Catholic Mass Offers Comfort To Gays And Lesbians

[Menarker]

The Rainbow Ministry of St. Cecilia’s Church opened its doors to nearly 700 people yesterday for a long-awaited Mass in support of gay and lesbian Catholics, capping a month of controversy over the Boston Archdiocese’s postponement of the service.

A standing-room-only crowd, larger than Easter Sunday’s, packed the pews to hear the Rev. John J. Unni’s characteristically fiery message of love, acceptance, and the forgiveness of sins.

Unni’s message, which encouraged the congregation to welcome outcasts as Jesus did 2,000 years ago, was similar to that of weeks past. The difference yesterday, parishioners said, was Unni’s courage to say those words during a Mass that has drawn so much vitriol as well as passionate support.

Note the part I bolded and underlined. "Forgiveness of Sins" imply that what they are doing is still a sin and that they are still doing something wrong compared to everyone else. This could accidently make it seem like the pride population should be pitied for going astray, which is not the direction that the pride population is going for.

That said, this seems to be a step in the right direction, but choosing the wrong topics can backfire, even when said topics is otherwise benign in nature.

Of course, that depends very much on the actual content of the speech.