Communion denied

last updated 8 January 2015

Chicago

Roman Catholic priests at a Chicago church denied Communion this week to a dozen parishioners wearing rainbow-colored sashes in support of gays and lesbians. Cardinal Francis George said no one had the right to exploit the ritual for political purposes. “You don’t use Communion to say anything except, ‘Here is Jesus Christ,’” he said. The protesters were part of the Rainbow Sash Movement, which protests at the altar annually on Pentecost Sunday. The organization was formed five years ago in Britain to protest the church’s teachings against homosexuality. “It’s hard to go somewhere and be rejected,” said protester James Luxton, “and told, ‘In the eyes of God, you’re nothing.’”