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Calls Begin For Cardinal Francis George To Resign Over KKK Comment

Cardinal Francis George is in some hot water lately over the fact that he said that the gay rights activists could morph into the notorious Klu Klux Klan. He stated that “I go with the pastor. He’s telling us that he won’t be able to have services on Sunday if that’s the case. You don’t want the gay liberation movement morph into something like the Klu Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”

As was pointed out, churches, including many Catholic ones, have had to shut down in the past for various parades because of the disruption caused to access to the church.

When the FOX News host tried to give Cardinal George a way out of the statements, he dug in saying “It is, but you take a look at the rhetoric. The rhetoric of the Klu Klux Klan, the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people. Who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church.”

Cardinal George made these comments while negotiations were actively on going to try and find a compromise. The day after he made these comments, a compromise was announced and the parade will start after services are over. That is hardly the actions of the KKK now, is it?

Cardinal George is one of those who has been vocal in demonizing the LGBT Community and its various activists. Now, Truth Wins Out is calling for his resignation. They stated:

Truth Wins Out launched a Change.org petition today calling on Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to resign after he incomprehensibly compared the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. George’s over-the-top remarks were so extreme that they shredded his credibility and permanently damaged his ability to serve as a respected voice of reason.

“It is outrageous that Cardinal George would place law-abiding, peaceful citizens in the same category as a notoriously violent hate group,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “George’s resignation is his only road to redemption and if he has a shred of dignity and a sliver of class he will immediately step down.”

George’s offensive remarks came during a dispute over the scheduled starting time of the annual gay pride parade in June. The event was originally set to begin at 10am, but a priest bitterly complained that the starting time would interfere with morning services.

In an interview with Fox News in Chicago, Cardinal George said: “You know, you don’t want the Gay Liberation Movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”

The Rainbow Sash Movement has this to say regarding the call for resignation noting that there is a lot more wrong with Cardinal George than just one ill statement:

Our position on the resignation calls for the Cardinal George is that the Cardinal will be reaching his 75th birthday. The requirement is that he must submit a letter of resignation to the Pope. He will be submitting that letter this coming January. It is up to the Pope whether or not he will accept it. While we support the calls for his resignation we prefer to challenge his Theology, and address ourselves directly to the Catholic Community.in a language and tone that will be receptive.to them.

I think there are many reasons to call for his resignation from the treatment of women in the Church, to the mishandling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The Cardinal has reputation for shooting himself in the foot and this is just another example of that. We would rather focus on the fact that he is bringing his personal bias into the conversation as concerns gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender people.

We think he should apologize to the GLBT Community because his words were hurtful, inappropriate, and not in line with the long line of Catholic Social Teaching as applies to human dignity of all people.