of Christians Church in Newton marches in adult Gay Pride Parade. The groups also shared a Pride Festival booth. |
September 11 | Paulist Center adult education series announced, featuring Larry Kessler (speaking on HIV/AIDS on Sept. 13) and Brian Hehir. |
September 24 | Gay-friendly pastor, Fr. Walter Cuenin resigns/is removed from church in Newton due to financial improprieties. The situation with Cuenin was so volatile and well publicized in newspapers, talk radio, and blogs, that it was a hot topic of discussion at the Chancery-level. |
September 28 | Larry Kessler comes to Cuenin’s defense in September 28 Boston Globe article. ”It wasn’t an invitation from Walter, but from the justice and peace committee of the parish, because gay rights is an issue of justice in our minds,” said Larry Kessler, a member of the parish council at Our Lady Help of Christians and a founding director of the AIDS Action Committee. Kessler said this year was the second that a group from Our Lady Help of Christians marched in the gay pride parade. A dozen people participated, and there was a banner with the parish’s name and the slogan, ”All are welcome.” |
November 29 | Bryan Hehir speaks on “The Challenge of Poverty” at gay-friendly Paulist Center. (Side note: after his talk on poverty, he returns to his rectory home in the town of Wellesley, which has the 7th highest median income in Massachusetts) |
Fr. Hehir has been described as “a brilliant, brilliant student of politics–especially the geopolitical scene,” by the former general secretary of the U.S. Catholic Conference. Did the politically “brilliant” Fr. Hehir somehow naively misunderstand where he was speaking or who else was opening this educational series with him? If you look at his record as described in our Chronology, it would suggest with high likelihood that he knew what he was doing, and there is a consistent pattern of him speaking at events or venues where known dissenters from the faith were also speaking. He’s still keynoting a conference April 30 with a priest who is pushing homosexuality in the priesthood and wants us watching Brokeback Mountain! By Fr. Hehirs participation in such events as an Archdiocesan Cabinet Secretary with these people, he gives a public signal suggesting that the Archdiocese and Catholic Church supports these people and organizations. Then one must ask the question, if a Archdiocesan Cabinet Secretary’s moral judgment is such that he feels this is where he belongs and this is what a Catholic Archdiocese and the Catholic Church should give even some external signal that they encourage and support, why is Fr. Hehir still in his position? And why does the Cardinal or should anyone trust his judgement on any other matters like Catholic education, Catholic public policy, finances, church closings, healthcare, and other critical areas? Isn’t it time for Fr. Hehir to be removed or resign?
Time for me to ask readers to take action once again. Hit the Take Action page, and make calls or send emails/faxes ASAP to the Papal Nuncio and head of the Congregation of Bishops. Please drop us an email to let us know after you’ve taken some action. Have a good weekend folks!
[…] Gay-friendly church, Fr. Bryan Hehir, and gay sex activist: Fr. Hehir was featured in a series at the gay-friendly Paulist Center (that participates in the Gay Pride parade) along with a gay activist whose organization published and distributed a graphic guide to safe gay sex. […]