ARTICLES

Courage Revived in San Francisco

NOT ORDINARY CATHOLICS

By Joe Marti

In San Francisco, about ten men gather to speak each week about living a sacramental life in a city where their same-sex tendencies can easily be gratified.

Courage had its beginnings in November of 1978, when Cardinal Terence Cooke of New York invited Father John Harvey to come to his archdiocese to set up spiritual support for those with homosexual inclinations who desire to live chaste lives. With the help of Father Benedict Groeschel and others, Father Harvey held the first meeting of Courage in September 1980 at the Shrine of Mother Seton in South Ferry, New York.

The local chapter of Courage is supported by the archdiocese of San Francisco and by Archbishop Levada. "He is very interested and would like to see it work in every county in the diocese," said Father Lawrence Goode of the San Francisco chapter of Courage. (Father Goode is assigned to St. Fin Barr's in San Francisco.) "Archbishop Levada has taken the initiative in convening the group with Monsignor [Stephen] Ottelini to see its implementation."

The express purpose of Courage membership is to dedicate one's life to Christ through service, spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the sacraments of Penance and Holy Eucharist. Although Courage does not take a position on reparative therapy (programs that promise the reversal of homosexual attraction and tendency), it is clear members do not believe that the homosexual lifestyle permanently fixes one's horizons away from the Church. The men led by Father Goode, mostly in their 20s and 30s, do not wish to be called homosexuals or gay, lest their same-sex attraction be considered an immutable characteristic. As Father Goode puts it, "they would rather not use the terminology of the world."

Father Goode explained that his Courage members are not ordinary Catholics, but very serious ones. The structure of the meeting is in the twelve-step tradition, and keeps its members focused on one goal -- the well-being of their souls. Father Goode, previously involved in Hispanic ministry, since early summer of 1998 has been salvaging the work done by Father Cornelius Buckley, previous director of the San Francisco chapter of Courage. (The University of San Francisco and the Society of Jesus exiled Buckley for what they regarded as his divisive adherence to the magisterium. Buckley now assists Legatus, the Catholic businessmen's group in Ann Arbor, Michigan, established by Domino's Pizza founder Tom Monahagn.) Father Buckley was able to assemble a regular Courage group before leaving San Francisco, but as Father Goode puts it, "It fell apart after he left." The actual number of men who attend the current meetings is few (around ten). members mostly in their 20s and 30s.

But Father Goode is not daunted, "This carries a wonderful message not only for those of a homosexual inclination, but for all Catholics who are dissenting from the Church's teaching. Even the fact that they're struggling against the [gay] community is a big thing."

For more information, call Father Lawrence Goode at (415) 333-3627.