Not all the news about the homo-priest scandal is bad. On May 20, 2002 CNSNews.com reported that Archbishop Pell of Australia has refused to give communion to homosexual and lesbian activists. "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve," said Pell, after having just refused to give communion to 20 members of something called The Rainbow Sash Movement (RSM), a group which demands "full recognition to homosexual Catholics." Even better, Pell forthrightly declared that "Homosexual acts are contrary to the natural law, they close the sexual act to the gift of life."

        CNS reports that "In an orchestrated move, 20 members of a [homosexual] group … had earlier gone forward for communion, while another 12 did the same at St. Patrick's Cathedral in another major city, Melbourne. Each member of the group wore a rainbow-colored sash over their clothing. In both churches they were denied communion. When the members of this "movement" approached the altar wearing their little rainbow sashes, Archbishop Pell refused to give them communion, saying "I can’t help you." As Pell explained, any Catholic "supporting or practicing activities contrary to church teaching in a serious matter is not entitled to receive Holy Communion." Hallelujah! And it’s about time.

        Well, that’s the good news. But as I noted in an earlier column ("So this is a conservative?") Archbishop Pell has no intention of barring the ordination of homosexuals to the priesthood. They need only promise to be "celibate" homosexuals. As Pell told the Australian on May 13, 2001, "there is no place in the Church for priests who engage in homosexual activity . . . If they’re acting out [their sexuality], that's incompatible with remaining as a priest - so if that’s happening they’ve got to choose one way or the other." So, Pell has no problem with "gay" priests, so long as they "choose" to refrain from "gay" activity. Indeed, it was Pell who declared rather defensively on the same occasion that "I have spoken with many, many people in the gay community and I bear them no ill will and I wish them God's peace." The gay community? Does Pell really believe there is a legitimate community based on the homosexual disorder? Oh brother.

        And - sorry - more bad news. Although the Australian homo-activists were denied Communion by Pell, "a spokesman for the group said Monday they were heartened to hear that similar attempts made by RSM members in several cities in the U.S. Sunday had met with success. In New York, Chicago, Minneapolis and Rochester, spokesman Michael Kelly said, homosexual and lesbian members wearing the sashes said they had received communion."

        Why am I not surprised? Here, dear reader, is the current situation of the Church in a nutshell: a tide of liberalism has swept through her human element, punctuated only by an occasional protestation from a relative "conservative" such as Pell. But even such "conservatives" are bullied into accepting fatal premises advanced by the liberals - in this case, that "gay" men can be "gay" priests as long as they promise to restrain their "gay" proclivities. No wonder this Church now endures the worst crisis in her history.