On May 20, 2013, thousands of people marched throughout the West Village in memory of Mark Carson.
For those of you who have not heard of Mark Carson, my pastor, Fr. John McGuire, O.P., explains who he is in the following letter:
May 23, 2013
My Dear Parishioners,
I am sure most of you share my feelings of sadness and outrage about the hate crimes targeted at gay men in our city in the past few weeks. The most heinous of these attacks, the murder of Mark Carson, occurred near the corner of Sixth Avenue and 8th Street — a mere two blocks from our historic parish.
I would like to share with you the contents of a newsletter sent by the Church of Francis of Assisi to its parishioners earlier this week, in response to these attacks. There is little else to add to this strong, well-worded statement, an adapted version of which also appears in this week’s bulletin. As followers of Christ, we are not just called, but commanded to love our neighbors. In a homily this past Wednesday about recongizing the good others do, Pope Francis touched on this, saying “We are all children of God — all of us. And God loves us — all of us.” Please join me in standing in solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters against any acts of violence.
Yours in Christ, Fr. John P. McGuire, O.P.
From the Church of St. Francis of Assisi:
In the last couple of weeks there have been a series of attacks on gay people in New York City, with one person being murdered in cold blood in the west village. The friars and staff of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi would like to make a clear statement deploring these heinous and sinful acts of violence.
Our Catholic faith always and everywhere calls us to protect and defend the life and dignity of all people. We are all made in the image and likeness of God; therefore, all human life is sacred. There is no justification for any act of unprovoked violence of one person upon another, least of all because of hatred or prejudice. Every act of gay bashing, or violence against homosexuals because they are gay or lesbian, is a sin and a crime against human dignity.
To our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, the staff and friars assert our solidarity with you. We strongly add our voice to the call for everyone’s right to live with dignity and freedom, especially freedom from violence of any sort.
To any members of our church who may struggle with anti-gay prejudice, we call upon you to reflect on Jesus’ words at the last supper: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34). We must all try to turn away from any form of prejudice or hatred which impedes us from loving one another as Christ commands.
To the rest of our community, we urge everyone to stand up against this violence in word and deed. Christ stood between the stone wielding crowd and the woman caught in adultery. He even commanded that swords be put away when the soldiers came to arrest him. Jesus deplores violence and as his disciples we must do the same. Let us all stand up for our gay brothers and sisters in solidarity against any sort of violence: verbal and especially physical.
We pray in Jesus’ name that this violence come immediately to an end.
God our Father, source of unity and love, make your faithful people one in heart and mind that your Church may live in harmony; be steadfast in its profession of faith, and secure in unity.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
(opening prayer from the Mass for Promoting Harmony)
