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Washington National Cathedral Advertises Sex Chat Line
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
October 7, 2010
The Washington National Cathedral got mud all over its front doors this week when they advertised an upcoming concert. The phone number in their brochure and cathedral online 1-800-537-2228 reaches a SEX CHAT LINE.
A VOL reader spotted the booboo when she picked up the phone number and dialed the number. A woman's voice answered and said to press 1 for men, press 3 for women.
Apparently, the cathedral got wind of the problem and instructed patrons not to call the number listed on the sent brochure. They now say the number should be 1 877 537 2228.
http://www.cathedralchoralsociety.org/
But that was not the only silliness the cathedral committed this week. The cathedral got quite catty on another issue. The Living Church reports http://tinyurl.com/2bldfhq that the cathedral trotted out Carmina the Cat who made made her official debut Oct. 3 at the 2010 blessing of the animals as Washington National Cathedral's new cathedral cat.
According to Peggy Eastman Carmina looked suitably regal in her natural black fur coat with tortoise shell touches.
Carmina was greatly outnumbered by dogs - corgies, Irish wolfhounds, dachshunds, collies and many other breeds - at the outdoor service in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, held in the cathedral's Walker Court in front of the west façade.
The dogs raised a collective cacophony of protest when she was blessed first, leading the cathedral's dean, the Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, to quip, "There are a lot of jealous creatures out there, great and small." The Rev. Gwendolyn W. Tobias was the service's officiant; Lois Wye, board member of the Washington Animal Rescue League, and Christine Gutleben of the Humane Society of the United States also participated.
A moving prayer in the service said, in part, "We pray, O Christ, for all animals suffering at the hands of humans. May we embrace your charge to watch over and care for all that you have made."
Named for the cantata Carmina Burana, the 18-month-old green-eyed cathedral cat is acquainted with neglect and abuse at the hands of humans. Carmina, the second named cathedral cat, was adopted from the Washington Humane Society by the Cathedral Choral Society. She succeeds Catherine of Tarragon, the much-loved elderly cathedral cat who is now in retirement and divides her time between Washington's upscale Georgetown neighborhood and North Carolina.
Carmina and her week-old kittens were rescued from a deserted parking lot in Southeast Washington; all of her kittens have found adoptive homes. Carmina will live in the choral society's offices in the Cathedral Library, a separate building on the cathedral grounds, said Craig Stapert, the cathedral's associate director for online strategies.
Members of the choral society will feed her and see that she has veterinary care. But, he said, the library has a cat door, so Carmina can come and go at will. The cathedral has been experiencing severe financial problems and has had four sets of layoffs since 2008. None of the cathedral's cats were laid off.
FOOTNOTE: A DC Episcopalian wrote VOL to say that last Saturday the National Cathedral did not advertise its
Sunday services in the Washington Post. It used to be their Ad was always just a tad bit bigger than the ad for the Catholic Cathedral. It started to shrink over the past few years, to the point now where it is entirely absent.
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