Middlesbrough Diocese Embraces LGBT Industry – Bishop Sends Good Wishes…
Report on the Diocese of Middlesbrough, north-east of England…
The new diocesan outreach ministry to the LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community has now held its first Masses in York.
Some 60 participants travelled from across the diocese for the first Mass. Catholic members of the LGBT+ community were joined by their families, friends and supporters and Christians from other denominations.
All gathered in the hidden chapel of York’s historic Bar Convent, at the kind invitation of the Sisters of the Congregation of Jesus. It was noted in the words of welcome that the Bar Convent has a long history of offering sanctuary and began its life to support minorities suffering persecution by civil and religious authorities.
The presider at Mass was Father Tony Lester, who is working to establish this ministry in our diocese at the request of Bishop Terry, who sent good wishes for the launch. Father Tony was joined on the altar by Canon John Lumley and Deacon Peter Warren, together with Deacon Nick Baggio, from the Diocese of Leeds.
Mass began with a Litany of Welcome, reminding those present that all people have a place in the Christian community because all belong to Jesus Christ, and it is his table the Church gathers around at the Eucharist. It is God who counts us worthy and the welcome the Church makes visible is God’s welcome to all in Christ.
The readers included a human rights defender from Kenya who is spending six months at the University of York as a “protected fellow”, because as an LGBT activist his life is in danger at home. While in Britain he is learning ways to reduce the risks to his life and to network with fellow human rights defenders.
Sadly, his baptismal and confirmation papers were publicly torn up by his parish priest in Kenya because of the work he was doing. Father Tony acknowledged that for many LGBT+ people their experience of Church is marked by pain. Pope Francis has said this is something for which Christians need to apologise.
After Mass the congregation socialised over refreshments and people shared stories of their journey. Among the experiences shared was that of a young man who stopped attending Mass as a teenager, not because he had lost his faith but because he felt his parish community would not accept him. He was very pleased at the launch of the new ministry, which he felt gave him the opportunity to start attending Mass again.
Those who attended the launch were asked how they would like to see this ministry develop in the future. It was agreed that a Mass with an explicit welcome to the LGBT+ community, families and friends would be celebrated at the Bar Convent on the second Sunday of each month at 3pm. In time, a rotation of priests will preside at these Masses and the community that gathers will develop a broader programme that is spiritual, social and supportive.
For further information, visit lgbtmiddlesbroughcatholic.org.uk or facebook.com/lgbtcatholic.
Comment:
Is there any diocese in the UK which is standing against the all-pervasive influence, if not domination, of the LGBT industry? If so, name that diocese – please! Hope springs eternal!
Comments (29)
I can’t resist being a tease, noting your other blog on Bishop Keenan, and suggesting that Paisley is an LGBT diocese! I’ve just done a tour of the website and think it is LGBT-free, but their statement from Fertility Care causes me concern. This extract does not sit well with the teaching of the Church that natural family planning may only be used sparingly and for a temporary period of time when real necessity allows it – this makes it sound like a Catholic contraceptive:
“Women and couples are helped to recognise when they are most fertile in order to maximise their chances of achieving a pregnancy and The method can also be used to avoid pregnancy. The Billings Ovulation Method® is as reliable as any method of contraception.
The Method can be used at any time of a woman’s reproductive life from menarche to menopause, whether regular or irregular. Our service is free.”
https://www.rcdop.org.uk/natural-family-planning
Sorry if this is off topic but I thought it was important not to give the impression that all is well in Paisley just because they’re not advertising LGBT events.
Rose,
In fact ALL the Scottish dioceses are implicated in the LGBT+ industry because the Scottish Catholic Education Service has agreed to provide safe spaces for “LGBT pupils”.
Good try, though!
I don’t think the editor has suggested Paisley is a LGBT diocese!
LOL! I meant “LGBT-free diocese!
Rose – I guessed that, worry not! I’d have gone into your comment to add the “free” but dear old Petrus got there first with his joke, so I’ve just left it as is.
“Name that diocese” – sounds like a game show!
My first question is, how many of these clergy are homosexuals? Father Tony Lester… Bishop Terry…Canon John Lumley…Deacon Peter Warren…Deacon Nick Baggio…This is a tried and true method of mainstreaming perversion into the Catholic Church.
Second question: is this another Soho scandal in the making?
Also noticed this for the first time: “LGBT+.” Another sign that all this is from the Devil: the “+” goes to the left of a Catholic clergyman’s name, and here it is at the opposite end.
RCA Victor,
LOL! There used to be a game show where the mantra was “name that tune!”
There is often a + sign or the letter Q after LGBT to indicate people who are questioning their sexuality or belong to a list of other sexualities. Sometimes there’s a P (LGBTP) to support the Paedophile Rights movement.
There seems to be no end to it.
Editor: I removed the link because it was to a Twitter feed and took up the entire page!
