The archbishop of Minneapolis-St. Paul, laid into the other day by a veteran pastor, does not play bean bag with the sacraments:
On Sunday, September 26, 2010, during Holy Mass at St. John’s Abbey on the campus of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, 24 people were refused Holy Communion by Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
They were displaying rainbow buttons and rainbow sashes in direct defiance of the direction of the Diocese and thereby clearly expressing their rejection of the teaching of the Catholic Church.
. . . . This open show of defiance in the context of the Mass was encouraged by a group calling itself calling itself “People Representing the Sexual Minority (PRiSM).
And the beat goes on, drip, drip, drip, batter, batter, batter, against the walls of Holy Mother Church. So goes the argument for Catholics Who Care (CWC) about Catholic Tradition.
Wherever you stand on that burning issue, give a cheer, if not a care, for this fellow Nienstedt, who is not going to make Communion a reward for showing up.
Look, he’s got a 2,000–year-old dripped-on and battered-by-the-best-of-them institution to serve and protect. Some may want him to knuckle under for peace at any price, but they are being unreasonable.
I don’t know the fellow, but when put to the test, he seems to have been ready. They are kicking at a battleship anyway. Blame if you must this old gray vessel, but spare your sacred moments — from profanation, he said.
Blithe Spirit 