a church without liturgists?

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Nov 10, 2004

Soulforce recently staged a vigil to protest the Catholic Church's teaching on sodomy.

"We're being treated like witches and infidels by the church," said Cara Speltz, a Catholic protester in San Francisco who said she's been refused Communion twice for wearing a rainbow cross. "Our goal is to touch them in their hearts," Speltz said. "We are the choir directors. We are the liturgists. We are the ones keeping this church going in some cases."

Well, my heart is touched. At least my pulse is noticeably quickened.

Remember the semi-annual "Day Without Art" stunt that AIDS activists used to pull? The idea was to remove or cover up contemporary sculpture and paintings for 24 hours in order to make us aware of the inroads into the artist community made by HIV-related fatalities, that we might shudder at the prospect of being bereft of so much beauty and thus call for increased research funding, etc.

Unwittingly, perhaps, Ms. Speltz has shocked us into confronting the same predicament closer to home. Take a deep breath, boys and girls, and close your eyes, and try, just try to imagine a Church without liturgists ...