Month: September 2016

Posted on

I Am a Gay Vicar And the Church of England Is an Embarrassing Mess

By

The Bishop of Grantham became a suffragan in the Lincoln diocese in November last year
The Bishop of Grantham became a suffragan in the Lincoln diocese in November last year

This week the Church of England found itself in a very publicly difficult situation about sexuality—again.

At the end of August, Bishop Nicholas Chamberlain, the Bishop of Grantham, came out as the first openly gay bishop with a partner. To those of us in the LGBTI community within the Church this wasn’t a surprise; we had all known for a long time.

But it has proved to be troublesome for the Church, which had chosen to purposefully conceal his relationship (Bishop Nic has always been open, if not public, about his sexuality.) When a new bishop is appointed there is an official biography and usually it includes some personal facts to paint a human picture—of the wife or husband, the children and pets, and a few details such as their like of real ale or hill walking. Oddly, these days new bishops all seem to like hill walking.

If you look at Bishop Nic’s biography there is no reference at all to the man with whom he has shared, as he has said, a loving and faithful relationship for 30 years. We now know that the Archbishop of Canterbury knew about this and indeed had them both round for dinner; the Bishop of Lincoln knew, and indeed the press office at Church House knew—it’s just that they couldn’t bear to think that anyone else would know.

This weekend has also seen the publishing of an open letter from 14 of the married gay and lesbian clergy of the Church of England, and other some married lay people, to our bishops. We wrote to share with them the joy and happiness we have in our married lives, and in the freedom to live with our wives and husbands in public, faithful and lifelong relationships. I had been with my husband for 15 years before we could marry, and being married has made a real difference—somehow the whole relationship feels more solidly grounded and we rejoice in that discovery.

The official position is that lay people can pretty much do as they please, though the Church ensured that it is impossible for gay couples to legally marry in a Church of England parish and local clergy are banned from offering services of blessing, such as those given to Prince Charles and Camilla after their civil marriage, even if the couple haven’t been involved in a notorious divorce.

Clergy are allowed to enter civil partnerships, again without a church service afterwards, and have to promise not to have sex with each other. Bishop Nic is not in a civil partnership but has said that he is celibate and in this he is entirely compliant with the current Church rules.

stephen-foreshew-and-andrew-foreshwe-cain
Stephen Foreshew and Andrew Foreshwe-Cain.

There has been an attempt at a blanket stop on marriage for gay and lesbian clergy, and those who do are officially disciplined, and a ban placed on them ever getting a new post in the Church. The Church will not consider for ordination anyone who is married to someone of the same sex, no matter how good a priest they might make.

Yet quietly, clergy are getting married or converting their civil partnerships to marriage; gay ordinands in sexual relationships are getting the nod through while appearing to comply with the selection procedures; and clergy are having sex in their civil partnerships. Priests are offering services of blessing and thanksgiving to gay and lesbian couples and parishes celebrating with them. The bishops all know this, and many even collude in the dishonesty around the current position with private words of support and public obedience to the official line. One recently married priest I know of was invited into the episcopal study, handed his letter of discipline and then the bishop’s wife arrived with two gin and tonics—and as she said “congratulations,” the bishop toasted the new couple.

Frankly, it’s a mess and an embarrassing one because everyone knows it’s a mess, and at a fundamental level is making the Church, as the archbishop himself said, look “odd.” Actually, I think it’s worse—the current stance makes us look hypocritical and foolish and undermines our ability to speak with any real authority on other moral issues. While the Church continues to treat the LGBTI community in ways that cause the archbishop sleepless nights in which he is “consumed with horror” we can hardly call out others for their treatment of the poor, the widowed and the orphaned as our faith requires us to do.

The married clergy wrote to urge the bishops to recognize that this isn’t working. We asked for some honesty and that they allow parishes freedom to celebrate our relationships without fear of retribution or censure. We aren’t expecting wedding bells in our churches just yet, but we do expect to be able to say prayers, offer blessings and to rejoice in the love that brings two people together to make a commitment to each other. We know that some in the Church won’t find this acceptable; there have always been some who find change difficult. But there is no longer a single theology of marriage and relationships in the Church and it is time this was recognized.

The bishops have banged on for two years about “good disagreement” as being fundamental to the Church’s life and flourishing—it is time for that rhetoric to become reality.