Fidelis,
Correct me if I’m wrong, but would you agree that Brits are much more cavalier about sins of the flesh – including perversions – than are we Yanks? I still remember the outraged reaction here when John Lennon announced that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus – though that kind of reaction certainly wouldn’t happen these days! (And the Beatles’ first manager, Brian Epstein, was a flaming homosexual)
Perhaps that’s what happens to a country when they try to destroy the Catholic Church and create their own religion.
RCA Victor,
The Beatles/sixties? What age do you think I am, LOL!
I kid, of course – I was around in that decade but I can’t remember anything about the reaction to John Lennon’s statement – I just remember hearing about it. I didn’t know that Brian Epstein was a homosexual. You learn something new every day, as they say!
RCA Victor,
You make the point I sometimes make myself – that those who push the LGBT etc industry are, more likely than not, of that inclination themselves. I can’t imagine why anyone who is not of that inclination would want to promote it. And away with the weak excuse of “protecting the vulnerable” blah de blah. Nobody gets punished for being homosexual these days – heavens it’s those who are NOT of that inclination and who dare to express reservations about it, who suffer punishment.
As for “another Soho scandal” – you got it in one! Only, now, with time the length of time that’s passed since that scandal, and the LGBT bandwagon just about full up, there’s unlikely to be much opposition. Not when the Bishop sends his best wishes and the sanctuary is full of ordained personages…
RCA Victor,
is this another Soho scandal in the making?
I very much think that is the case. I do not see any mention of the “Courage” Apostolate, which I understand is the only worthwhile and faithful Catholic ministry to persons experiencing same sex attraction.
Accordingly it seems the set-up is typical of the modern Church in that it “makes excuses in sin” and tolerates those who knowingly persist in mortal sin receiving the sacraments.
Gabriel Syme,
Well said. The fact that “Courage” is not promoted while the politically active homosexual groups are given pride (excuse the pun!) of place, speaks volumes. Encouraging sin is the order of the day, justifying sin – diabolical.
Personally, I have misgivings about the Courage apostolate. I saw correspondence some time back from one of their members who was looking for help from their leadership, because he was concerned that Courage and the Soho brigade were being lumped together under one umbrella group by the Westminster Archdiocese. I saw email correspondence between him and a senior Courage person (I’m pretty sure it was a priest) who was basically telling the Courage member to pipe down and be obedient to the local Ordinary – even when the local Ordinary (Cardinal Nichols) was clearly supporting openly dissenting individuals – self confessed practising homosexuals – who believed they had a right to receive Holy Communion. Even now, both groups are recognised by the diocese alongside each other http://rcdow.org.uk/diocese/lgbt-chaplaincy
If Courage was truly courageous, it would loudly denounce the open dissent of the Soho brigade (now called Westminster LGBT Catholics) not allow itself to be used as a mere alternative to them.
WF,
I see your point (I hear what you’re saying 😀 ) but isn’t it better that Courage is there, as well, rather than leaving the field clear for the dissenters to be the only contact listed for homosexuals? These are very difficult times and I tend to think of the analogy of the doctor refusing to heal the sick until they’re cured. Better to have one faithful Catholic organisation listed, albeit alongside the dissenters, than no faithful organisation to which the needy may turn, at all.
“is this another Soho scandal in the making?” Without a doubt. Fr Tony Lester was one of the priests who regularly offered Mass for the Soho brigade.
It is nonsense!
They lost their head!
Lionel,
Spot on!
I think they should introduce special Masses for terrorists – or cannibals, perhaps. Well, why not?
Pat,
The point has been made in the past, that there are never any Masses for cancer sufferers or people with dementia (not that I’m in favour of such – attending the traditional Mass we have a dedicated space for praying for the living and the dead respectively – that should suffice).
These “gay” Masses are for political purposes – that is clear. All part of the victim-hood being presented as the homosexual’s lot, while, at the same time, normalising the behaviour. Diabolical.
I’m at the stage where I’m wondering if there are any bishops who are not homosexuals. That’s how it looks to me. Who would push the LGBT-plus programme if they disapproved of it?
Bishop “Terry” Drainey of Middlesbrough is also on the management Committee of “Catholic Education Service” where the transgendering of innocent children is occuring now in “Catholic” schools with complicit Teachers,Clergy and Catholic Education Service. (sorry to go off the subject Editor, but could not help noticing the link)
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/10/03/catholic-school-use-preferred-pronouns-of-transgender-pupils/
Chloe,
Interestingly, we have had some return visits recently from a blogger who used to defend the introduction of anti-Catholic teachings (specifically, sex education) on the grounds that the schools had to operate within the law of the land. I wonder what she and her ilk will make of this latest example of operating within the [equality] law?
Er… isn’t it a tad discriminatory to expect Catholics to suppress their beliefs and the Church’s teachings in order to placate those operating OUTSIDE the law … of God?
PS – you are not off topic at all – it all dovetails into the same attack on the moral law.
