Cathedral Protest Went Too Far

The right to worship without fear or retribution is one of our country’s most cherished freedoms. On June 26, a protester from the Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests entered the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and handcuffed himself to the archbishop’s chair in the sanctuary. The disruption disturbed a sacred service and frightened many among the thousands gathered to pray. His action is a crime under California law. It was not, as SNAP leaders have tried to spin it, a simple exercise of civil rights.

SNAP has exercised its right to protest, holding many demonstrations on public property outside the cathedral. Although these protests have impeded worshippers’ ability to move easily from the street into the cathedral plaza, we nonetheless have respected SNAP’s right to speak its mind in a legal and safe fashion. There is simply no civil, legal or moral justification for SNAP or its members to claim that disrupting a religious service is an acceptable, legitimate way to promote their message.

Tod M. Tamberg

Director of Media Relations

Archdiocese of Los Angeles