<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0ZDyaJ_0vjk82Xp00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ZDyaJ_0vjk82Xp00" width="1000" height="666" ></figure>Historic St. Joseph Catholic Church on the corner of Government and Spring streets has displayed a banner urging people to vote “No” on Amendment 4.<ul><li>While it’s not surprising that a Catholic church would take a stance against an initiative that would make abortion more available, several parishioners see Amendment 4 also protects reproduction rights and women’s health and pushbacks against the Florida Republicans have repeatedly made the laws more restrictive and with no thought of rape, incest or women’s health.</li></ul>Parishioners have asked the pastor, Fr. Patrick LaPoint, to take down the banner. The Milwaukee native hasn’t budged. We’ve been told a petition drive has started to ask Bishop Wack to intervene.Dig Deeper: St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was built in 1894 to serve Black and Creole families. Its property was home to Florida’s first Black Catholic High School, an orphanage for homeless boys, and a maternity hospital for Black mothers. In 1979, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1990s, its famous choir sang for Pope John Paul II.Despite its historical significance, the diocese also sold the property to a local law firm for the firm’s new office. Fortunately, parishioners and community leaders intervened.<h2>Post navigation</h2>Helene upgraded to Hurricane →<h2>Leave a Reply</h2>Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Your comments are welcomed, but there are some rules to follow:(1) Be Nice. No comments that slander another, no racism, no sexism, no personal attacks.(2) No Harrassing Comments.(3) No Libel. That’s saying something is not true about someone. Don’t do it.(4) Keep it clean. Nothing vulgar, obscene, or sexually related. No profanity or obvious substitutions.(5) I reserve the right to remove any comments that violate our rules or are inappropriate. I am not responsible for what is posted. Comments may not appear right away until they are approved by a moderator.(6) Limit your comments to the subject in this story only, and limit comments to 1,500 characters or less. Do not post copyrighted material. Comments will not be added to stories that are over five days old.(7) No posts may advertise a commercial business, political candidate, or political group. Links in a comment aren’t allowed.8) Commenting too many times may result in your comments not being allowed. Readers will begin to ignore your views.9) Email me if you believe a comment violates any of these rules, and it will be deleted.</div></body>

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Buzz: St. Joseph Church debate over political banner

Historic St. Joseph Catholic Church on the corner of Government and Spring streets has displayed a banner urging people to vote “No” on Amendment 4. While it’s not surprising that a Catholic church would take a stance against an initiative that would make abortion more available, several parishioners see Amendment 4 also protects reproduction rights and women’s health and pushbacks against the Florida Republicans have repeatedly made the laws more restrictive and with no thought of rape, incest or women’s health.