Chicago's Cardinal George met with two leaders of the national gay Rainbow Sash Movement Nov. 20. The meeting primarily was about Rainbow Sash members receiving communion and the issue of anti-gay hate crimes.
"We started on a cordial point, and we ended in a very friendly place," said Joe Murray, a long-time Chicago activist and U.S. Convener for the Rainbow Sash Movement. "I think our point is that we have to have dialogue, you just can't yell at each other and point fingers. And we need to respect our differences, and get beyond them."
Gene Janowski was the other Rainbow Sash representative at the CARDINAL FROM COVER
meeting, and Cardinal George attended alone—not flanked by any representatives. The Rainbow Sash Movement has been working on setting up a meeting with George ever since Rainbow Sash members were denied communion at the National Council of Bishops Liturgy last year.
This year, during the same annual meeting, four of six Rainbow Sash members were again denied communion, Nov. 12. Two members were given communion by an open-minded priest—there were many priests serving the thousands of people attending the event at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., the largest basilica in the Americas.
But before the communion had started, when all 300 bishops were at the alter, a layperson came up to state that while there were those present who would use the eucharist as a sign of protest, "We will deny them the eucharist." The same statement was said last year at the event.
Some bishops, including in Minneapolis/St. Paul, having been notified in advance of the Rainbow Sash presence, have allowed members to receive communion, Murray said.
Chicago's Cardinal George "was very frank and respectful, as were we," Murray told Windy City Times Monday.
" [ George ] said he was totally opposed to using the eucharist as a point of political protest," Murray said. "We said that was not what we were doing—that we were using it as a sign of orientation and public inclusiveness of gay and lesbian people. We reached an impasse. ... I looked at him and asked him if there was a way we could get beyond this. He was open to this."
The next topic was hate crimes.
"We felt that such violence has only increased, and we felt that a statement on his part was needed," Murray said. "He said he is totally opposed to any violence in the gay and lesbian community. He said he has said this in the past. I said, you may have said it, but it has not been heard in the gay and lesbian community and in some respects in the general population. I said perhaps making statements and letting them lay is not the best way to handle it. He asked if we would be open to helping in that area.
"We also asked if he would be willing to issue a pastoral statement on this issue, like the one he did on racism. He paused, thoughtfully, and said that is a definite possibility, and would we be available for input. We said we would."
"I said it is very important from this point forward that communication is the key," Murray said. "He agreed to direct communication. He asked us to bring statistics on anti-gay violence around U.S.
"We also asked if he would be willing to raise this issue with the National Council of Catholic Bishops. He was thinking out loud, and said yes he would consider it, again asking for our input."
The Rainbow Sash Movement has six chapters in the U.S. Murray has a long history of activism, including as an organizer for the first gay-rights March on Washington, in 1979.
