Catholic DVDs to be returned

Last month Lucinda Naylor was let go from her position as artist-in-residence at the Basilica of St. Mary when she announced she was collecting DVDs distributed by the Catholic Church of Minnesota calling for the "preservation of marriage."

In the days and weeks following, Naylor collected as many DVDs as she could, and transformed them into an art project which she displayed in an empty storefront.

After taking down the DVD sculpture (called "The Wave") Naylor reports she then transformed it into many smaller scultures, some of which she donated to the GLBT on-line high school for fundraising purposes.

In addition Naylor will be joining, Return The DVD at the Chancery at 10 am tomorrow morning to return more than three thousand DVDs they've collected. They will also be delivering a letter to the Archbishop, with whom they were unable to schedule a meeting.

Here's an excerpt from the letter:

In an outpouring of inclusion and love, and honestly much anger, more than three thousand Catholic households returned their DVDs to us. These Catholics feel the Church hierarchy's priorities are misguided and that the DVD mailing was an extreme measure targeting a group of people who deserve the same love, compassion, and acceptance that Christ shows each of us. Many asked us to pass along their DVDs to the artist Lucinda Naylor, to be included in her DVD to ART project. Thousands of other Catholics had already destroyed or thrown away their DVD before they knew of our efforts. The rest, we are returning to you.

Further, our Return the DVD group, and hundreds of other concerned individuals, donated over $10,000 to fight poverty and homelessness. This reflects our commitment to being a Church that attends to the needs of the less fortunate and doesn't waste resources seeking to deny anyone's civil rights.

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