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LANSING, MI: Pro-homosexual Episcopal 'Mass' at Catholic Church Draws Complaint
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
June 27, 2019
A complaint has been filed with the Roman Catholic bishop of Lansing, the Most Rev. Earl Boyea, after a parish in his diocese decided to host an Episcopal service for the retiring Episcopal Bishop of Michigan, the Rt. Rev. Wendell Gibbs.
The service, billed as a retirement service and mass for the outgoing Episcopal bishop is slated for November 9, at St. Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church in Brighton, which is located halfway between Detroit and the state capital of Lansing.
The complaint objects to Episcopalians using the consecrated space of St. Mary Magdalen on the grounds that the retiring Episcopal bishop supports LGBTQ marriage. Replacing Gibbs is a Chicago-area priest(ess), Dr. Bonnie Perry. Perry is an ex-Roman Catholic, noncelibate lesbian woman in a same-sex marriage.
Gibbs supports same-sex marriage and other heresies that violate not only the teachings of Rome, but also the orthodox doctrine as understood by the overwhelming majority of Christians worldwide. These heresies include women in the priesthood and episcopacy, as well as the affirmation of the gender ideology repudiated by the Roman Catholic Church in the recent document, "Male and Female He Created Them: Toward a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education."
"The election of Dr. Perry has caused faithful Anglicans in the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan to begin the process of withdrawing and looking for fellowship and alternative episcopal oversight from other institutions -- be they within the Anglican Communion or outside of it through the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in your church," said the complaint to Boyea.
"Hospitality is one thing. However, allowing heretics to use consecrated space for the celebration of their mass is not hospitality. Moreover, as you surely know, perception is reality. There will be a perception that your diocese is condoning, endorsing or otherwise accepting the heresy of The Episcopal Church through its use of the consecrated space at St. Mary Magdalen, Brighton."
The hosting of what amounts to a pro-homosexual Episcopal mass at St. Mary Magdalen, Brighton, would also undermine the important ecumenical relations between Rome and faithful Anglicans, many of whom have been welcomed into the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Other faithful
Anglicans have also left the Episcopal Church for the theologically conservative Anglican Church in North America, which was launched 10 years ago with the support of other provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
It is unclear why St. Mary Magdalen, Brighton, agreed to host the service given there is an Episcopal parish church less than 5 miles away. Presumably, the Episcopal Church could use its own facilities.
VOL reached out to the Roman Catholic bishop for comment but had not received a response at the time of posting.
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