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

Priest who demanded homosexuals have a ‘celibate life’ suspended after being accused of molesting 15-year-old boy in the Bronx

BY

father-anthony-giuliano
Father Anthony Giuliano in September 2004.

A priest who once said homosexuals had to live a “celibate life” to be good Catholics has been accused of molesting a 15-year-old boy at a Bronx church about 30 years ago.

But without a change to the statute of limitations on child sex abuse in New York, the alleged crimes committed by the man of the cloth will forever go unpunished.

Father Anthony Giuliano was running two parishes in Dutchess County — about 85 miles from Manhattan — on Aug. 16 when a 43-year-old man told police the priest had molested him in the late 1980s.

The Archdiocese of New York immediately removed him from the two parishes as the NYPD launched an investigation.

“The allegation has been found to be credible,” Reverend Gerald Walsh, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York, to parishioners at St. John the Evangelist and St. Charles Borromeo churches, located in Pawling and Dover Plains.

The accuser told Bronx Special Victims Squad detectives that he was working in the rectory of Holy Rosary Church in Baychester between 1987 and 1988 when Giuliano befriended him. The two used to play wrestle, he told cops.

During one session, Giuliano told the teen that he was going to “take him to the back and give him a frontal,” according to police sources.

The teen thought Giuliano was talking about a wrestling maneuver — until the priest told him to lie down on the ground, pulled the teen’s pants and underwear down and molested him, police sources said.

Even if sufficient evidence is found to support the accuser’s claims, New York’s statute of limitations bars authorities from filing charges. Victims of child sex abuse have until age 23 to bring a criminal or civil case.

In June, Albany legislators failed to vote on the Child Victims Act, which would have made it easier for child sex abuse victims to seek justice against their abusers, as well as the Catholic Church and schools. The long-stalled legislation would have created a one-year window for past victims of abuse to bring charges against their tormenters.

The Catholic League called the legislation “a vindictive bill pushed by lawyers and activists out to rape the Catholic Church.”

Meanwhile, investigators are trying to determine if other, more recent victims of Giuliano can be found, police sources said.

The accusations against Giuliano shook residents of Dover Plains, a leafy town of 87,000.

“I’m totally taken aback by this,” said Dover Plains Town Supervisor Linda French. “It’s unbelievable.”

Giuliano said he did nothing wrong.

“This is a shock,” the priest told the Daily News last month when the allegations surfaced. “It never happened.”

When reached Tuesday, he refused to comment. The accuser also declined comment.

In an interview by a SUNY New Paltz student posted online in 2014, Giuliano said that homosexuals should be celibate if they want to be part of the Catholic Church.

“It must be a celibate life like with the priesthood,” he said. “We are celibate for a greater purpose.”

He also questioned Pope Francis’ push to open the Catholic Church to same-sex couples.

“We can’t say this for 2,000 years and then all of a sudden say, ‘Oh, we made a mistake for 2,000 years,’” Giuliano said.

Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of Bishop Accountability, said the Archdiocese of New York notoriously hides information, preventing a more complete picture of the extent of abuse among priests in the state.

“We know of very few accused priests in New York State,” Doyle said. “We know about more accused priests in the diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire than we do in the Archdiocese of New York.”

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

Deathbed revelation triggers clergy sex abuse lawsuit

By Andrew Duffy

Saint-Rémi Parish
Saint-Rémi Parish

The estate of a late Ottawa man has launched a $2-million lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Ottawa for sexual abuse he allegedly suffered as a child in the 1960s.

The unusual statement of claim was filed last month on behalf of the man, whom the Citizen will identify only as John Doe. He died at the age of 63 in November 2014.

According to the claim, Doe was a victim of Rev. Jean Gravel, a Catholic priest at Ottawa’s Saint-Rémi Parish.

Gravel pleaded guilty in September 1967 to charges of gross indecency involving two teenaged boys and resisting arrest.

The new court document contends that Doe was one of those teenaged victims.

Doe’s widow said her husband of 23 years did not tell her about the abuse until he was on his deathbed. He was in hospital for the final month of his life with pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung disease.

Only when she asked him about whether he was scared did her husband break down and relate his long-buried story.

“I need to tell you something,” he began. The story poured out over the next two hours.

“The anguish and the fear of having to hold that in for all those years was something I had never, ever seen: I had never seen him like that,” his widow said in an interview.