Here is Christopher Ferrara’s thorough dismantling of Cardinal Cupich’s latest mealy-mouthed and disgusting elaboration of That’s Amoris: http://www.fatimaperspectives.com/fe/perspective1157.asp
…which is actually a direct attack against the objective fact of sin….thus a direct attack against the Church, and a direct attack against God. Cupich’s embarrassing screed provides the perfect talking points for those so LGBT+ inclined.
Even Michael Voris has decided there’s something strange going on with a Papacy populated by promoters of sodomy. I’m not going to post the link to a papolotrist, but here are a couple of excerpts from what is apparently a transcript:
“At some point, reasonable minds have to pose the question: is the reason so many prelates and cardinals are pushing so hard for something that affects so few people because they are homosexuals themselves?…
These men are sowing confusion and error in the hearts and minds of the faithful, as well as promoting an evil agenda which the world embraces, and they are using or rather abusing their authority and influence to do so. They need to repent of their wickedness before they die or hellfire awaits them. And they need to publicly admit the horrible circumstances in to which they have placed many souls, pushing them to the precipice of Hell.
What the laity have to understand is this simple fact as hard as it is, maybe, and as unpleasant it is to think about it; these men hate the Church, even while they claim to love it. They hate the Truth because it convicts them and their consciences and exposes the evil that they harbor. And they hide all this evil and contempt and scorn for the Church under cries and appeals for compassion and kindness, something they are unwilling to extend to souls who actually need it.
They have found in Pope Francis, who cares about mercy, even to the point of allowing confusion to foster, a man whose strings they can easily tug, using that “mercy” argument to hide their real agenda which is an overthrow of the Church. A final warning to them since they have no supernatural faith — and you cannot have supernatural faith and behave like this — they are incapable of seeing the Church in a supernatural way. To them, it is a merely human institution that can be altered and refashioned according to the whims of mere humans. But the Church is not merely human. It is a joining, a mysterious union between God and man, and as such it belongs to God.
He will not allow this to continue much longer because the rabid gays in the Church are now touching sacred things, wanting to declare that which is evil, good, and that which is good, evil. When Our Blessed Lord sets about to offer correction, it’s usually a fearsome prospect.”
RCA Victor,
If you notice, though, Voris isn’t ready yet to call out the Pope himself. I was incredulous reading this bit: “They have found in Pope Francis, who cares about mercy, even to the point of allowing confusion to foster…”
Voris is still a papolatrist. He’s just criticising those under the pope, and really, that’s not new. He doesn’t mind criticising modernist bishops, just won’t blame the modernist popes! He’s not blaming the pope – the above quote shows that he is actually making a virtue out of Pope Francis causing confusion!
Margaret Mary,
Yes, he certainly clings to his papolotry, and even tries to make Francis out to be a victim of others’ corruption! What interested me about this piece, though, was two things: one, his appeal to a logical conclusion, namely, that it is clerical homosexuals who are agitating, in disguised language, for upending Church teaching on this mortal sin; two, that he states another obvious fact: clergy who are doing this hate the Church, because they hate the Truth about themselves.
I have yet to see any evidence that Bergoglio himself is a homosexual, but his behavior and his agenda certainly suggests either that, or that he is beholden to the Lavender Mafia (or both!).
And you can be sure that if such evidence were to come to light, Voris would be the first to deny it.
It’s interesting to note the deafening silence from the LGBT lobby whenever a case such as Barry Bennell’s is in the news.
Any other time, they’re trying to persuade us that homosexuality is a ‘harmless, valid, alternative lifestyle-choice’…
Yes, Pat, and not only the LGBT lobby but the news reporters as well. They’re quick to talk about “paedophile priests” but never any link made with homosexuals, despite the glaring evidence.
To be frank, the acceptance of sexual sins in the name of pastoral care, by the hierarchy from the top down within the Church is enough to make one vomit. I am fed up to the back teeth with these wolves parading as caring shepherds whilst they spit in the face of our Lord. Their apostasy is evident for all those with a modicum of a Catholic sensu fidei to witness. Their celebration of discernment and gradualness to excuse the mortal sins of those poor unfortunate wretches immersed in their sinful lives is nothing less than a total dereliction of their duty and a comprehensive betrayal of the Catholic faith. I remember my dear, late father, upsetting these apostate bishops and priests by challenging their corrupt liberal agenda, with his little pamphlet, ACT. (Associated Catholic Traditionalists), and stern letters. This was during the time of Cardinal Hume and the beginning of the Soho “Masses”. They considered him to be a subversive. In truth he was a man of deep faith and a loyal son of the Church. I will always be indebted to him.
It is quite funny, but one time a bishop came up to me and said I think we should try and be friends now. I did not understand why he said this, as I have never fallen out with him, until it dawned on me that he thought I was the one writing to him. I share my fathers name and hopefully some of his ire.
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