NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      MELBOURNE, Australia (CWNews.com) - Archbishop George Pell of Melbourne was confronted by militant homosexuals demanding Communion on Pentecost Sunday who he turned away, and then he told the congregation that practicing homosexuals cannot licitly receive the Eucharist.

      About 70 protesters wearing rainbow-colored sashes or lapel pins, the symbol of the Rainbow Sash Movement which organized the protest, came forward in the Communion line and were offered a blessing in place of the sacrament. "The Church's view on sexuality ... is clear and unequivocal and derives from natural moral law, which we believe is unchanging," said Archbishop Pell. He added that it is not only homosexuals who should not receive Communion, but anyone who has committed mortal sin and has not repented. "It's not a question of refusing homosexuals or someone who is homosexually oriented. The rule is basically the same for everyone," he said.

      The archbishop said the protest during Mass was inappropriate, and everyone wearing a rainbow sash or lapel pin was refused Communion, whether or not they were homosexual. "Archbishop Pell said he couldn't give me Holy Communion until I took the sash off," said Nan McGregor, the mother of a homosexual protester. "I said I was a heterosexual mother, but he said he couldn't until I took the sash off because the sash indicated I rejected the teachings of the Catholic Church."