gay Mass

BY SIMON CALDWELL
THE HEAD Of the marriage welfare service of the Catholic Church in England and Wales will address homosexual Catholics ahead of a gay "Pride Mass" in London on Sunday.
Terry Prendergast, chief executive of Catholic Marriage Care, will speak on the Civil Partnerships Bill in his capacity as a member of the Church's working group set up to study the proposals.
Mr Prendergast was invited to the "Civil Partnerships Hearing" of the Roman Catholic Caucus of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) by gay activist Martin Pendergast, a former Carmelite priest, after he argued in an article that the Church had to reappraise its "attitude to marital break up, divorce and homosexuality".
The "Pride Mass" will round off the event that also features talks from LGCM members Mr Pendergast, Celia Gardiner and former Dominican priest James Alison. It will be celebrated by an unnamed Catholic priest in St Anne's Anglican Church, Soho.
An LGCM Mass is held at the church on the first Sunday of most months even though the group's "Statement of Conviction" claims it is "entirely compatible with the Christian faith not only to love another person of the same sex but also to express that love fully in a personal sexual relationship".
About nine priests from the dioceses of Westminster, Southwark, Brentwood, Portsmouth and Clifton form a secret rota to take it in turns as celebrants.
Critics say Cardinal Cormac MurphyO'Connor, the Archbishop of Westminster, has the authority to demand the names of the priests and to stop the Masses but has failed to act even though he received complaints on at least five separate occasions.
The Cardinal, one of 14 members of the presidential committee of the Pontifical Council for the Family, was unavailable for comment as The Catholic Herald went to press.