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Reality Check in Boston
by Michael Whitcraft
As TFP member Norman Fulkerson and
I arrived at St. Anthony’s Franciscan Monastery in
downtown Boston, a feeling of apprehension seized me. It
was Ash Wednesday and we knew that St. Anthony’s held
Masses and distributed ashes all day long. With the droves
of Catholics we expected to pass by, it was a perfect opportunity
to distribute our flyer promoting the American TFP’s
new hard-hitting book Defending a Higher Law: Why We
Must Resist Same-sex Marriage and the Homosexual Agenda.
However, my feeling of apprehension remained;
I had been following reports of the controversy over homosexual
“marriage” in Massachusetts and I feared that
we would face opposition, perhaps even strong opposition,
from Bostonians who disagree with Church teaching.
As we began to distribute the flyers,
with the help of local TFP friends Pat Hobby, Helen Callahan,
Lillian Smith and Jean LeRiche, I became more confident.
The vast majority of passersby expressed their support of
traditional marriage and their repudiation of sodomy.
After about an hour, I noticed that several
self-proclaimed homosexuals, after rejecting our flyer,
proceeded to go into the Church. That seemed strange. Even
stranger was when a security guard from the Church came
out to talk to me.
He was very kind, but firm. “I am
in total agreement with you,” he said. “But
some of the friars inside are really getting angry. They
want you to leave.” Despite my surprise, I explained
to him that since I was standing on a public street, my
actions were protected under the First Amendment. I told
him that if it would help calm things down, I would move
a little bit away from the doors, but that I was going to
stay.
Next a friar came out to talk to my colleague.
After angrily disputing our right to distribute the flyer,
he threatened to call the police and stormed back into the
church. Aware that we were not violating any law, we continued
our work as we waited for the policemen to arrive.
In a short time, three Boston policemen
arrived and approached me. I showed them the flyer and explained
what we were doing. One officer looked puzzled as he went
inside the church.
In a few minutes he emerged even more
confused. After confirming that we could continue our distribution,
he innocently said, “I don’t understand. You
are Catholic, they are Catholic…shouldn’t they
be happy that you are out here?”
One of the other officers also expressed
his consternation and I must admit that I did not know what
to say. After all, shouldn’t Franciscan friars have
welcomed faithful Catholics, willing to face cold weather
and attitudes in defense of the Church’s moral teaching?
The answer is that these two friars oppose
Church teaching. This became clear when my colleague, Mr.
Norman Fulkerson, called one friar’s attention to
the fact that three bishops and several priests, including
EWTN’s Fr. Trigilio, support the TFP book. His reaction
was to ignore what Mr. Fulkerson was saying and use vulgar
language that surprised me.
As the day wore on, we received all sorts
of reactions; thankfully most of them were favorable. Undoubtedly,
the worst reaction we received all day long, came from two
of the friars at St. Anthony’s, who continued not
only to harass us, but called the police twice more.
My experiences that day provided me with
a lot of food for thought. Without disparaging the many
good clergymen who struggle against the crisis in the Church
today, and undoubtedly feel its sting more intensely than
I, this episode made this crisis more palpable.
Indeed, it was a tragic reality check.
Seeing reality is a good thing…regardless of how tragic
that reality may be.
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