The Diocese of Montreal is in radical decline:

Delegates to the annual diocesan synod approved a budget for 2017 with revenue of $2.08 million and expenses of $2.38 million, calling for a $300,856 operating loss, a little less than the $331,975 loss now forecast for this year. The operating losses were $529,482 in 2015 and $400,983 in 2014.
Diocesan treasurer Ron O’Connell told delegates, “Our diocese cannot sustain this rate of loss.” He said, “It’s very important that these things be addressed sooner than later, so that people understand that it’s time for action.” A number of parishes as well are facing threats to whether they can sustain themselves, he said, and some of them need assistance from the diocese in finding ways to “re-purpose” church buildings and other properties.

Fear not! Help is at hand in the form of a Pride Mass to Celebrate Human Diversity:

On Sunday, August 12 at 6pm Christ Church Cathedral will host a Pride Mass for a third consecutive year, as a kick-off to the Montreal Pride Week. Both Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson and the dean of the cathedral, the Very Rev. Bertrand Olivier, will preach.

The beauty of all this inclusion and diversity is that not only does God love us while we were yet sinners, but, because he made us this way with a sinful fallen nature, he doesn’t want us to change even after we come to him. It’s all a part of being made in his image. It’s very comforting: my sin is all his fault.

The Pride Mass is a sign that we are open to a discussion about what it means to be loved by God for who God created us to be, without having to change or conform.

The Pride Mass is not just for LGBTQ+ persons, but for all who wish to celebrate the numerous ways in which God has created human beings in God’s image, and to celebrate the diversity of the human family.

If that doesn’t solve the problems of a diocese that is crumbling financially, spiritually and physically, I don’t know what will.