AIDS Group Sings Opposition to Catholic Church Condom Policy

For the most part, parishioners at Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church in Beverly Hills hurried into Mass Sunday morning, trying to ignore the Christmas carolers singing outside their church.

One woman took the time to call the holiday singers “Pigs!” before entering.

Others grudgingly took the flyers handed to them by carolers, but left them in piles near the church doors.

The singers, who included dozens of AIDS activists, were not exactly a welcome part of the holiday season. With their songs and signs, they were protesting the Roman Catholic Church’s stand on safe sex and education about the deadly disease.

In particular, the group targeted Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony’s recent rejection of the use of condoms to curb the spread of the disease.

The church has traditionally been opposed to any form of artificial birth control.

The protesters, led in song by a small choir of men with halos--fashioned from metal clothes hangers and gold glitter--above their heads, had reworked the lyrics of traditional Christmas songs to include their own message on safe sex.

“Away in the Manger” was revised to “Away With All Danger.” The use of condoms brings tidings of “Comfort and Joy,” according to the lyrics of another song.

The estimated 50 protesters--who also stopped at three other Los Angeles Catholic churches--did not make much headway at any of the locations.

“That was a trip,” parishioner John Steel said of the demonstration after leaving Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church on Santa Monica Boulevard. “I have no problem with it, though. They are guaranteed their free speech. They can do what they want.”

The protest was organized by members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, or ACT-UP. Members lined up on a grassy strip in front of the church and handed out flyers labled “Mahony-Baloney” and “Lies-Murder.” There were picket signs decrying Mahony and church policy. Free condoms were also offered to parishioners going to Mass.

“I’m not really listening to what they say--in fact, I don’t think most of the people here pay attention to it,” Steel said of the protesters. “I don’t think if they had 1,000 protesters out here it would make much difference.”

“If they have a problem, they can say what they want,” another parishioner, Gina Aloisi, said of the demonstrators. “But I don’t have a problem with my church. I took their paper but I don’t agree.”

Walter Moshay left 10:30 a.m. Mass and got into a short, but loud, debate with the protesters. He saw a caricature of Mahony on a sign that had the word “Guilty” stamped on it.

“What’s he guilty of, free speech?” Moshay asked. “You say what you want and we can say what we want.”

He was quickly shouted down by several protesters.

“God bless you all,” he called back, then dropped out of the battle. But with a smile on his face he continued to watch the gathering in front of his church.

“I saw those signs and wanted to say something,” he said later. “Why should Mahony be censored and not them? They have no right to shut him up just as we have no right to shut them up.”

Helene Schpak, a spokeswoman for the demonstrators, said Mahony drew most of the protesters’ ire because of his condemnation of the use of condoms to avoid AIDS and declaration that the concept of safe sex is a fraud.

“We are very angry with him,” she said. “His statements are what really spurred our energy to do this today.”

The protesters also sang and demonstrated at St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church in the Silver Lake district, Our Lady Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church downtown, and Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Hollywood.

The peaceful demonstrations here contrasted with a much larger, confrontational protest in New York, where about 4,500 gay rights activists swarmed in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and disrupted Mass when many shackled themselves to pews. Police arrested about 100 people.

Only one minor disturbance occurred in Los Angeles.

At Good Shepherd Roman Catholic Church, an ACT-UP member claimed he was punched in the stomach by a parishioner. Beverly Hills police investigated, but took no action after determining that the protester had merely been abruptly brushed aside by a churchgoer.

At the 12:15 p.m. Mass, the songs of the carolers outside could just barely be heard on the other side of the church’s thick wooden doors. During his sermon, Father Herbert de Souza said: “There will be people waiting outside to see you. I have one piece of advice. Don’t even ignore them.”

There was laughter from the pews.

But by the time Mass was over, the protesters had gone.