Quote of note:

"This is not what I go to church for," said Mary Ellen Dundas, 58, a Mission San Gabriel parishioner, who along with several others has written a letter of complaint to Cardinal Roger M. Mahony. "This is not a moral issue. When I go to church, I go to be uplifted, to get what I need to move on to the next week. I don't want to hear that I'm a sinner for supporting Wal-Mart."

I think I'd like to see the official List of Moral Issues.

What we have here is a bunch of folks who have placed their "religion" in a little box that they venture into for a moment of refreshment before going on their amoral way. It explains a lot.

A LOT.

Anyway…

Clerics Speak Out on Wal-Mart
Some parishioners complain to Cardinal Mahony, saying that vocal opposition to discount store has no place in church.
By Hector Becerra
Times Staff Writer

October 30, 2004

After growing up in an Ireland pockmarked with poverty, Father Mike Gleeson said he had always considered it important to speak out on social issues he believed in.

So the pastor of St. Anthony Catholic Church in San Gabriel didn't hesitate when some parishioners asked him to help fight Wal-Mart's proposal to build Los Angeles County's first Supercenter store in neighboring Rosemead.

In a church bulletin, he called the Rosemead City Council's approval of a Wal-Mart store disgusting and said the retailer was "the greediest corporation on Earth." He also helped Wal-Mart critics gather signatures for a referendum on the project, including allowing organizers to use the church for a petition drive.

Such outspoken views have divided his parish as well as a nearby church, Mission San Gabriel, where another priest has criticized Wal-Mart. Some parishioners believe that the priests have no business encouraging opposition to the chain store.