St. Paul cathedral damaged in apparent anti-gay exorcism
Bruce Olin
St. Paul cathedral damaged in apparent anti-gay exorcism
Herón Márquez Estrada, Star Tribune
November 24, 2004 CATHEDRAL1124
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5102489.html
An informal exorcism performed at the Cathedral of St. Paul this month was
more profane than sacred and was directed toward gay Catholics, police and
church authorities said Tuesday.
They said the ritualistic sprinkling of blessed oil and salt around the
church and in donation boxes amounted to costly vandalism and possibly even
a hate crime.
The damage was discovered Nov. 7 after the noon mass, and after words were
exchanged between members of the Rainbow Sash Alliance, a gay rights group,
and the opposing group, Catholics Against Sacrilege.
Police speculate that the damage could have been done anytime between late
Saturday afternoon and during the mass itself.
The groups are at odds over gays participating in communion, one of the
holiest rites in the Catholic Church.
Earlier this year, about 40 men, members of the group Ushers of the
Eucharist, knelt in the aisles at the cathedral to block Rainbow members
from taking communion.
The Rev. Michael Skluzacek, rector of the cathedral, said he immediately
understood the symbolism when he was told that someone had sprinkled the oil
and salt around the church.
"It's a sign of exorcism," he said. "It's a sign of casting out the power of
evil."
He said salt is used to bless holy water, and the oil, once it is blessed by
a bishop, is used for consecrations. By sprinkling the salt and oil, he
said, the vandals thought they were making the church holy again.
"Regardless of why they did it, it was a very disruptive act," Skluzacek
said.
He estimated the cost to clean up the damage at thousands of dollars,
involving crews working three days to remove the oil and salt and cleaning
the doors, steps and boxes.
A report was filed with St. Paul police, who said the case could be
prosecuted as a hate crime if someone is arrested.
"It does have an element of hate and bias to it," said police spokesman Paul
Schnell, who noted that the incident seemed aimed to coincide with the
presence of the Rainbow Sash group. He said church officials told
investigators they considered the act someone's attempt to exorcise the
church or reconsecrate the cathedral.
"There's some ritual to it," said Schnell. "There was information that it
was some sort of ancient biblical method of reconsecration of a church."
Schnell said police have no leads, but several religious people familiar
with the case said it is probably the work of fringe Catholics who advocate
using sacramentals, or holy objects, to cleanse places where gays take
communion.
"I don't know who did it," said Dr. David Pence, a member of Ushers of the
Eucharist. "I do know that some people have used sacramentals to engage in
some kind of holy war against people. Nobody wants to see church property
damaged in the name of an exorcism."
Michael Bayly, coordinator of the Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual
Minorities (CPCSM), an advocacy group for gays and lesbians, said such
fringe groups perceive gays and lesbians who take communion as evil.
He said he received an e-mail Nov. 5 from a man who threatened to douse
Rainbow Sash members at the Nov. 7 mass with what he described as
"exorcised" oil blessed by a priest.
Bayly said the same man often shows up at CPCSM and Rainbow Sash events and
prays the rosary but staying apart from group members.
"I didn't make the connection until now," Bayly said Tuesday.
Heron Marquez is at h...@startribune.com.
--
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see
Lennon