Thursday September 26, 2002
Homosexual Activist Group to Receive Approval at Toronto Catholic University
College priest chaplain charges critic with using Nazi tactics
TORONTO, September 26, 2002 (LSN.ca) - As St. Michael's Catholic University - an affiliate of the University of Toronto - is about to celebrate its 150th anniversary this year, it is also set to approve the application of a homosexual activist group calling itself "" (Queers at St. Mike's College). The fact that the group was vying for approval signatures from the Catholic administration of the College was highlighted in the Toronto Star in May. However, the group claims it now has the necessary signatures and awaits recognition of its official group status from the St. Michael's College Student Union in early October.
A Catholic student at the University approached College administration and the College chaplain with his concerns about the group only to be ignored and insulted. Michael Connell, was disturbed to find the distributing literature and condoms at a table at the Catholic College during frosh week. When he approached the College chaplain, Fr. Terry Kersch, he met with defensiveness and insult. Fr. Kersch told him that he knew of the group and had no reason not to support their application for official club status. When Connell proceeded to give evidence of the group's activities he was characterized as engaging in Nazi tactics, and advised to consult the Charter's protection of right to association. He was instructed that if he had concerns about the group's hostility to Catholicism he should attend their meetings and reform it from the inside.
Connell did attend the first meeting of the group this year which consisted of a tour of Toronto's "gay village" followed by dinner. At the meeting Connell learned that the group has the signatures required from College administration to be approved as an official club. Connell was told the supporting signatures were given by Chaplain Fr. Terry Kersch, Associate Co-ordinator of the Christianity and Culture program Professor Jennifer Harris and another individual. Moreover, Connell was told that the group had the support of SMC Principal Professor Mark McGowan, who was seen to have a rainbow triangle (the symbol of the homosexual campus movement) affixed to his office door.
At the meeting Connell also verified that the is a branch of the main University homosexual activist group LGBT-OUT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender organization), and has, to date, received all of its funding from this group. president Bernie Fitzpatrick is a prominent LGBT-OUT member. also has a website which is linked to on the LGBT-OUT website.
When LifeSite attempted to question Fr. Kersch about his involvement in the process, Fr. Kersch at first denied knowing about the group. However after being pressed he noted that the group had not yet received official status and said he would not comment at all on the matter until it had.
For the Catholic college to even consider allowing official status for an arm of the militant homosexual activist movement to be recognized is bizarre especially in light of the anti-Catholic demonstrations which have been perpetrated by LGBT-OUT. In 1999 LGBT-OUT organized a protest on St. Mike s campus on Holy Thursday, which took the form of a mock religious procession. The April 1999 edition of St. Michael's College newspaper describes how the group of approximately 30 students paraded through the grounds of St. Mike s college yelling: "Be healed! Be anointed!" while carrying a makeshift crucifix with a paper mache corpus of Christ which had all sorts of profane words etched into it. It is reported that this group used stickers, marker, and chalk to vandalize the campus, and then proceeded to the student lounge where they attempting to distribute condoms, and a pamphlet titled, "Stop Homophobia in the churches", before staging a "queer positive kiss-in."
Calls to Professors McGowan and Harris were not returned by press time.
To express your concerns:
Chancellor of St. Michael's University
Toronto Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic
Catholic Pastoral Centre
1155 Yonge street, Suite 502
Toronto, Ontario, M4T 1W2
Telephone: (416) 934-0606, ext. 609;
FAX: (416) 934-3452
St. Michael's College Principal
Mark G. McGowan
Rm. 127 Odette Hall
(416) 926-7102
Chaplain
Father Terry Kersch, C.S.B.
(416) 926-7278
See the website at: http://individual.utoronto.ca/queer_at_smc/
See the Toronto homosexual paper's 1999 coverage of the LGBT-OUT
demonstration at SMC http://www.xtra.ca/site/toronto2/arch/body151.shtm
See After 150 years the decline of St. Michael’s College by professor David Dooley in the June 2002 Catholic Insight magazine
http://www.catholicinsight.com/church/education/decline.html
See review of The Catholic school in an age of dissent by Leonard A. Kennedy, C.S.B in Catholic Insight
http://www.catholicinsight.com/church/education/dissent.html
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