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Quotes

 

 

“I have tried over the years to reconcile my silence as a gay priest with that of the Church’s increasingly antigay stance.  I have been unsuccessful.”  Pg iii 

 

“At the heart of every authentic calling is the desire to live a life of integrity.  It was my desire to live a life of integrity that led me to the priesthood and it is that same desire that has led me to where I am today.  Initially, I was hopeful that I could figure out a way to have integrity while remaining part of a hierarchy that is antigay – I was unsuccessful.”  Pg iv 

 

“In the end it became clear that I could not be both gay and a priest – that is, I could not live as a gay priest which means living in silence while publicly pretending to support the hierarchy’s teachings on homosexuality.”  Pg iv

 

“And I am not alone.  Like so many of my brothers and sisters called to the ministry, I believe the Church’s teaching on homosexuality has caused and continues to cause harm to many gay men and women, young and old, who are looking for acceptance and love but instead find silence and shame.”  Pg 2

 

“My struggle isn’t with being gay, it’s with the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and the way in which the hierarchy is interpreting that teaching regarding the homosexual person, the ordination of gay men, gay marriage, gay parenting, and especially the impact that this teaching has on gay youth growing up in the Church.  This is what I struggle with.”  Pg 3

 

“It’s hard enough to be a ‘straight’ teenager dealing with the standard ups and downs of hormones and emotions, but to be a teenager with same sex attractions in a community where your spiritual leaders, the people you look to for guidance and affirmation, are telling you that you have a disease like alcoholism and that you’re a threat to life—can anyone survive it intact?  Yet that’s precisely the message our Church is sharing.  LGBT youth are hearing that they are disordered, diseased, defective, damaged goods, wrong when they should be right.”  Pg 4

 

“It’s no surprise that so many teenage suicides are attributed to orientation issues.  Can we deny that we, as the Church, are part of those struggles, those deaths, that we, as the Church, are creating an environment that pushes kids into silence and shame?”  Pg 4

 

 “I know I’m not the only one who believes it’s time for a change.  But as a member of the clergy, I also know I’m not allowed to publically oppose these teachings, unless I’m ready to leave active ministry.  It’s an ongoing struggle of integrity for me—do I speak the truth in an age when the truth so desperately needs to be spoken, or do I remain hidden, practicing the ministry that God has called me towards as a Catholic priest?  It’s a choice none of us should have to make, a choice I daily have to make, a choice thousands of priests daily have to make.”  Pg 9

 

“The Church’s teachings and the way it’s being communicated by some of our bishops is disgraceful, harmful and even lethal.”  Pg 10

 

“’What is it you really want?’  My priest friend asks, when I describe my struggle.

After a moment I reply, ‘I want to be out.’  My response caught me by surprise because the moment I said it, I knew it was true.  I want to be out.  It came with such clarity.  I want the world to know the truth about who I am. 

In the weeks that followed that conversation, I began to realize that what I really want is the truth to be out.  I want the truth about homosexuality to be out.  I want others to know that homosexuality is a gift.  That you can live and love as God created you to love.  We are created by love for love.  Homosexuality is not a cross, it’s not a curse, it’s not an intrinsic disorder, it is a gift, created by love for love.  It is a life-giving gift from God that embodies the infinite ways God’s love can be manifested in our world.  That’s what I want.  I want the truth to be out.  I want people to know, to love and to respect one another by accepting this truth.”  Pg 27