NEW YORK CITY (LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic church in New York City has blasphemously placed a painting series entitled “God is Trans[gender]: A Queer Spiritual Journey,” next to its altar.
The paintings displayed at the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle in Manhattan, run by the now notoriously liberal Paulist Fathers, espouse the idolatrous and heretical ideas that we can make a “god” according to our own liking and that “there is no devil.”
“The painting Sacrifice… speak[s] to the need to shed an old life and personhood in order to be able to focus on your spiritual need. There is no devil. Just past selves,” wrote artist Adah Unachukwu in an accompanying description.
The painting, “Identity,” marking another “significant point” of the “queer spiritual journey,” asks, “What does holiness look like? What does your god look like? Are these two portrayals that can be merged?”
“Finally, ‘Communion’…plac[es] God and the mortal on the same plane,” the description explains.
“As a Catholic New Yorker, I am shocked,” Theresa Rivezzo told LifeSiteNews. “This is appalling. Art that is created to shock or horrify, or to glorify or elicit sin cannot be called ‘beautiful.’”
“Jesus commissioned us to preach the gospel and spread the gospel all over the earth, not perversion,” she continued. “And when the clergy does not speak out against such immoral art that violates Catholic traditions and teachings, that’s an indication that the voice of God that they represent has been crucified.”
Rivezzo shared that she and a group of faithful Catholics plan on praying the rosary in front of St. Paul the Apostle in reparation and protest on Wednesday evening.
“We will not tolerate this blasphemous exhibition,” Rivezzo added.
The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference (USCCB) has published an instruction forbidding so-called “gender transition” surgeries and drugs as contrary to the natural order, which lays out the principles of a Catholic approach to transgender ideology.
The bishops stated that such ideology, which maintains that a person can be born in the “wrong kind of body” and can “change” his or her body into that of the opposite sex, fails to see the inherent unity of body and soul as well as the natural order of the sexually distinct male and female body:
What is true of creation as a whole is true of human nature in particular: there is an order in human nature that we are called to respect. In fact, human nature deserves utmost respect since humanity occupies a singular place in the created order, being created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). To find fulfillment as human persons, to find true happiness, we must respect that order. We did not create human nature; it is a gift from a loving Creator. Nor do we “own” our human nature, as if it were something that we are free to make use of in any way we please.
The Paulist Fathers at St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan reject Catholic Church teaching on human sexuality, as shown in its LGBT ministry “Out at St. Paul,” which heretically endorses homosexual lifestyles in addition to transgender ideology. The group has hosted a discussion on the book “LGBTQ Catholic Ministry” moderated by the heretical Father James Martin.
While the church is known to reject Catholic teaching in its totality, and it attracts some attendees for that very reason, one parishioner denounced the blasphemous display in a statement to the New York Post.
“The church should not be promoting this. I understand there are transgender people. I pray for all people but enough is enough. It seems like they are trying to force the agenda on others,” the unnamed person told the outlet, adding that the church’s priests would not answer questions about the display.
“You can’t put this out on the altar and then hide. That’s what gets the church in trouble.”
British K-Pop singer Oli London, who has struggled with gender dysphoria, attempted to “transition” to a woman, and has since detransitioned, shared photos of the exhibit to Twitter, sharing that the New York church was “slammed” for the paintings.
New York church slammed for ‘God is Trans’ exhibit.
The Manhattan based Catholic Church of St. Paul the Apostle is holding an exhibition called ‘God is Trans: A Queer Spiritual Journey’ exploring gender ideology and it’s supposed link to finding God.
The exhibition states… pic.twitter.com/YrHr6s5xdv
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 8, 2023
A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York told Newsweek regarding the exhibit, “We had no knowledge of it beforehand. If media reports are accurate, then we would have concerns. We are investigating and looking to speak with the pastor of the parish to get more information.”
LifeSiteNews has reached out to the Archdiocese of New York as well as the pastor of St. Paul the Apostle for comment, but has not received a response as of publishing.
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