Dan Schutte event moved off Church property...

Church Militant reports:

A homosexual hymn-writer was scheduled to perform at a Catholic parish, but the event has been moved off church grounds after pushback.

Church Militant reported Wednesday that Dan Schutte, an ex-Jesuit and homosexual, was scheduled to perform April 28 at Our Lady of Visitation parish in Kansas City, Missouri. A number of locals wrote to the diocese expressing concern, and Catholics responded strongly to the news report of Schutte's appearance on diocesan property.

Now sources are confirming that the venue is being moved off parish property to a new location.

Many of Schutte's songs have been published in the Gather book and other popular 'contemporary' hymnals. Perhaps the best known of his songs is 'Here I Am, Lord,' which some have described as a 'gay anthem.'

The 70-year-old composer is himself widely believed to be an active homosexual. According to a 2004 article by Dr. Brian J. Kopp, Schutte is 'a partnered gay man.'

Schutte and a man named Mike Gale were named as 'partners' in the obituary of Marie Schutte, Dan Schutte's mother. Further investigation revealed both men lived at the same address in San Francisco. Together, the pair formed the now-defunct group Pilgrim Music.

Schutte himself has not spoken publicly about his sexuality. According to a 2014 USA Today article, 'Schutte said he never publicly discusses his own personal life in relation to his music because he said it can affect how people experience the music itself.'

Earlier this week, a diocesan employee told Church Militant that he personally objected to the concert, noting that it is against Church law for a parish to charge admission for a performance inside a church. Accepting donations at the door is acceptable, but charging an admission fee violates a rule stipulated by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The Vatican liturgical authority said in a 1987 declaration, 'Entrance to the church [for concerts] must be without payment and open to all.'

Decades ago, Schutte was a member of the St. Louis Jesuits, a group of men in priestly formation with the Society of Jesus back in the 1970s who penned folksy worship songs and played them during Mass. Some of the St. Louis Jesuits, including Schutte, would leave formation in the years that followed. Others would go on to enter the priesthood.

The St. Louis Jesuits — consisting of Bob Dufford, John Foley, Tim Manion, Roc O'Connor and Dan Schutte — were instrumental in bringing contemporary folksy pop music into Catholic liturgy. Their compositions, especially those of Schutte, have become commonplace at Novus Ordo parishes throughout the United States."

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The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in a document entitled Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons which was published on July 31, 2003, explains that marriage "is not just any relationship between human beings. It was established by the Creator with its own nature, essential properties and purpose" and that this truth is so evident that "no ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman." (No. 2).

Considerations goes on to explain that, "There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law. Homosexual acts 'close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.' Sacred Scripture condemns homosexual acts 'as a serious depravity....This judgment of Scripture does not of course permit us to conclude that all those who suffer from this anomaly are personally responsible for it, but it does attest to the fact that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' This same moral judgment is found in many Christian writers of the first centuries 'and is unanimously accepted by Catholic Tradition.'" (No. 4).

In No. 5, the document explains that, "..the approval or legalization of evil is something far different from the toleration of evil.." and that even where homosexual unions have been legalized, "clear and emphatic opposition is a duty." In fact, "any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws" and even any "material cooperation on the level of their application" must be avoided.

The CDF has also taught clearly that, "All support should be withdrawn from any organizations 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 msinterpreted...Special attention should be given 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." (Letter to Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons).