 by Brian Juergens
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Catholic priest comes out against Proposition 8, comes out as gay to the world
A rather shocking and very powerful news story out of Fresno, California is making the rounds today: Father Geoffrey Farrow, a Catholic priest of over 20 years service to the Church, defies the instructions of the Bishops and urges his congregation to vote against Proposition 8, the initiative that would take the right to marry away from same-sex couples in the state. In his homily, Farrow points out that "what most Catholics hear about being gay or lesbian in their parish Church is silence" and goes on to clearly defy the position of his elders, who are urging parishoners to vote for Proposition 8. "I know that thesewords will cost me dearly. But to not to speak them would rob gay and lesbian people not only of their civil rights, but of their human dignity as well." But Farrow's defiance of the Church's stance was not his bravest move of the day. In an interview with the local ABC affiliate right before presiding over the mass, he came out as gay to the whole world, nothing that he feels it's a secondary issue to the topic at hand (after all, he is a priest and isn't going to run out and get married anyway). As he puts it, "In any event, regardless of what I or anyone else does in their life, one day you die. And on that day, were you true to your conscience, were you true to what you believe? And I think that's teh question each of us has to answer. And if the answer is no, hell already started before you died."
It's worth noting that the overall tone of the report is sympathetic to Farrow's situation, and while it offers opposing viewpoints, they're not nearly strong enough to match the power of his words and actions. His brave (and media-savvy) move isn't drawn as a scandal, it's presented as an act of revolution. Shame and silence have forced a stalemate between gays and lesbians and their faith communities for centuries, and it's men like Farrow who are brave enough to break that silence against crushing odds who are forcing the conversation on both sides. To check out the full story and interview, head on over here. Submitted by on Mon, 2008-10-06 08:44. |
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Surely a sign of things to come
Countdown to excommunication
This took almost unimaginable courage, especially since you know that the Catholic Church is going to come down on him like a ton of bricks. Bizarrely, they've always been more eager to punish clergy that speak out against the Church's actions than against some real sickos.
They try to conceal pedophiles and keep them around, but they punish clergy who speak out against the Church quite readily. I recall instances of them disciplining nuns for decrying abuse of nuns by priests in Africa, priests who support clerical marriage and of course priests who support gay rights.
So this was exceedingly brave of Father Farrow.
No excommunication
I don't believe they'll excommunicate him, Psionycx. That would be much too upfront. That's not how the hierarchy works. They'll just quietly, forcefully apply the screws behind the scenes and make his life such a misery he'll likely leave of his own accord.
This guy moved me. I left the Church decades ago when I realized it had become an empty exercise in faith by rote. My parish church used to be my family till I realized there was no place for me in that family. What a choice. Years of deceit or speaking the truth. I just walked away. So I hope Father Farrow's words and the simple dignity with which he delivered them - truth will tell - have the impact they deserve. Not just on the Prop8 voters but on all the closeted priests and nuns - and parishioners - out there.
That's what the Episcopal Church is for...
A great place for ex-Catholic refugees fleeing the image-obsessed Vatican's clutches.
The Catholic Church has always been authoritarian, going back to the days when they tried to leverage the power of the Roman imperial government against rival denominations like the Arians and the Donatists. It's about power and authority for the Vatican and has been since the 4th Century.
Father Farrow will doubtless face ugly repercussions either in public or behind the scenes. The Church has ways of penalizing those that defy the party line. But that only makes him more of a martyr in my opinion. He's standing up to the Church knowing that it's not going to be pretty. That's very courageous of him. God bless the man!
It depends
Christianity Schisms
That was an incredibly lovely statement
That was an incredibly lovely statement, Cat. I would just add that I hope Fr. Geoff's words have a positive impact on non-gay Catholics as well.
Really inspiring
A Hero? Not quite.
a failed apostolate
Support Fr Farrow
My ancestors were among the first Catholics to arrive in Maryland -1617, and then among the first 60 Catholic Families to settle KY. While am certainly no other Faith tradition, I made a decision to no longer consider myself a Roman Catholic in 1992 after a nasty anti-gay statement by the local archbishop. There was considerable pain in rejection the devout faith of so many I love and care for -my family, most of my friends , the Sisters who educated me - Ursalines, Mt St Joseph, the Sisters who I love so dearly -Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross, the individual Xavarian Brothers who in spite of themselves got me through high school with some shreds of dignity, and the many priests who indeed were and are MINISTERS and servants of a loving and merciful God. I did so because of the institutional hate filled teachings of church bereaucrats.
Less than a month later I recieved a postive HIV test result - without the support of my axis of faith when I needed it most desperately. When those Catholics who remained within the church found out, they defied the official teachings of their church and embraced me with love, acceptance and defiance of church teaching in direct opposition of the teachings of the institutional church - not the teachings of the loving and merciful God.
I can only hope that Fr Farrow is surrounded with that same love, acceptance and defiance. He will most certainly need it.
I look forward to the day when Christians are willing to let Jesus be Jesus without their vain and hateful agendas.
Peace, Frank X
Bad News in latest SUSA poll on Prop 8
The latest SurveyUSA poll has 47% of Californians supporting Prop 8, and only 42% voting against Prop 8.
What is questionable about the poll is that by a 52% - 39% margin, voters age 18-34 support Prop 8. That's different from most of the polling done on the Proposition. It just means that more work is needed to be done to get more people to vote no.
Here's a link to the poll:
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=b46ce159-115e-4f44-8be2-ce9b8eca657e