Our neocon, RW shill archbishop is coming to visit...(advice, please!)

[deadparrot]

Hey everyone, here's the deal: I'm a Catholic (only technically; I've pretty much rejected the Catholic Church, seeing as I disagree with most of the stuff it teaches, its reaction to the pedophile priests, etc.) and I go to a Catholic HS. Once a month, we have an all-school Mass, and we get priests from around the area (mostly from our own parishes) Anyway, in October, the archbishop of my city (St. Louis) is coming.

Thing is...he's disgusting. I disagree and despise everthing he stands for. Of course, I'm not big into Catholic dogma anyway, but this guy has pissed off and alienated many, many people in the year or two that he's been here. His name is Raymond Burke, if anyone here has heard of him; I believe he was in Wisconsin before).

Some examples:
He has severely deterred the use of altar girls (of course, I go to an all-girls HS, what the hell is he gonna do?).

He's pulled two priests out of a parish which is completely independent of the diocese (all its expenses are paid for out of the parish's own pocket, they don't give to or receive anything from the diocese)

He's sworn that any Catholic VOTER (not only politicians) who votes/has voted/will vote for a pro-choice/pro-euthanasia cadidate should be denied Communion; but he doesn't say a thing about the death penalty or the war, both of which the Vatican vigorously opposes. Of course, the same goes for politicians. Granted, he wouldn't know as far as voters go, but it's still outrageous. My 84 year old grandmother is completely freaked out by this. A lifelong Democrat, she's voting for Kerry, then going to confession.

He condemns frigging Harry Potter, for God's sake.

More here (the first one is long and parts are graphic):

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2004-08-25/feature.html

http://riverfronttimes.com/issues/2004-08-25/sidebar.html

All the classmates that I talked to are extremely angered by this. Obviously, several of them are anti-abortion, but they severely disagree with his action taken against the voters. The altar girls thing has everyone riled up. As our school especially wants to focus on empowering women, my classmates and myself are extremely disappointed with our administration's decision to invite this sexist jackass to say Mass.

We're trying to think of ways to protest this jerk and his policies. Seniors can dress out of uniform in nice clothes for church days, so we thought of creating t-shirts (I'm tempted to wear my Kerry-Edwards one, but I doubt it's dressy enough) staying seated during communion, simply not going at all. My parents both despise the guy, so they've given me the okay to go in an hour late that day.

Any advice? (I know it seems really stupid and insignificant, especially with what's going on in the world, but this guy is scary.)I thought I could simply stay away from him, but it seems like it's coming to me anyway. Should we talk to our principal, just not show up, protest? Or are we taking this waaay to seriously, that we should just suck it up and go? This really has me peeved, though, and I want to express my displeasure. Thanks in advance.

[donco6]

1. How about a visual protest?

Everyone wears those black hats with mesh veils - like the ones they wear at funerals. You can get them at thrift stores.

Hearkening back to the days when girls had to wear hats in church (I'm dating myself here).

[Stew225]

3. Good idea but maybe go a few steps forward and wear

burkas! Of course, they might just think it's some nuns!

[librechik]

2. picket and call the media--have flyers and cameras ready

get as many picketers with signs as you can--bring the kids!

No time to be shy--ever!

[blue neen]

4. You're not taking it way to seriously; this guy thinks he is God

and he is not. You should protest. He's all about the oppression of women. It's never to soon to start fighting for your rights.

[deadparrot]

5. Thanks...

for reading, despite its verbosity. Your suggestions are much appreciated. I'll definitely take them into consideration.