HIGHLAND, California (LifeSiteNews) — Father David Andel told “LGBT Catholics” during a sermon for the Diocese of San Bernardino’s first-ever “Family Pride Mass” last month that God is “proud” of LGBT Catholics and their families.
Andel, a priest in the diocese, emphasized during his homily that God loves and is proud of Catholics who identify as LGBT as well as their families for persevering in their faith despite “persecution,” per the diocesan news outlet Inland Catholic Byte. The June 28 Mass, which was celebrated at St. John Bosco Mission, was organized by Embrace, the diocese’s official “LGBT ministry,” to add a “Catholic dimension” to “Pride Month” and remind Catholics who identify as LGBT and their families that they are welcome in the Church.
During the homily, Fr. Andel first underscored that God is proud of “LGBT Catholics,” who have remained in the Church despite the “persecution” they’ve experienced from other Christians.
Like any good parent, God is proud of you. God is proud of you for turning the other cheek; for forgiving seventy times seven, the same offenses and the same insults; for your love for your enemies and your prayers for those who persecute you; for persevering in your faith in spite of some Christians who don’t give you posada and want you to go elsewhere; for your courage, your love and your compassion for others; for your insistence and confidence that you are indeed beloved and belong in the Church.
The priest then stressed that God is also “proud” of the parents of “LGBT Catholics.”
And God is proud of you parents for loving your child unconditionally, that is, with no condition that they be the way you hoped and prayed they would be or that they love whom you want them to love; for defending your child – physically, verbally and morally; for planting the seed of faith in your child, watering it with years of prayers, and waiting patiently for it to bear fruit. You are God’s beloved children, in whom God takes delight.
READ: Fr. James Martin urges Catholics to celebrate LGBT ‘Pride Month’
While Andel is correct that God unconditionally loves all people, including those with same-sex attraction, and the parents of LGBT people are called to also show compassion and love toward their children, the priest omitted any mention of Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law” and that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.” The Catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “(h)omosexual persons are called to chastity.” Homosexual acts are mortal sins; therefore, anyone who commits these sins and does not repent through the sacrament of confession is in danger of hell.
In an email to LifeSiteNews, Fr. Andel defended his decision to celebrate the “Family Pride Mass” by likening it to a parish celebrating Mass or commemorating Mardi Gras or New Year’s Eve, modern celebrations of which are often marked by vice.
“‘Pride Month’ is a secular creation and sometimes may be ‘marked with vice,’” Andel wrote. “We wanted LGBTQ Catholics and their families to have a spiritual alternative.”
“(P)art of our reasoning for this Mass (was to) give LGBT Catholics an alternative opportunity to celebrate (Pride Month) in a different way,” the priest added. “I hope that, if two months from now someone asks an LGBT Catholic, ‘How did you celebrate Pride month?’ they will answer, ‘I went to Mass with my family.’”
Andel is correct that many celebrating Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday, the day before the start of Lent and New Year’s Eve, traditionally the vigil of the feast of the Circumcision, are frequently not practicing virtue; these are celebrations with Catholic origins. “Pride Month,” on the other hand, was created to promote the acceptance of all things related to the LGBT ideology and appears at its heart to be a rejection of traditional Catholic teaching on marriage, morality, and the family.
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Pride is also listed by the Church as one of the seven deadly sins – an aspect often highlighted by clerics who warn against promoting, or participating in, “Pride Month,” and other “gay pride” events.
The priest also confirmed that he did not call his LGBT congregants to repentance or mention the Church’s teaching that individuals with same-sex attraction are called to live in chastity.
The Embrace Ministry has been operating in the Diocese of San Bernardino for 25 years with the aim of helping the faithful who “seek faith and spiritual support, accompaniment, and Catholic resources concerning ‘LGBTQ+’ issues,” per the organization’s website.
“We promote respect, compassion, sensitivity, and inclusivity and emphasize the inherent dignity of all persons. We strive to provide a safe space for dialogue,” the site reads.
A flyer advertising the “Family Pride Mass” also notably features the LGBT rainbow colors.
San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas also has a long history of heterodoxy. The bishop was one of several U.S. prelates who signed a statement last year organized by the Tyler Clementi Foundation, another pro-LGBT activist group, telling homosexual youth that “God is on your side.” Rojas then withdrew the faculties of a priest in his diocese who criticized him for signing the statement.
READ: More US bishops out themselves as pro-LGBT
In 2023, Rojas also celebrated an “Earth Day Mass” that featured the recitation of various prayers with pagan origins.
