Cleansing Fire

Defending Truth and Tradition in the Roman Catholic Church

Mark Hare On Gay Marriage… Again

June 28th, 2011, Promulgated by Dr. K

Ex-seminarian for the Diocese of Rochester and the unofficial media arm of the bishop’s office, Mark Hare, has penned yet another article in this morning’s Democrat & Chronicle newspaper in favor of gay marriage. He begins his piece praising supposedly-Catholic state senator James Alesi for his decision to break with his faith in support of homosexual marriage. Following this ringing endorsement, Mr. Hare launches into an assault on the Christian/Catholic understanding of marriage as a union between one man and one woman. Here are a few excerpts:

“And yet, as a Catholic, I am fully aware of the religious objections to gay marriage. My church teaches that gay men and women should be loved and respected, but says homosexual relations are unnatural, that marriage is a union of a man and a woman that must be open to the gift of children. But how can you believe that a loving, committed relationship between two people of the same sex is a threat to the fabric of society?

When the church says same-sex marriage is an assault on the will of God, it collides head-on with the experience of millions of people. In the words of Groucho Marx: “Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?”

obviously Christian denominations vary widely on their views on same-sex marriage. Isn’t it time for an ecumenical dialogue that can deepen everyone’s understanding? I think so.”

I find it shameful that Mr. Hare continues to use his bully pulpit in the secular D&C newspaper to attack the teachings of the Catholic Church. But I guess that is how one attains influence and power in the Diocese of Rochester, by attacking the Church’s teachings. Recall that Mr. Hare was a member of the Cathedral wreckovation committee.

See this post for more on Mark Hare’s push to promote homosexual unions in the state and in the Catholic Church.

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22 Responses to “Mark Hare On Gay Marriage… Again”

  1. annonymouse says:

    Souls are being lost. There is a special place in the hereafter for those who aid and abet the destruction of souls.

    Jesus is coming again. The role of the Church is to act as the Gospel of Luke speaks of John the Baptist: “to go before the Lord, to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” The strategy of the devil, it seems, is to have people completely deny the existence of sin. Without recognition of sin, there can be no repentence (Mark 1:15); there can be no salvation.

    Homosexual behavior (I refuse to call it “sex” because it’s degrading to the idea of sex) is deeply, gravely sinful. Mark Hare either doesn’t understands that, or deliberately ignores it.

  2. Bruce says:

    Whenever you read the words, “As a Catholic” or “As a devout Catholic” just know that everything which follows is complete and utter silliness which makes absolutely no sense. It is akin to saying, “As an atheist, I believe in God”.

  3. Scott W, says:

    He is under this delusion that only a “threat to society” is a sin.

  4. Find out where Hare goes to Mass and inform his pastor. Go after these malcontents. It’s your diocese to lose.

  5. Dr. K says:

    Find out where Hare goes to Mass and inform his pastor.

    He’s active at Sacred Heart Cathedral.

  6. Eliza10 says:

    You’ve got a point, Anonymous. Odds are – probably nothing!

    That’s why many of us find that CF count4er such a comfort!

  7. awb says:

    So there are no conseqences from the DOR, the Archbishop or Rome? Isn’t his writngs in the D&C enough for excommunication? He is totally out of alignment with Curch teaching and yet calls himself a Catholic. Is anyone writing a counter article for the D&C?

  8. Isn’t his writngs in the D&C enough for excommunication?

    No. But they are certainly enough to have an orthodox pastor call him to conversion. If that fails, other measures, e.g., Canon 916, would be appropriate.

  9. CL says:

    Just be thankful this guy is an EX seminarian.
    I was raised in the Diocese of Rochester (Corning) and even as a young child I remember things happening at Mass that just didn’t seem right. Having escaped NY in 1983, my heart still breaks over what has happened during Bishop Clark’s episcopacy.
    But remember, “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (cf Rom. 5:20)
    I’m praying for you all.

  10. Ben Anderson says:

    Mark Hare’s point is actually backed up by the bishop’s comments. Both try to say that opposing SSM is strictly a religious understanding. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    It amazes me that he’d even use a line like:

    “Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?”

    Really? Think about it. Take a man and a man, a woman and a woman, and a man and a woman. Now let’s ask the question of which one belongs together and follow it up with “Who are you going to believe? Me, or your lying eyes?”

  11. In response to Rich Leonardi: It is a matter of public record where Mark Hare goes to church. He wrote about the memory of bringing in pieces of the new organ for Sacred Heart Cathedral (his parish) with his sons in his column years back, after the new, expensive organ was first bought and then transferred to Sacred Heart Cathedral piece by piece. He entailed what a special experience he shared with his sons in helping with the assembly of the Holleran All Saints Organ in Sacred Heart Cathedral.
    I don’t anything will be said to him at Sacred Heart Cathedral. Years ago when attending masses on Sunday evening, I noticed the name Mark Hare listed among members of the Parish Council.

