Archbishop Flynn: No Communion for sash-wearers

In a stunning reversal from last year:

Archbishop Harry Flynn has told gay-rights supporters they will not be allowed to receive Holy Communion while wearing rainbow-colored sashes because the practice has come to be perceived as a protest against Catholic teaching and is unacceptable to the Vatican.

It's also unacceptable to faithful Catholics and should be seen as a grave scandal...

"I am asking you to remove your sashes before you receive Holy Communion," Flynn wrote to Brian McNeill of Minneapolis, the Rainbow Sash Alliance organizer. McNeill made the letter public today. "I ask you to observe this sign of respect for the Eucharist not only in the Cathedral but in all our parishes. No one wearing the sash will be permitted to receive the Blessed Sacrament."

What utter nonsense...a request to remove one's sash before receiving Holy Communion...

Flynn said previously that members of the local group "assured us, in writing, that their attendance at the annual Pentecost Mass … is not in protest of the Church's teachings."

Perhaps, by some sort of mental gymnastics, one might conclude that wearing the sash might not have been the intention of the sash-wearer. However, how, exactly, is it possible to conclude that wearing the sash means anything other than a rejection of the teachings of the Church? Inquiring minds would like to know....

Does the fact that Cardinal Ratzinger is now the Holy Father have any bearing on this latest development?

Will Cardinal Mahony be issuing a similar letter before May 15?

Article here.

Oh, I forgot the link to the letter of Archbichop Flynn...You can read it here.