Her husband, she said, was not afraid of death but of the possibility of an afterlife in which he would have to explain to God why he had disavowed his faith.

“He was terrified, absolutely terrified,” she said. “That, for me, was heart-wrenching.”

Doe, a father of three who worked most of his life for a cleaning company, died two days after that conversation.

“I think until the day he died, he was ashamed,” she said. “He was terrified about what people would think of him.”

Doe’s widow said she launched the lawsuit on his behalf to gain recognition for his suffering: “I think it gives a sense of meaning for what he went through. I think he told me for a reason: because he wanted, at some point, for the church to be responsible.”

Under Ontario law, an estate’s executor has as long as two years to launch a lawsuit on behalf of a deceased person. There’s no provision that limits when a victim of sexual assault can sue for damages.

Lawyer Robert Talach, who has litigated more clergy sex abuse cases than anyone in the country, called it a first-of-its-kind lawsuit.

Lawyer Robert Talach says the lawsuit filed by the estate of an Ottawa man is the first of its kind.
Lawyer Robert Talach says the lawsuit filed by the estate of an Ottawa man is the first of its kind.

“I don’t know of any case like it,” said Talach, who represents John Doe’s estate.

The Doe case is one of four new lawsuits launched against the Catholic diocese in the three months since the Citizen published its series about clergy sexual abuse.

Three of the cases were filed by people who say they were victimized as children by Rev. Dale Crampton, the most notorious sex abuser in the history of the diocese. Those three victims are seeking a total of $6 million in damages.

The diocese has already paid out more than $740,000 in compensation to 10 of Crampton’s victims who were sexually abused by the priest between 1963 and 1982.

Crampton killed himself in October 2010 by jumping from an Ottawa highrise. At the time, the Ottawa Police Service was investigating sex abuse allegations made against him by five new complainants.

Twenty people have now come forward to say they were victimized by the priest, a two-term school board trustee.

Through interviews and court documents, the Citizen established that members of the Ottawa clergy were warned at least seven times about Crampton’s sexual misconduct, beginning in 1965.

Rev Dale Crampton.
Rev Dale Crampton.

Rev. Jean Gravel was the first priest convicted of a sex crime in Ottawa.

In September 1967, an Ottawa court heard that Gravel locked himself into his second-floor rectory apartment when police attempted to arrest him on two charges of gross indecency. The officers broke down the door, and a scuffle ensued.

Gravel was given a suspended sentence, placed on two years’ probation, and ordered to enter a treatment program for his alcoholism.

He was defrocked in 1970 — an unusual event at the time — and killed himself in August 1980.

The diocese has already been sued twice before for sexual abuse perpetrated by Gravel.

In response to a 2013 lawsuit, the Archdiocese of Ottawa issued a news release that said, “Jean Gravel’s story is tragic as it is scandalous. Ordained a priest in 1950, he exhibited behavioural problems which required diocesan authorities of the time to intervene, seeking his correction and rehabilitation.”

According to the statement of claim filed in the John Doe case, the sexual abuse began in 1962 when the victim was 11 years old. It continued, the claim says, for the following four years and escalated into rape.

To facilitate that abuse, Gravel made Doe “feel that he was special in the eyes of Gravel, the Church, and God,” the claim reads, and ensured the boy’s silence by making him believe his soul was in peril.

The allegations contained in the statement of claim have not been proven in court.

The Archdiocese of Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

Gay clergy urge greater inclusion in Church of England

bishop

Fourteen Church of England clergy in same-sex marriages have called on bishops to do more to include gay people in the life of the Church.

In a letter to the Sunday Times, they said they wanted to eventually see gay couples allowed to marry in Church.

Some of the clergy signing the letter were revealing they were gay and married for the first time publicly.

Their letter comes after Bishop Nicholas Chamberlain said on Friday he was gay and in a relationship.

Publication comes in the run-up to a College of Bishops meeting from 12 to 15 September which will discuss issues of episcopal ministry and mission.

The clergy said bishops should be bold, and allow gay people to “celebrate without fear and in openness”, though they said that now is not yet the time to change the church’s official understanding of marriage.

The letter reads: “But many in our parishes have already made that move and it is time to respect that a diversity of theology within the Church now exists and that there is more than one understanding of what a faithful Christian may believe on these issues.

“As you meet to discuss, we seek from you a clear lead that offers a way forward to greater inclusion that will enable those parishes that wish to do so to celebrate the love that we have found in our wives and husbands.

“We hope for an outcome that will enable those who wish to do so to publicly celebrate where we see God at work in the lives of our congregations without fear and in openness.”

The Bishop of Grantham became a suffragan in the Lincoln diocese in November last year
The Bishop of Grantham became a suffragan in the Lincoln diocese in November last year

Bishop Chamberlain revealed he was gay in an interview with the Guardian, in which he said he understood and lived by the Church guidelines, which say gay clergy must remain celibate.

Following the news, the conservative Anglican group Gafcon said appointing a gay man as the bishop of Grantham had been a “major error”.

Bishop Chamberlain was consecrated last year by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby – who has said he knew about the bishop’s sexuality.

Same sex relationships and the Church

The House of Bishops has issued guidance about gay relationships which say “same sex relationships often embody genuine mutuality and fidelity”.

But the guidance adds: “Getting married to someone of the same sex would, however, clearly be at variance with the teaching of the Church of England.”

In particular, it says “It would not be appropriate conduct for someone in holy orders to enter into a same sex marriage.”

The Church also teaches that “Sexual intercourse, as an expression of faithful intimacy, properly belongs within marriage exclusively.”

However, these sentiments have not been followed throughout the Anglican communion.

Gene Robinson is considered the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican world
Gene Robinson is considered the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican world

In the US, Gene Robinson’s election as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003 provoked a furore from conservative Anglicans around the world, and contributed to the rise of the conservative Gafcon movement.

In the UK, the Dean of St Albans, the Very Reverend Jeffrey John entered into a civil partnership in 2006.

He was twice tipped to become a bishop – at Reading in 2003, then at Southwark in 2010 – but was not appointed. On both occasions his sexuality was stated as a “difficulty” for Church of England – despite his assurance that he was committed to sexual abstinence.

The Church of England’s teaching remains that marriage is for heterosexual couples – with clergy permitted to live celibate lives in civil partnerships – although these rules have never been tested by a church court.

Speaking in January, the Archbishop of Canterbury apologised for “hurt and pain” caused by the Anglican Church to the LGBT community.

‘Direction of travel’

The letter to the Sunday Times called on the bishops to to be “honest about what many of you already believe from your own experience, and to what you know to be increasingly the direction of travel, not just in our Church but in many churches in this country”.

It added: “We will always want to see the full inclusion of LGBTI people in the Church, and we will continue to work towards it. We look forward to welcoming a first step in that process and a move away from the harm and hurt that has so often been done in the name of the Church.”

The bishops have already received a letter from 72 traditionalist members of the ruling general synod encouraging them to abide by biblical teaching on sexuality.

LGBTI Mission, which campaigns for the acceptance of LGBTI people within the Church of England, welcomed Bishop Chamberlain’s announcement.

It said: “We hope this will lead to increased openness among bishops so that burden does not long remain on the Bishop of Grantham alone.”

The letter’s signatories are:

Clergy: Rev Andrew Foreshew-Cain and Stephen Foreshew-Cain, Rev Richard Haggis and Ricardo Goncalves, Rev Garry Lawson and Timothy H Wane, Rev Clive Larson and John Markham, Rev Paul Collier and Mr Collier, Rev Canon Jeremy Davies and Simon McEnery, Rev Geoffrey Thompson and Tony Steeles, Rev Prof Mark Cobb and Keith Arrowsmith

Laity: Jeremy Timm and Mike Brown, Ruth Wilde and Ellie Wilde, Jack Semple and Ross Griffiths, Paul Jellings and Andrew Carter, Erica Baker and Susan Strong, Karen and Samantha Bregazzi-Jones, Keith Barber and Tim Mills, Simon Dawson and David Mooney

The Times said a further seven clergy couples and Readers have indicated their support for the letter but wished to remain anonymous in order to protect themselves, and often their bishops, from attack.

Complete Article HERE!

Posted on

New Jersey priest fired for backing gay rights

File under:  You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down

The Rev. Warren Hall leads a special mass for couples renewing their vows on Valentine’s Day 2014 at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception on Steon Hall University's South Orange campus.
The Rev. Warren Hall leads a special mass for couples renewing their vows on Valentine’s Day 2014 at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception on Steon Hall University’s South Orange campus.

