BBC to broadcast "gay mass" from San Francisco*

28.04.07

The BBC is to relay a 'gay Mass' from San Francisco this Sunday, the
first time such a service has been broadcast.

The 50-minute Mass at the "Not So" Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the
predominantly gay Castro district of the city will feature prayers and
readings tailored for the gay community.

The church has been described as an "inspiration" to gay and lesbian
Christians around the world because of its ministry to homosexuals.

The BBC is to relay a 'gay Mass' from San Francisco the first time such
a service has been broadcast. Above, Members of the Sisters of Perpetual
Indulgence

Its parish priest, Father Stephen Meriweather, blesses participants in
the San Francisco's annual gay pride march.

But it has also infuriated many Catholics in the U.S. who have
complained about such activities as transvestite bingo nights during
which sex toys and pornographic DVDs were handed out as prizes.

Last night a media watchdog said Sunday's radio broadcast was "bound to
cause offence" to mainstream Christians.

John Beyer of Mediawatch UK, an organisation which campaigns for
standards in the media, said he thought it was a mistake to broadcast
the service.

"Religious broadcasting, apart from Songs of Praise, tends to focus on
the out-of-the-ordinary and having this particular service I think will
cause offence to people who feel that such practices are wrong and are
taught as such in holy scripture," Mr Beyer said.

Preaching on the BBC show: James Alison

"The BBC really ought to be focusing on mainstream services which are
more in keeping with the public service requirement that it has."

However, Father Donal Godfrey, the U.S. Jesuit priest celebrating the
Mass, said he was delighted the BBC was "exploring how gay people fit
into the perspective of the Christian narrative".

"Being gay is not special," he said. "It's simply another gift from God
who created us as rainbow people."

The recording will go out at 8.10am to two million listeners on the BBC
Radio 4 Sunday Worship programme.

The preacher will be James Alison - a homosexual British Catholic
theologian and author of 'Is it ethical to be Catholic? - Queer
perspectives'.

Weeks after the BBC finished recording the service last October, it
emerged that a transvestite group calling themselves the Sisters of
Perpetual Indulgence regularly staged lewd and irreverent bingo nights
on the church premises.

The San Francisco archdiocese-stopped the events when it was discovered
that prizes of a sexual nature were being handed out by the group, who
dress as nuns.

In the past members of the group have paraded naked through the city
advertising a 'hunky Jesus' contest. Their motto is: 'Go and sin some more.'

A spokesman for BBC Radio 4 said: "The strength of Sunday Worship is its
diversity. It aims to reflect a variety of Christian spiritualities, and
for that reason, when editorially appropriate - on average about once a
quarter - comes from outside the UK.

"Taking the theme "Finding a place in the Christian narrative" this
programme comes from the largest and oldest predominantly gay area in
the world, from a Catholic community which has an experienced and
developed understanding of the issues of being gay and Christian.

"As far as we know this is the first time the subject of being gay and
Christian has been explored by the programme."

The Roman catholic "church" holds that sex belongs in the context of
heterosexual marriage and that "gay" sex is "objectively disordered".

However, it also teaches that "homosexual orientation" is not in itself
sinful and that gays and lesbians must be treated with respect and be
free from unjust discrimination.