Religion
Q-NOTES • MAY 7 . 2005
Sir Speedy^
PRINTING • COPYING • DIGITAL NETWORK
Fast, Friendly and
Courteous Service
Printing •Typesetting • High Speed
Copying • Binding • Notary • Invi
tations • Laminating • Resumes •
Business Cards •Full Color Copies
• Rubber Stamps • Holy Union
Announcements • MUCH MORE!
301 North Caswell Road
(Across from Mercy Hospital, comer of 5th St.)
j704) 375-83491 FAX (704) 342-1066
Is your money lazy?
Put your money to work,
making it earn 10-12%
• Do you have money sitting
in CDs and only bringing in
2-3% a year?
• Does it seem like your savings
account or IRA is on vacation
and not increasing your wealth
at all?
• Has your IRA or 401(k) been
hit by the fluctuations of the stock market?
Call us today to learn about our Private Money
Lender Program. We are paying 10-12%, and
your money will be secured by real estate. We
can show you how to use an IRA (Roth or
traditional) to mega-boost your
retirement funds.
Call The Ford Group, Inc. at
704-944-4288
SoLunoNS For
a Hair Loss!
• Latest Advancements in Hair Restoration
* Follicular Transplant Units (FTU)
' Over 10,000 Satisfied Clients
’ Digital Microscopy
1 -800-MD-HAIRS
1100 E. Moreheod St. • Suite 200
Charlotte, NC • 704-332-5739
PROFESSIONAL IMAGE
S lASER CENTRE
Growing Your Conndence
www.pilc.com
Connie J. Vetter
Attorney and Counsellor at Law
CJVLaw.com
704-567-5530
Vtirnticlore Building
Cliarlortc
NCs first clothing optional
* campground for men only.
Wwllip JB OUIICI Season four besins April 1, 2005.
• 26 wooded acres
• 6 RV sites with electric &
water
• 15 primitive campsites
• Rental tents
• Camp store
• Cedar-lined sauna
• Walkins trails
• Quiet, scenic atmosphere
• Day passes available 8 am - 8 pm
• All suests must be 21 or older and have
valid ID
For more info & reservations go to www.ourtwinoaks.com
or call (919) 742-3203 or email twinoaks@rteico.net.
P.O. Box 173, Bonlee, NC 27213
Cardinal Ratzinaer not a
supporter of LGBT community
Jrom page 1
1951 and began a career as a theologian
and professor. He was named Cardinal of
Munich in 1977, and was called to the
Vatican in 1981 by Pope John Paul II.
He has been one of the leading anti-gay
voices within the Catholic Church. In a
1986 pastoral letter to bishops, he called
gay and lesbian sexuality “an intrinsic
moral evil” and “an objective disorder.”
More recently, in a book published last
fall, he joined those voices seeking to
restrict marriage to solely that of a man
and a woman. He wrote, “To create a legal
form of a kind of homosexual marriage, in
reality, does not help these people.”
Ratzinger bought to downplay the
importance of allegations of sexual abuse
within the Church and to protect priests
rather than aid their victims. In a 2002
interview with the press he said, “I am per
sonally convinced that the constant pres
ence in the press of the sins of Catholic
priests, especially In the United States, is a
planned campaign.”
Some members of the clergy have
pushed for a loosening of the Church’s
strictures against the use of condoms, par
ticularly to prevent HIV infections in
Africa. But Ratzinger has been dogmatic in
his opposition to condoms.
In a sermon delivered before his fellow
Cardinals on April 18, immediately before
they met to elect a new pope, Ratzinger
decried “a dictatorship of relativism.”
Reaction from the gay community was
swift and uniformly negative.
“The elevation of Cardinal Ratzinger is
being seen by many GLBT Catholics as a
profound betrayal by the leaders of the
Roman Catholic Church and betrayal of one
of the most fundamental teachings of Jesus
Christ as the loving Good Shepherd who
reached out to the ones separated from the
flock,” said Sam Sinnett, president of
DignityUSA. “We believe the 21st century
Roman Catholic hierarchical shepherds are
themselves lost and it is up to the flock to call
them back.”
Dignity called upon its members to
pray for the Church from now until
Pentecost (May 15).
Sister Jeannine Gramick called it “a
great disappointment. ...The method of
Cardinal Ratzinger has been that we don’t
the world’s most homophobic religious
leaders has been elevated to the papacy,
and regret that his policies will continue to
devalue the rich spiritual gifts of LGBT
people and women of faith,” said Rev. Tloy
D. Perry, moderator of the Metropolitan
Community Churches.
iWy prayers today are that the
eyes of Cardinal Ratzinger ...
will he open to the unique gifted
ness and blessings that LGBT
people can he to the Church. ”
-—Ststev Jeunntne Gramick
talk things out, we suppress.” She was a
cofounder of New Ways Ministry to gay
and lesbian Catholics and was silenced by
Ratzinger and the Church in 2000.
“We share a deep sadness that one of
National Gay and LesE>ian Task Force
Executive Director AAott Foreman soys that
the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
as Pope has unleased a 'venomous
hatred' toward the LGBT community.
“My faith teaches that all people can
change, so my prayers today are that the
eyes of Cardinal Ratzinger — now Pope
Benedict XVI — will be opened to the
unique giftedness and blessing that LGBT
people can be to the Church.”
Matt Foreman, executive director of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
pulled no punches speaking “as a long
time Catholic from a staunchly Catholic
family.”
“Today, the princes of the Roman
Catholic Church elected as pope a man
whose record has been one of unrelenting,
venomous hatred for gay people.” He
called Ratzinger “the driving force behind a
long string of pronouncements using the
term ‘evil’ to describe gay people, homo
sexuality, and marriage equality.”
“Someday the Church will apologize to
people as it has to others it has
oppressed in the p;^st. ...it
seems inevitable that this
Pope will cause even more
pain and give his successors
even more for which to seek
atonement.”
In a highly unusual move.
Rabbi Michael Lemer issued a
lengthy and stinging rebuke of
the Cardinal, including criticiz
ing him for leading efforts to
elevate Pope Pius XII to saint
hood, even though Pope Pius
XII colluded with Nazi
Germany. He said Ratzinger
“has distinguished himself as a man who
can be counted on to side with the most
anti-humane and repressive forces, in
opposition to those who seek to give prima
cy to a world of peace and justice.”
gay