A recently used sample 'letter to the priest / presider' of the proposed event

Something like this should be sent some days before the Rainbow Sash event

is planned to occur:

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The Rainbow Sash Movement 

Bringing the Gifts, Witness, Challenge

Of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender People

Into the Heart of the Catholic Church

                       To………  (formal title , address etc)

                          Dear............

We are writing to inform you that on ………………(date)  a group of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics will attend Mass at ………………(time) 

We will participate in the Eucharist, as Catholics should -- with reverence, respect and deep prayerfulness.

 During Mass we will wear the "Rainbow Sash”: a strip of rainbow coloured cloth worn over our left shoulder, like a deacon's stole.  The meaning of the Sash is expressed in our Movement's Core Statement:

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In wearing the Rainbow Sash we proclaim that we are Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender People who embrace and celebrate our sexuality as a Sacred Gift. 

In wearing the Sash we call the Church:

-- to honour our wisdom and experience;

-- to enter into public dialogue with us;

-- to work with us for justice and understanding. 

Together let us seek a new appreciation of human sexuality in all of its diversity and beauty.

************************************************************************************* 

As Holy Communion is distributed we will stand silently in our places in the pews, and then come forward to receive the Blessed Eucharist in the usual way, as members of the congregation.

 In the name of Christ, we ask you to share the Eucharist with us, and so to publicly welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Catholics into the fullness of the Church's life.  Celebrate with us this new moment in the history of God's People, as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people become sacramentally visible, offering the Church our gifts, our witness and our peaceful challenge.

 Let us move beyond division, exclusion and fear, and come together around Christ’s table with open hands and open hearts.

 As Catholics, we assure you that we will honour the sacredness of the Eucharist,

             (ADD if appropriate:   ‘and the Cathedral / Church etc” )

We will scrupulously avoid any disruption of the Mass, and we will participate with quiet dignity, silence and respect.

 Wherever the Rainbow Sash has been worn, bishops and congregations alike have acknowledged our reverence and prayerfulness. We are people of faith seeking the “source and summit of the whole Christian life”. We do not come to shock or disrupt the Christian community.

 However, we will be invisible no longer. We will gently proclaim and celebrate the sacredness of our sexuality.

 We are including copies of the "History and Vision" of the Rainbow Sash Movement, and our foundation documents: "A Letter to the Church" and "An Open Letter to Pope John Paul 11."  These make clear our call to the Church, our commitment to love and justice, and our conviction that our sexuality is a sacred gift, both for us as individuals and for the whole People Of God.

 We are simply gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender Catholics coming to celebrate Mass with our sisters and brothers in the Church.  In the name of our loving God, please welcome us.

 We would be happy to discuss any of these matters with yourself or your representatives.

In Joy and Hope,

Signed ---------------------------    Convenor(s)

(Include appropriate addresses and phone numbers for contact)