American priest removes Pope’s portrait amid gay protest

The following story took place in San Francisco, which likely explains much of the pandering to the gay community, but it also serves as further evidence a sinful world is continually creeping into this nation’s places of worship.
Father Brian Costello of the Most Holy Redeemer Roman Catholic Church recently announced his decision to take down a photograph of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI after receiving threats from gay rights activists.
According to a news release sent to his parishioners, Costello said he moved the portrait from his rectory to the main church area after the pontiff announced his impending retirement.
“A handful of people told me that they would rather it not be there,” Costello wrote, noting their concern that “while he was Pope, as well as his time as a Cardinal, Pope Benedict had made hurtful and hateful statements regarding the LGBT Community.”
For his part, Costello actually represents a move to the right compared to his predecessor at the parish, Rev. Steve Meriwether.
While Meriwether engaged in a celebration of the homosexual lifestyle – i.e., hosting drag queens and sex toy giveaways at the church and blessing Gay Pride marchers with holy water – Costello made waves when he tried to reign in the lewd desecration of the church.
Still, he showed his true allegiance when he caved to societal pressures and denied the resolute (and sometimes unpopular) tenets of his faith.
In his bulletin, Costello encouraged parishioners to “forgive, and embrace the Pope and the Church, even when they don’t accept us.”
How intolerant is the former Pope on the issue of homosexuality? Shockingly, he dares to uphold the church’s stated belief of more than two millennia.
Gays “must not be discriminated against,” he said in an interview, though he stated “sexuality has an intrinsic meaning and direction, which is not homosexual.”
One wonders if the cross will be the next “offensive” artifact removed from America’s watered-down, political correct and increasingly ineffective churches.
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