By David Gibson

Father Warren Hall said he was notified by phone on Wednesday that Newark Archbishop John Myers, an outspoken conservative, says Hall’s actions are “confusing the faithful” by supporting gay advocacy groups and backing a counselor fired for being in a same-sex marriage.

The Catholic archbishop in New Jersey has barred a gay priest from ministry because the cleric supports gay advocacy groups and has backed a Catholic high school counselor who was fired when church officials discovered the woman was in a same-sex marriage.

Father Warren Hall said he was notified by phone on Wednesday (Aug. 31) that Newark Archbishop John Myers, an outspoken conservative who has submitted his retirement papers to Pope Francis, says Hall’s actions are “confusing the faithful.”

As a result, Hall will no longer be able to celebrate Mass in public, present himself as a priest or work in the New Jersey parishes where he has been ministering.

“The problem is that we have an archbishop who doesn’t believe you can be gay and Catholic,” Hall, who is on vacation, wrote in an email.

He also tweeted about the move Wednesday afternoon:

001

Myers’ issues with Hall go back to May of last year, when the archbishop fired Hall from his job as chaplain at Seton Hall University for a Facebook post in which Hall showed support for the anti-bullying “NOH8” campaign that encourages respect for gay people and gay rights.

Hall, who said he remains committed to his vocation as a priest and to his vow of celibacy, a few weeks later acknowledged that he is gay.

The Newark Archdiocese said that was also a problem because “someone who labels himself or another in terms of sexual orientation or attraction contradicts what the (Catholic) Church teaches.”

The tensions seemed to have eased two months later when Myers assigned Hall to assist at two parishes in northern New Jersey across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan.

But Hall has continued to publicly back several gay groups and gay Catholics in particular.

He is set to speak next week to a New Jersey chapter of PFLAG, founded as a support group for parents and friends of gay people, and he has expressed support for the gun control group Gays Against Guns, the LGBT Community Center in New York and New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBT organization.

Hall said that in the phone call informing him of the suspension, Monsignor Thomas Nydegger, Myers’ second-in-command, also cited Hall’s support for an unofficial gay and lesbian ministry at the church’s World Youth Day in Poland in July and his support for a guidance counselor who has sued the archdiocese for firing her over her same-sex marriage.

The woman, Kate Drumgoole, last month filed suit against Paramus Catholic High School – where she was a guidance counselor and basketball coach until her dismissal in January – and the archdiocese for violating anti-discrimination laws and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.

Lawyers for the archdiocese said she violated church teachings and the school’s code of ethics when she married her partner.

In his email, Hall said he was “upset” by Myers’ actions against him and that it would be hard to break the news to parishioners at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Hoboken and St. Lawrence Church in Weehawken, where he has served for the past year: “They fully welcomed me after my firing from Seton Hall last year, they know my personal story and made me a member of the family.

“Since my firing from Seton Hall and coming out last year I felt an obligation to use this as an opportunity to more directly let people know of God’s love for all of us and that gay Catholics should stay in the church and work for more wider acceptance,” he wrote. “I do not feel I ever preached or taught anything contrary to the Gospel (and) this is true from my entire 27 years of ordination” as a priest.

A spokesman for Myers, James Goodness, said in an email on Thursday that the suspension was not about Hall’s sexual orientation but about his public stands.

“Every Catholic priest promises to be reverent and obedient to his bishop,” Goodness said. “A priest’s actions and statements always must be consistent with the discipline, norms and teachings of the Catholic Church. When they are ordained, priests agree to accept the bishop’s judgment about assignments and involvement in ministry.”

In a statement lamenting Hall’s suspension, Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, called Hall “courageous” and said “the archbishop is saying that his church fears associating with LGBT people – a fear which is contrary to the gospel.”

Hall’s ministry, DeBernardo said, “is in line with the church’s own authentic teaching that its ministers must reach out to all those who have been marginalized. He is in line with Pope Francis’ more pastoral and welcoming approach towards LGBT people.”

Myers submitted his resignation to Francis in July when he turned 75, as required by canon law.

But the pontiff, who is reportedly overhauling the episcopal search process to find candidates in tune with his pastoral agenda, has not yet named a replacement.

Complete Article HERE!