Boy is refused confirmation after he expresses support for gay marriage

Good God! Some are saying a 12 yr old boy (I’m guessing his age, the one presently accepted by the Church as that at which a human being of his age is ready to accept, or not, the confirming Wisdom of the Holy Spirit to go forth and tell everyone the Good News of our Saviour, our Messiah, to confirm his belief in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in His teachings) knows better than a highly trained, educated adult priest? And a lot of posters below think Lennon’s more right than the priest? Good God, help us all to have common sense here, please, especially Lennon. His parents will rue the day they allowed him to ‘be’ himself, to be himself without their parental responsibility to guide him on right and wrong. Alas! The iggerance of it all… (More…)

Continued from below. As all on this board know, I utterly reject Matthew 5:28, and the repressive, guilt ridden writings of St. Augustine, regarding human sexuality. I first learned about the Church's teachings on "impure thoughts", in 5th Grade. This was the very year I was confirmed. I DO support marriage being between 1 man and 1 woman. Now, suppose, back in the day, 10-year old Donald had proclaimed that the Church was wrong, that these thoughts were NOT mortal sins? Then, let's suppose our pastor had denied me the sacrament, because of my bold stand. Would he have been right? The answer to both my theoretic exclusion and Lennon's actual one is: NO! The Catholic Church just has to understand that human beings have powers of reason and conscience. We don't want to be blind followers, in 100% of the Biblical and Church teachings. As my father told me, as a teenager, everything is noe "black & white" ; there are GRAY areas, in between. The pastor, Father Gary LaMoine, should reconsider his stance, regarding Lennon. He would have every right to explain to the boy why he felt that the Church's position on marriage is correct. If Lennon still wasn't convinced, he should still be confirmed. After all, he goes to weekly mass, and is leading a good Catholic life. The fact that he can't accept the Church's teaching on marriage is a matter of conscience and reasoning, even for a 10-year old. Lennon, like his famous namesake John Lennon, should not be ostracized for holding contrary beliefs to the Church. He is not alone, nor am I, in that regard.

merefalow, if you were right that "the homosexual lobby has achieved full civil parity" then this kid wouldn't have anything to protest, would he? Also, Protestants in England have a "centuries old deeply held religious teaching" that says Catholics should not be monarchs. That means that tradition is not always a good guide to justice or christian charity.

Let me attempt to play the role of King Soloman, or of Justice Lewis Powell. The latter was an Associate U.S. Supreme Court Justice, when the case of Alan Bakke was issued, June of 1978. In that case, 4 justices ruled that Alan Bakke should be admitted into the University of California, at Davis, as he was discriminated against, because he was a white man. Four others upheld the school's affirmative action policy, which set aside 16 (out of 100) slots in the new medical class for minority people. Judge Powell ruled that Alan Bakke, a 38-year old civil engineer, WAS discriminated against, and should be admitted. The rigid 16 slot quota for minorities DID violate the U.S. Constitution. However, race could still be considered, along with other factors, for admission. Such factors could include social and economic background, and life experiences. To be continued, above.

Well done Lennon! A future world leader hopefully.

this is about whether peoples of a centuries old deeply held religious teaching are allowed to hold to these convictions or be forced by new civil laws to go against those convictions,even though the homosexual lobby has achieved full civil parity,they seem intent on forcing those convictions on peoples of religious convictions,seems wrong to me,and i am not religious,considering it a divisive fanatical mythological belief system.for example closing down by law a 100 year old adoption society because their beliefs prevented them from giving children into homosexual relationships.

PiperMac, your assertion about "the immutable teachings of Christ" is completely empty because Christ gave NO teachings about marriage equality or homosexuality. You are placing the teachings of mere human beings-- men-- in place of scripture. That's a dangerous practice! There is no shred of relativism in the thinking of people who support marriage equality-- none that I've ever seen! We give sound reasons both from natural law and scripture, along with the best information from science. You, however, have nothing to rely upon but the confused thinking of an old man who has refused to learn from science and thinks that medieval judgments about human reproduction and sexuality must prevail forever.

Who exactly let the parish know about this?? It seems someone ratted on him. I hope he runs as fast as possible away from the church!

Perhaps if he was tortured he would confess and repent.

@ Olovely and @ TisEyerish, I couldn't agree more. So no one wants to defend the church's "tolerant" handling of catholics who use contraceptives? The church is quite clear on its teaching yet you don't hear of anyone being denied the sacrament of marriage because they used a condom—and plan on continuing to do so until they are ready to have a family. How is that less of an affront to the church than a boy having a political perspective not even targeted at the church?

Eiriemach:To be confirmed in the faith is more than a ceremony and a prayer. It is in essence a commitment to uphold those teachings and scared traditions of the faith that you have learned. Ohterwise why be confirmed. It is to be born again in the spirit as a follow up to our baptism. To think one can separate the immutable teachings of Christ, which are clear and have been understood for over 2000 years from the faith in place of some feel good relativism that says God is Love and therefore we can pick and chose which teaching we prefer, is ludicrous. Christ is forgiving to those who make every effort to follow his laws, though we all fail, it is in the effort to remain true. Scripture is clear regarding what awaits those who willingly chose sin/evil, no matter what happy face one may apply to it these days.

It's pathetic but appropriate that the Church should single out a child to make its stand on.

Jesus was all about love, understanding and forgiveness. The Catholic Church (or any organized Christ-based religion, for that matter)...not so much. Of course the Catholic Church will not Confirm this boy...he is going against the grain, and heaven forbid that should happen. Heaven forbid anyone should think out of the box, heaven forbid anyone should be accepting of those who live an alternative life style. To Lennon...congratulations on sticking to your principles...you are a far better person for doing that than you would have been if you had caved in to their brainwashing.

katiemac, you're not very orthodox, are you? I think you misunderstand Confirmation. Its purpose is strengthening in the faith through the graces of the Holy Spirit. The bishop prays, "send forth upon them thy sevenfold Spirit." The ceremony concludes with a prayer that the Holy Spirit may dwell in the hearts of those who have been confirmed. The "sevenfold" gifts of the Holy Spirit include knowledge, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fear of God, piety, and fortitude, or strength of character. Unquestioning obedience is not among them. If you think Lennon lacks understanding, confirmation may be just what he needs. But perhaps he already has more wisdom than the priest who rejected him. The Spirit works in mysterious ways. In ECUSA, confirmation empowers the person for lay ministry and for adult life in the community, including speaking as young people in their churches and to their churches.

Well Gee, what is confirmation all about? It's about confirming your beliefs and adherence to Christ's teachings and his Church. Homosexual Marriage is the antitheses of what Christ established as the union between one man and one woman who become one flesh and share in the gift of creation. The church would be correct not to confirm the boy. The fact that this is even an issue created by the liberal secular humanist media is the real issue here.