Gays For Christ

Sexual orientation of church members claimed not to be a factor
BOSTON (AP) | Apr 17, 10:12 AM

The Jesuits are closing a Boston church that serves a largely gay congregation and putting the building up for sale because they can no longer afford to keep it open, the order’s leader say.

The Jesuit Urban Center in the city’s South End will close at the end of July, said Rev. Thomas Regan, the superior of the New England Jesuits.

The sexual orientation of many in the congregation did not play a role in the decision, and there was no pressure from the Vatican or the Boston Archdiocese to shutter the church, Regan said.

The Roman Catholic religious order has become financially reliant on salaries paid to members who teach at Boston College, College of the Holy Cross and Fairfield University — all Jesuit schools — but as they retire or die, the order is being forced to cut back on its activities, he said.

About one-third of the order’s 342 priests in New England are retired.

“A lot of people are still in the church because of the Jesuits,” Regan said. “We do not want to abandon these people. But there’s a spirit among this group, and I think that’s going to be lost, and that’s very sad.”

Worshippers informed of the planned closing after Mass on Sunday reacted with disappointment and anger.

“I, and my friends, while not surprised, were saddened,” said Dr. Juan Jaime de Zengotita. “This comes after a few years of rough times for gay Catholics, with Vatican and local Episcopal declarations that have not been so friendly. I don’t know what will be the future of gay ministry.”

The Jesuit Urban Center costs the order about $350,000 a year to support, and its only significant remaining activity is a weekly Mass attended by 150 to 200 people who generate weekly collections of about $2,400, Regan said. The building, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, was dedicated in 1861 and needs $4 million to $8 million in renovations, he said.

Jesuits would continue to welcome gays and lesbians to worship at St. Ignatius of Loyola, the parish they oversee adjacent to Boston College on the Brighton-Newton line, Regan said.

The spiritual leader of the world’s Anglicans said Monday he has agreed to an urgent request for a meeting with U.S. church leaders as the Anglican fellowship nears a split over the Bible and sexuality.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, visiting Canada for a spiritual retreat with the country’s Anglican bishops, said he would meet with U.S. Episcopal leaders in the fall.

“My aim is to try and keep people around the table for as long as possible on this, to understand one another,’’ Williams said at a news conference at the Anglican Church of Canada headquarters.

Last month, U.S. Episcopal bishops affirmed their support for gays and rejected a compromise plan that would have required the Americans to give up some authority to theological conservatives outside the U.S. church.

The Episcopal bishops then implored Williams to meet with them to hear their views.

The Episcopal Church is the U.S. wing of the 77 million-member Anglican Communion. But it is at odds theologically with the vast majority of Anglican churches, which take a more conservative view on sexuality and other issues. The conflict erupted in 2003 when the Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

Williams has no direct authority to force a reconciliation, and has been struggling to negotiate a truce.

“Yes, these are difficult days,’’ Williams said. “I think the (church) in recent years has had to face the fact that the division on certain subjects, especially sexuality, has been getting much more deep and bitter and threatens to divide us.’’

The latest plan emerged from a February meeting of Anglican leaders, called primates, in Tanzania – and it included an ultimatum for the U.S. church.

Episcopalians were given until Sept. 30 to unequivocally pledge not to consecrate another partnered gay bishop or authorize official prayers for same-sex couples. Otherwise, the church could have a much-reduced role in the communion.

As part of the Anglicans’ demands, Episcopalians were told to accept a “primatial vicar’’ and special committee that would oversee U.S. dioceses that reject Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who supports gay relationships.

The Episcopal House of Bishops is scheduled to meet in September in New Orleans.

“If there is to be any change on the church’s attitude on gay and lesbian behavior then I would hope it would be a change of attitude on the part of the church as a whole,’’ Williams said. “We have to determine what is for the health of the body of Christ regionally and locally.’’

Just before Williams traveled to Toronto, the head of the Anglican Church of Canada, Archbishop Andrew Hutchison, criticized how Williams had handled the global rift.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph of London published April 10, Hutchison called Williams “indecisive’’ and said he had failed to properly lead the church.

At Monday’s news conference, Hutchison called Williams “a man of deep spirituality.’’

The Canadian church will hold its national meeting in Winnipeg in June, when they will consider whether to allow priests to conduct blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples.