My Local Biz Reviews: News coverage of the Demonstration outside St. Louis Catholic Basilica | ksdk.com

KSDK - Catholics attending Mass at St. Louis' Cathedral Basilica Sunday were greeted by demonstrators.

They were protesting a recent decision by St. Louis' new Archbishop to use church funds to support a political campaign against gay marriage in the state of Maine.

"This is a church that does stand up for the marginalized or depressed! Who would not say Mother Theresa's order did not stand up for the poor? Amen?," shouted one demonstrator calling for church leaders to, "remember who the church is called to be".

Starting at 7:30am Sunday, what grew into a crowd of both Catholic and non-Catholic gay marriage supporters, all demonstrated against Archbishop Robert Carlson's recent decision to use ten thousand donated church dollars to fund an anti-gay marriage political campaign out of state.

Many felt the money could have been better used by Catholic Charities.

"Ctholic schools are facing budget cuts, we just feel that that money could have helped so many more people here in St. Louis," said rally organizer Ed Reggi.

At the height of Sunday's demonstration - during the middle of the Basilica's noon Mass a crowd of well over a hundred-fifty people stood outside.

"Seems to me an interference of religion in the political sphere and I think if the church wants to do that I think it should be taxed like other political action groups, " says Stephen Houldsworth, who thinks the church should lose its tax-exempt status.

Although some in the crowd came carrying anti-Catholic signs, organizers said this was not a rally against the church itself.

Meanwhile there was a mix of reaction from Catholic churchgoers.

Basilica Parishoner Eleanor Janson told us, "I thought it was a very good way of spending that money. Yes. I was all for it."

Another Catholic churchgoer, Dorothy White said, "Money should be spent in the city. We have poor here. We have people who are sleeping in boxes. We have much better things to spend our money on, I don't appreciate sending the money to Maine."

And another Catholic Cathedral Member, Ben Janson, said, "Well its in defense of marriage between men and women and its highly appropriate."

Meanwhile St. Louis' Archbishop was out of town Sunday, but did issue the following statement:

STATEMENT REGARDING PROTEST OUTSIDE CATHEDRAL BASILICA
From Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis

"In June of this year, Archbishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine sent a letter to all U.S. bishops asking for financial support for issues the church considers moral issues. I approved a donation for $10,000 which was charged to the special needs fund. This fund has traditionally been the Archbishop's for discretionary spending, not for formal operations, and is funded by private gifts. These funds were already available when I arrived in St. Louis. Archbishops of St. Louis have made donations in the past to help other dioceses around the world for various causes ranging from disaster relief to pro-life issues.

The ballot measure asked voters if they wanted to reject the new law that allows same sex marriages and allows religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages. The voters in Maine supported this measure despite the fact that, according to the state of Maine, groups who believe in same sex marriage raised more than $5.2 million to defeat the amendment, while those who believe in the sanctity of marriage raised about $3.3 million.

The Catholic Church always tries to follow the teachings of Jesus in welcoming all people. The Church does not believe in discrimination. The Church was in the forefront of the Civil Rights movement in this country which sought to end racial discrimination. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, we are currently the largest private funder of Doorways (www.doorwaysmo.org) an organization the late Archbishop John May help found in the 1980's. Doorways provides affordable, secure housing and related supportive services to people living with HIV/AIDS. Another example of our support is the Courage/Encourage ministry, which is a worldwide ministry that has a chapter in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, and is made known to Catholics every week in the Archdiocesan publication, the St. Louis Review. This ministry works with homosexuals and their families.

Supporting homosexuals does not mean we can change Christ's teaching on the nature of marriage. As recorded in the Bible, Jesus says a marriage is between a man and a woman. As Catholics, we believe marriage is a Sacrament, given to us by Christ and witnessed by a priest. We do not have the ability to change the Sacrament of marriage.
That being said, we do have the obligation as Catholics to carry out Christ's teachings, whether in the privacy of our own home or in the public square. Separation of church and state means that the government cannot favor a particular faith. It does not mean that faith-filled people lose their right to speak out publicly and engage in the political process. In fact, the Catholic Church was in the forefront of the civil rights movement, and that was a political issue as well.

Following Christ's teaching on marriage does not mean we neglect the poor. In fact, no other private institution in the world does as much for the sick and the poor as the Catholic Church. In the state of Missouri, Catholic Charities is the largest private provider for social services. In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, we spend millions of dollars helping the homeless through Catholic Charities (St. Patrick Center and Catholic Charities Housing Resource Center) and Father Dempsey's Charities.

It's not an either/or choice when it comes to Christ's teachings. As Catholics, we are called to teach and live them all."