No communion for those with Rainbow Sash
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
If you are old enough and exert your memory hard enough you may remember a time when the American Roman Catholic Church seemed mostly benign. While they were staunchly anti-abortion you associated most of the church's clergy with liberal and humane causes.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago seems to be typical of today's Catholic hierarchy.
"We wear the sash because it is a symbol of the gifts that we bring to the church as gay and lesbian people," said Joe Murray of Chicago. "It's a symbol that we need to also be ministered to as gay and lesbian people and we can't be ministered to in the clerical closet."
But the cardinal wrote that wearing the sash indicates disagreement with church teaching that gay sexual relations are sinful, and therefore those who wear the sash should not receive communion.