Backlash prompts Bishop Zubik to cancel Mass planned in solidarity with LGBTQ+ community

A Sunday Mass at Duquesne University’s chapel that had been planned in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Catholics was canceled at the request of Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik because of an angry backlash including threats, officials confirmed Friday.

The Mass on the Catholic campus was arranged by Catholics for Change in Our Church, a Pittsburgh organization that supports social justice and various groups within the church. It holds monthly Masses there, and one held a year ago in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ Catholics was well-attended and without incident, the group said.

“We are very sad and very frustrated,” said Kevin Hayes, president of the organization’s board. “We feel it was an opportunity to affirm a group of Catholics, in this case LGBTQ+ (members), who don’t feel they are full members of the church.”

This Sunday’s Mass, which involved a number of other organizations, was to occur during Pride Month, which observes and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.

“Given all that has transpired surrounding this event, I am asking that this gathering be canceled,” the bishop wrote. “It is my prayer we all, inclusive of the LGBTQ community, gather together on June 11th in our churches and chapels to celebrate the great Solemnity of Corpus Christi, and focus our attention on the Body of Christ in the Sacred Eucharist and the Body of Christ as the Church.”

In a letter to priests, deacons and seminarians in the diocese, including those associated with Duquesne, Zubik referred to the backlash and how he said the event had been promoted by some, including on social media.

“What we have learned is that independent sponsors, without the authorization of the pastors of the parishes listed, promoted the event with a flyer that confused some and enraged others,” Zubik said in the letter.

“This event was billed as a ‘Pride Mass’ organized to coincide with Pride Month, an annual secular observance that supports members of the LGBTQ community on every level, including lifestyle and behavior, which the church cannot endorse,” he wrote.

“Neither I, as bishop of the diocese, nor President Ken Gormley of Duquesne University knew anything about the Mass until calls came in to our respective offices over the holiday weekend,” Zubik added. “Many of the responses to the flyer jumped to the conclusion that I gave approval to this event. I did not. Many of the responses also used condemning and threatening and some might say hateful language not keeping with Christian charity, especially of the Lord’s command ‘to love one another as I have loved you.’ ”

Hayes said it appears that a person associated with one of the groups invited to participate in the Mass created the flyer referring to Pride Month.

“Everything seems to have gone sideways after that,” he said.

“We are concerned, committed Catholics. We are based in Pittsburgh. We formed to affirm the laity’s rightful role of co-responsibility in the church,” Hayes said. “We want to work collaboratively with clergy and have more transparency and competency and accountability in our church.”

Issues pertaining to gay and transgender people have been met with polarized views, not only in the church but within broader society, with some of it playing out in increasingly vitriolic takes on social media.

Hayes noted that The Daily Signal, a conservative website created by The Heritage Foundation, touted an exclusive story describing the bishop’s request May 31 that the Mass be canceled. It posted a copy of the flyer.

In his note, Zubik stated, “The Church has invested much energy in welcoming people who are dealing with sensitive issues in their lives. As Church, we all have the responsibility to love those who have same sex attraction. But at the same time, the Church cannot support behavior that goes against God’s law.”

“My hope is that the Church of Pittsburgh is welcoming to the LGBTQ community and, in turn, that the LGBTQ community is welcoming of the Church and her teachings,” the bishop added.

When contacted for comment, Duquesne shared a copy of the bishop’s remarks but did not immediately offer any additional comment.