Dissident gay Catholic conference in Southwark

Action: letters, please, to Archbishop MacDonald of Southwark. Quest is an organisation dedicated to denying the teaching of the Church: so much so that it has been excluded from the Catholic Directory since 1998 (their own account of the saga can be read here). It is outrageous that the Archdiocese of Southwark should be allowing one of its priests to be Chaplain to the conference, and to celebrate Mass for them. It is also scandalous that Fr Michael Seed, a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster, should be a speaker at the conference, and that Digby Stuart College, part of the University of Roehampton, which is a Catholic foundation with a chapel, should be serving as the venue for this conference. A Quest event in the Liverpool University Catholic Chaplaincy was canceled at the insistance of Bishop Kelly.

Archbishop Kevin MacDonald
Archbishop's House
150 St George's Road
London
SE1 6HX

Private Secretary to the Archbishop
020 7928 0687
Monsignor William Saunders
aps@rcsouthwark.co.uk

The conference details are all here; in case they take them down, they are pasted below.

Quest's dissent from Church teaching can be seen clearly in their official rejection of the Vatican's 2005 statement on admitting homosexuals to seminaries, here; their attack on Archbishop Vincent Nichols' stand on the Sexual Orientation Regulations here;

Relevant here is the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 'The Pastoral Care of the Homosexual Person', 1986: (See here for the full text.)

17: 'All support should be withdrawn from any organisations which seek to undermine the teaching of the Church, which are ambiguous about it, or which neglect it entirely. Such support, or even the semblance of such support, can be gravely misinterpreted. Special attention should be given to the practice of scheduling religious services and the to the use of Church buildings by these groups, including the facilities of Catholic schools and colleges. To some, such permission to use Church property may seem only just and charitable; but in reality it is contradictory to the purpose for which these institutions were founded, it is misleading and often scandalous...'

Quest Annual Conference 2008
Digby Stuart College, Roehampton University: Friday 18th - Sunday 20th July
“What it means to say ‘I am a Catholic’”

It’s 35 years since Quest was founded in 1973, so why not join us for this special celebration?
Dr Tina Beattie will be making a welcome return following her impressive talk at the 2005 conference in Liverpool. She will also be on home soil as she is Reader in Theology and Religious Studies at Roehampton University. Among her books and articles is “God’s Mother, Eve’s Advocate”, an analysis of Christian writings on Mary and Eve in the early Church and in recent Roman Catholic theology.
Fr Michael Seed SA has been the Ecumenical Officer for the Archdiocese of Westminster since 1988. A convert, he entered the Franciscan order The Friars of Atonement in 1979 and was ordained in 1986. His publications include “Gift of Assurance”, “Letters from the Heart” and “Will I see you in Heaven?” He has recently published his biography, “Nobody’s Child”.
Peter Stanford will be our after dinner speaker. Peter is a former editor of the Catholic Herald and author of a number of books including, “Catholics and Sex” and “Why I am still A Catholic.” He is a frequent contributor to the Tablet, the Guardian and the New Statesman.
Our chaplain will be Fr Alan McLean, a parish priest of the archdiocese of Southwark in which Roehampton is situated. Fr Alan celebrated the Linkline Silver Jubilee Mass in November 2006.

Digby Stuart College is situated within the main campus of Roehampton University in South West London. It is a short distance from Barnes station (with trains from Waterloo or Clapham Junction) and has Richmond Park on its doorstep. We will have accommodation in Lee House, a recent addition to the facilities, where all rooms are larger than average ensuite singles, and Newman House, which has semi ensuite facilities (shower and washbasin in room; toilets in corridor). Accommodation in Newman House is on the first floor and the only access is by stairs. Mass on Sunday is in the magnificent Chapel.