Some in Catholic church want to attach “exorcism” label to homosexuality

An exorcism, of sorts, took place just last week in the Avondale neighborhood.

A 'Page One' controversy

There, officials with the Resurrection parish held a ceremony where they burned a decades-old banner; as part of their desire to express their opposition to homosexual behavior of any sorts.

THE BANNER THAT was burned is one that belongs to the church. It’s their own property, which means that the letter of the law says they can do what they want with it.

The banner is one that used to be prominently displayed in the church – it incorporates a Christian cross with a colorful rainbow. It most likely was intended to be a peaceful image. As in, “Love of Christ” and all that kind of talk.

But in today’s mentality, the ideologues determined to put a hostile spin on just about everything see a similarity between their banner (which had been in storage in recent years) and the multi-colored rainbow-motif flags that gay rights activists often unfurl on behalf of their own cause.

Which led church officials to hold the ritual of exorcism to chase the demonic influence away from their church building.

SERIOUSLY!

Church officials said they viewed their peaceful banner as having evolved into something by which pro-gay propaganda was trying to express itself within their allegedly hallowed halls.

To me, I can’t help but see the activity at Resurrection Church as bordering on grotesque. People with far too much free time on their hands trying to come up with yet more ways to taunt those who aren’t like themselves.

CUPICH: Being challenged by his priests

I’d be willing to dismiss it as too petty to be taken seriously, except that it seems these church officials are eager to look to their past to find ways of justifying their backward thoughts.

ALL THE MORE reason why I find the idea of “Make America Great Again” to be inherently false. I suspect these parishioners think they’re merely making their church ‘great again’ by seeking out absurdly-outdated ideology.

Then again, these people probably are the same ones going about wearing their red caps in hopes of intimidating others around them. It’s embarrassing that too many church officials have the same mentality of the schoolyard bully of old.

What scares me is that this rhetoric, which officially is being denounced by Chicago Archdiocese Cardinal Blasé Cupich, is too similar to the acts back in 2013, when the Bishop of the Springfield, Ill., Catholic diocese decided to express his opposition to then-Gov. Pat Quinn approving the law that made gay marriage legitimate in Illinois by holding an exorcism on behalf of the whole state.

Are we literally going to have church officials holding their ritual to chase the Satanic spirits they see around every corner? Which to the masses merely brings up tacky memories (Ragen’s head twisting completely around?) of that 1973 horror film, “The Exorcist.”

I SUSPECT THAT most people don’t understand a thing about what exorcism really was. Just as many people probably have the whole of their religious knowledge coming from scenes of the 1956 film “The Ten Commandments.”

Extent to which most comprehend exorcisms

Is actor Charlton Heston really their vision of a holy man?

My comprehension of exorcism is that it was often used in olden times as a way of dealing with ailments we now comprehend as evidence of mental illness. It’s not a process anybody turns to these days, unless they’re desperately determined to live in the past.

Although I suspect many of those who approved of the banner burning that took place last week are amongst those who would be grossly offended if the banner had been the Stars and Stripes, and who have holy-like visions in this Age of Trump when they think of our nation’s current commander-in-chief.

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Can we exorcise the Exorcist? Gay marriage opposition borders on silly

I fully expect there will be protesters outside the UIC Forum on Wednesday when Gov. Pat Quinn uses the University of Illinois at Chicago arena to stage a huge-scale rally of people who watch him as he signs into law the measure that makes Illinois the 16^th U.S. state to allow gay couples to marry.

The site of the upcoming gay marriage celebration

 

But it seems the real level of disgust will be expressed at the churches that want to believe their opposition is really about compassion.

I CAN’T EVEN really get too worked up over the Catholic church’s actions, which amount to the bishop for Springfield, Ill., saying he’s going to have a special prayer service at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the capital city to coincide with Quinn’s overly-elaborate bill-signing ceremony.

Formally, it is a “prayer of supplication and exorcism” for same-gender couples who try to marry in Illinois.

The latter word is what is stoking the fire. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki is going to have an “exorcism!!!” He’s trying to demonize the issue – literally.

We’re getting a lot of bad jokes being spewed (like the pea soup that passed for vomit) about the 1973 film featuring a teenaged Linda Blair as the Satan-infested Regan MacNeil.

The Springfield-based center of the opposition

 

IT IS GOING to allow all people to overhype the significance. Then again, having him say he’s going to pray for people would sound kind of blasé.

Because it shouldn’t be shocking at all that church officials are not going to just wither away in their opposition. The Catholic church has people who remain vehemently opposed to the concept of abortion being treated as a legitimate medical procedure – even though the Supreme Court of the United States resolved this issue the same year that Blair’s head rotated a complete 360 degrees on the silver screen (and continues to do so on DVD every day since).

The film we're hearing too much about!

Heck, it should be noted that one of the few black caucus members in the Illinois House of Representatives who voted “no” on the issue – state Rep. Mary Flowers, D-Chicago – made a point of saying she thought God would always object to such marriages, no matter what state government did on the issue.

There are those who cite the fact that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, paraphrased Pope Francis when he expressed his own belief that the law should not interfere with gay couples.

WHILE PAPROCKI, EARLIER this week, cited a written statement from 2010 by the then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio when the issue was contemplated in Argentina.

In part, he wrote, “The life of so many children who will be discriminated beforehand due to the lack of human maturity that God willed them to have with a father and a mother is in jeopardy.”

QUINN: A hero, AND a villain?

Which, to me, comes across as wanting to side with the bully who wants to pick on people who aren’t exactly like themselves. It’s good that the Pope has experienced a change of heart, of sorts.

Now if only people like Paprocki could experience the same. And it’s not like Paprocki is isolated from the realities of Chicago. He is a native of our fine city, a one-time pastor at St. Michael Church in the South Chicago neighborhood and St. Constance parish on the Northwest Side, in addition to having held several administrative posts within the Chicago Catholic Archdiocese – before going to Springfield in 2010.

THEN AGAIN, I’M very aware there are more than a fair share of Chicagoans who aren’t enthused about what is happening on this issue. It may be a regional split in Illinois, but it’s not a perfect urban vs. rural split.

MADIGAN: Too powerful to threaten?

There are two points in the aftermath of the legislative approval for gay marriage that does approve me. When the General Assembly acted earlier this month, it was reported that Illinois was the 15^th state to do so.

Yet because Quinn did not immediately sign the measure into law, officials in Hawaii were able to slip by and pass a gay marriage law into effect. We, in Illinois, can now chant, “We’re Number 16!”

Then, there is the fact that some people have reacted by suggesting that Pat Quinn be ex-communicated from the Catholic Church for expressing constant support for the issue.

BEING KICKED OUT of the church is the worst thing that could happen to some people. Yet it amuses me to know that NO ONE has had the nerve to suggest publicly that Madigan, also a Catholic, be ex-communicated.

These people may say publicly that they place their faith in the lord, our God. Yet perhaps they comprehend all too clearly what Madigan could do to them politically if they dare attack him!

Keep that in mind as the allegedly-religious pray for OUR souls in protest of Illinois advancing with the times. We should pray for them that they develop a true sense of compassion.

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