Church desecrated by attempted exorcism
http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/du...s/10263482.htm
Quote:
ST. PAUL - Police are investigating an informal exorcism at the Cathedral of St. Paul, which was directed at gay Roman Catholics and will cost thousands of dollars to clean up, police and church officials said.
They said the ritualistic sprinkling of blessed oil and salt around the church and in donation boxes earlier this month amounted to costly vandalism and possibly 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 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 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.
"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.
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, 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 appears at CPCSM and Rainbow Sash events and prays the rosary while walking apart from group members.
"I didn't make the connection until now," Bayly said Tuesday.
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Way to give your religion a bad name and perpetuate stereotypes of America's religious population. Bunch of nutcases.
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