Rabbi Jeffrey Stiffman/cardinal Raymond Burke

Berger's Beat
May 30, 2015

http://bergersbeat.com/rabbi-jeffrey-stiffmancardinal-raymond-burke/

Temple Shaare Emeth honored Rabbi Jeffrey Stiffman last night on his 50th anniversary as a rabbi. Stiffman has left his footprint on everything liberal including honoring the LGBT community. The temple has continued his legacy with a nod to LGBT and a “Pride Shabat” (Sabbath) at 6 p.m., June 12.

On the other hand, just when you think he can’t get more incendiary, Cardinal Raymond Burke says something even more outlandish than before. This time, at Oxford University, the former head of our town’s archdiocese says Ireland has gone further than paganism and “defied God” by legalizing gay marriage. So reports Katherine Backler and Liz Dodd in the British Catholic publication The Tablet. “I mean, this a defiance of God. It’s just incredible. Pagans may have tolerated homosexual behaviours, they never dared to say this was marriage.”

Oxford University student Katherine Backler watched Burke – who’s known for his fondness for silk finery – lead a mass at the school. She wrote “the altar party that processed into the church was so thoroughly medieval that the term truly seemed appropriate. The cardinal was flanked by 11 altar servers (all male, obviously), at least 10 priests, some Knights of Malta in their regalia, and a banner that would have looked quite at home, in fact, at a pageant. I would not have been surprised if a fanfare had sounded.”