The rector of the cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota, has reported a case of vandalism to the police. Has someone spraypainted anti-Catholic slogans on the church? Did they smash windows or desecrate the altar and tabernacle? Not exactly.
An informal exorcism performed at the Cathedral of St. Paul this month was more profane than sacred and was directed toward gay Catholics, police and church authorities said Tuesday.
They said the ritualistic sprinkling of blessed oil and salt around the church and in donation boxes amounted to costly vandalism and possibly even a hate crime.
That’s right, someone blessing the church with holy oil and holy salt is a hate crime. Okay, so the oil and salt in the boxes, if true, is a little much, and if someone wanted to bless the church they should have used holy water and not oil and salt, but still I think the rector’s reaction is overkill as is the specious claim of a hate crime. This should make an interesting First Amendment case if the perpetrators are ever caught and tried.
The motive, according to police, is apparently the open-arms welcome extended to Rainbow Sash-ayers who received Communion while protesting the Church’s teachings on homosexuality.
Of course, this is probably the work of a very few misguided and perhaps disturbed individuals, but it will be used to tar all those objected to the homosexual group, just like pro-lifers were lumped in with homocidal maniacs who killed abortionists. (It could even be another case of self-inflicted “hate crime” by gays who wanted to turn public opinion against their opponents. It’s happened before.)