Minnesota: Anti-Gay Exorcism Damages Cathedral

Monday November 29, 2004

Conflict between anti-gay Catholics and those Catholics who support gay rights has come to a head in the St. Paul Cathedral in Minnesota. After a brief confrontation, it appears that the anti-gay group Catholics Against Sacrilege performed an anti-gay exorcism that caused thousands of dollars in damage.

ABC News 5 explains:

The groups are at odds over gays participating in communion, one of the holiest rites in the 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 told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis. "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 clean up cost 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.

There is something tragically ironic about the effrontery of "defenders" of Catholicism doing so much damage to a Catholic cathedral in their effort to "defend" their institution. You'd think that if they really were defending the Church from spiritual damage, they would also defend churches from physical damage. That they apparently don't care suggests very strongly that far more is involved.

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