According to the homosexual-oriented newspaper the Bay Area Reporter, the archbishop's decision led to the cancellation of at least three Advent speaking engagements at Most Holy Redeemer -- those of retired Episcopal Bishop Otis Charles on Nov. 30, Rev. Jane Spahr on Dec. 14, and Rev. Roland Stringfellow on Dec. 21.
On Nov. 22, California Catholic Daily reported on the scheduled appearance of Bishop Charles at Most Holy Redeemer. Shortly after retiring, the Episcopalian prelate announced publicly he was a homosexual, left his wife and family after 42 years to move from Utah to San Francisco, and "married" Felipe Sanchez Paris in a ceremony at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco.

On Dec. 1, California Catholic Daily reported on the scheduled appearance of Rev. Spahr, a well-known homosexual activist. She is a retired Presbyterian minister repeatedly rebuked by her church for performing same-sex "marriages". According to her biographical page at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Religious Archives Network, "The Rev. Dr. Jane Adams Spahr, Janie, as she prefers to be called, describes herself as a lesbian, feminist, Presbyterian minister committed to justice issues for the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender community, pursuing connections for wholeness with other oppressed communities claiming their freedom."

Rev. Stringfellow, an ordained minister of the Metropolitan Community Church, is coordinator of the Bay Area Coalition of Welcoming Congregations at the Pacific School of Religion's Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry. According to the Bay Area Reporter, Rev. Stringfellow "was a community grand marshal in this year's San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade."

In interviews with the Bay Area Reporter, all three cancelled speakers -- Charles, Spahr and Stringfellow -- expressed disappointment with the archbishop's decision to cancel their engagements at the notoriously "gay-friendly" Catholic Church.

Charles told the newspaper he got a call the night before he was scheduled to appear "indicating that my participation in a liturgical service was unacceptable to the chancery (in all likelihood, the archbishop): presumably, my participation as the first openly out gay bishop, legally married according to the laws of the state of California, might suggest approval of gay marriage.

"Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for the Roman Catholic hierarchy to denigrate, subtly and not so subtly, LGBT people and those who stand with them," Charles told the Bay Area Reporter. "The sad fact of this disrespect for the dignity of every human being is the apparent message it sends: silence, invisibility, and even duplicity are valued as life choices."

Ironically, it was Archbishop Niederauer's apparent inaction on the situation at Most Holy Redeemer that initially brought him praise from the Rainbow Sash Movement, a homosexual-rights group known for disrupting Masses across the world on Pentecost Sundays. In a Nov. 22 news release, Rainbow Sash said it was "encouraged by Archbishop Niederauer's lack of action on this matter, and believes he is taking a role in responding to the rampant homophobia that is alive and well in the Church."

This is not the first time the San Francisco chancery has had to step in regarding Most Holy Redeemer. In March of 2009, Archbishop Niederauer ordered the cancellation of a play based on the controversial book The God Box that had been scheduled at Most Holy Redeemer. "The parish has cancelled the play at the request of Archbishop George H. Niederauer," said then-archdiocesan spokesman Maurice Healy. Student actors from Sacred Heart Preparatory School in Atherton had been scheduled to perform the play, "Be Still and Know," on Sunday afternoon, March 8, 2009, at the church, which according to the parish bulletin, "explores the subject of homosexuality within a Christian, adolescent context."

In October 2007, following an embarrassing incident at Most Holy Redeemer during which the archbishop gave Holy Communion to two Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in drag and for which the archbishop later apologized publicly, Archbishop Niederauer personally ordered Fr. Meriwether to remove a thank-you note in the online edition of the parish bulletin from a member of the group that bills itself "the leading-edge order of queer nuns." Most Holy Redeemer's Oct. 14, 2009 parish bulletin carried a thank-you note from "Delta Goodhand," a Perpetual Indulgence "sister," in which he thanked the congregation for the welcome he felt at the archbishop's Mass. After Healy brought the thank-you note to the attention of the archbishop, the archbishop "phoned the pastor, who agreed that the letter should be removed from the web site," Healy said at the time.

In late 2006, the archdiocese cancelled a lease with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for use of Most Holy Redeemer's Ellard Hall for monthly bingo fundraisers. "The Archdiocese of San Francisco has directed the parish to end the arrangement immediately," said Healy at the time. "For years the group has directed contempt and ridicule at Catholic faith and practices. The particular targets of the group's derision are women in religious communities, for whom Catholics, and many non-Catholics, have a special reverence and respect."

You can read more here: California Catholic Daily (www.calcatholic.com)

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