  12. Dr. K says:

    My eyes tell me that male and female bodies are complimentary and that male/male or female/female is simply not how the Almighty designed our sexual organs to function.

  13. Christian 1954,

    Saying nice things about an extravagant organ is a far cry from praising homosexual “marriage” in a city newspaper. One shows bad taste, the other impairs one’s communion with the Church. Perhaps nothing will be said to him by his pastor, but at least members of the local faithful will have done their duty of fraternal correction.

  14. annonymouse says:

    What is most upsetting about Mr. Hare’s article is his shameless, and even obnoxious, pride. It takes an awful lot of pride to so carelessly dismiss the Fathers of the Church, to assume that one’s own opinions are more intelligent, worthy and closer to the truth than those of the entire Universal Magisterium, but Mr. Hare is doing exactly that. And his “lying eyes” comment is simply obnoxious.

    Mr. Hare is a smug, arrogant dissident. A good, loving pastor would call him to the carpet for his public comments and invite him, through his repentence, back into communion with the Church.

  15. Choir says:

    Annonymouse – very well put. I totally agree.

  16. To Rich Leonardi: I was not making any comment on the organ vs. homosexuality, was only illustrating the piece he wrote in his column in the D & C which openly addressed where he attended church – Public Record. I also made note that he also served on Parish Council at that church, at least sometime in past years. I also stated that I didn’t think anything would be done to him because of the location and also because he has been so involved at that church – Sacred Heart Cathedral.

    Understand that I did not see Dr. K’ post among the comments when I wrote this and was simply imparting information to you.

  17. Thanks, Christian 1954. I meant no offense.

  18. JLo says:

    It’s always painful when we witness arrogance linked with ignorance. Obviously not so bright people who strut make us all uncomfortable. Mark Hare is a good local example… we cringe at his columns which demonstrate his complete ignorance and lack of moral clarity. The current president of our country is a good national example… so stupidly arrogant that he thinks we won’t remember what he said yesterday when he decides to equivocate and do a dance to erase those prior footsteps. These people are not concerned with virtue, their own or ours; rather, their concerns are of this world and making themselves prominent in it.

    The big difference and one that we need to give lots of thought to is that we can just shut a Mark Hare out… no one elected him to represent anything but a leftist newspaper’s point of view, and we can bow out of our subscriptions (telling the D&C why, of course).

    As to the president of stupid/immoral/self-gratification and the New York State legislators who sold their souls or also are too dumb to see that having sex is not a civil right… THEM we need to deal with head on: we must never, ever give our vote to anyone without a moral conscience, and that would be anyone supporting an immoral platform. They who would represent us in government must have character and morals or get the message from us that they are not fit for public service. We do have our role in righting all this, and we need to work on our part, with our own vote and in speaking up to our family and friends that they, too, have a responsibility of virtuous behavior before God. These people who work for and want this power are sometimes evil. We need to watch out for the evil and never truck with it. +JMJ

  19. Nerina says:

    From Anon 133122’s linked article:

    Maureen Fiedler, of the NCReporter writes regarding the recent gay “marriage” legislation in NY:

    What’s going on? The culture is changing rapidly, with a strong generational shift. Most young people that I know who are in their 20s, and most of them are Catholic, have a hard time understanding why marriage equality is even an issue – for the state or the church.

    Most young people have no idea what the Catholic Church actually teaches. Oh, they hear about “social justice” issues, but as for substantive knowledge about the faith? Not so much. I’m working hard to make sure my children are different.

    Please, God, do not let Andrew Cuomo anywhere near the Oval Office (though I doubt he’d be worse than the current occupant who hasn’t met an abortion he doesn’t like – “common ground!” Hah.)

  20. Nerina says:

    And if you think Maureen Fiedler is “widely read”….

  21. Mike says:

    Maureen Fiedler, according to Wikipedia

    Sister Maureen Fiedler, Sister of Loretto, Ph.D is an American activist and radio host. She is a progressive, sometimes controversial activist within the Roman Catholic Church. She has a long history working with interfaith coalitions on a variety of issues including: social justice, peace, anti-racism work, gender equality, human rights and female ordination to the Catholic Church. She holds a Ph.D in Government from Georgetown University.

    No surprise, then, that she writes for the Fishwrap.

  22. Raymond Rice says:

    The D and C borders on being a badly written tabloid as opposed to a well written one like the National Enquirer.

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