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Catholic priest defies Cardinal’s orders and burns Pride flag in Chicago

Written by gaytourism

A vintage shot of the rainbow flag that hung in a Catholic church in Chicago | Photo: Resurrection Church

A Catholic priest in Chicago burned a Pride flag on Friday (14 September) during prayer, against the orders of his Cardinal.

‘That banner and what it stood for doesn’t belong to the Archdiocese or Cardinal Cupich. It belongs to the people of this parish who paid for it,’ said Rev. Paul Kalchik.

‘What have we done wrong other than destroy a piece of propaganda that was used to put out a message other than what the church is about?’

Kalchik, who joined the Resurrection Catholic Church in 2007, led parishoners in a prayer of exorcism on Friday. That’s when he burned the flag in a portable fire pit in a schoolyard next to the church.

The flag, which features a cross superimposed over a rainbow, first went up in 1991, before going into storage.

When Kalchik joined over a decade ago, he found other items, including candles and clothing, with rainbows on them. He promptly destroyed them, but never found the flag until recently.

Cardinal Blase Cupich initially prohibited Kalchik from doing the burning, but he went forward regardless.

Sending a message

Kalchik was not subtle in his reasoning for burning the flag.

‘The people of this parish have been pretty resilient and put up with a lot of BS,’ he said. ‘And it was just by accident that this banner that was made to celebrate all things gay … did not get destroyed when I first got here.’

His action stemmed from the current child sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church.

‘I can’t sit well with people like Cardinal Cupich, who minimizes all of this,’ he explained.

‘Excuse me, but almost all of the [abuse] cases are, with respect to priests, bishops and whatnot, taking and using other young men sexually.’

He added the abuse is ‘definitely a gay thing’.

Archdiocese of Chicago spokeswoman Anne Maselli said they were ‘unaware’ the flag burning took place.

‘We are following up on the situation. As Catholics we affirm the dignity of all persons,’ she said.

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