Professor At The Jesuit University Defends The Wearing Of Dresses By Men During Liturgical Processions

Archbishop wants dancing after Santacruzan stopped
05/07/2008
MANILA, Philippines - After banning gays from dressing as women during the Santacruzan, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales is now discouraging holding "dances" at town plazas to cap the procession.

Rosales, in a statement posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines website Wednesday, reminded organizers that the Virgin Mary is at the center of the activities of the Santacruzan. "We should not set aside the fact that our beloved Blessed Virgin Mother Mary is the center of these activities and celebrations. We should give importance to Mary and reflect on her life. Everything we do in this time is for our devotion to her," he said."There are new practices in the different villages, but if these do not conform with the lessons we learned from the Virgin Mary, let us not give them importance," he added.

Rosales also reminded parishes in Manila to keep the purity of Marian devotion in the wake of a brewing controversy on the barring of gays from participating in the "Santacruzan." The prelate earlier scolded leaders of one parish for allowing gays dressed as ladies to participate in Santacruzan parade. "I told them that it is not right because that's (Santacruzan) a procession. You are destroying the purity of the devotion," he said.

Santacruzan recalls the search for the Holy Cross by Queen Helena and her newly converted son Emperor Constantine the Great. They found it in Jerusalem and brought it to Rome to joyous thanksgiving.

On the other hand, Rosales stressed he is not discriminating against homosexuals but only wanted to preserve the solemnity of the processions. "We should keep sacred what is sacred," he said as he admonished parishes not to allow male homosexuals to play Saint Helena and other female roles traditionally given to local beauty queens.

"The procession is religious. (But) what the parishes do is organize a parade. That's an insult to the Blessed Mother ... Instead of pious young women, gay men are paraded, which makes (the procession) ridiculous," he added.

For their part, leaders of the gay community said that "Marian devotees" among them deserved a place in the tradition. Jonas Bagas, secretary general of Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network in the country (Lagablab), said the Church should be "liberal about this." Danton Remoto, a professor at Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University, said most gay participants were low-income types who had spent for expensive gowns they would wear in the procession "out of the goodness and love in their hearts for the Virgin Mary." "There is really no intention to malign the Catholic Church," Remoto said. - GMANews.TV

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