Confsns of a Gay Ju: How I Was Forced To Leave My Church—And Callg

Contents:

• CONFSNS OF A GAY JU: HOW I WAS FORCED TO LEAVE MY CHURCH—AND CALLG
• GAY JU PRIT: “WE DREAM OF A CHURCH THAT WILL ACCEPT .”
• CONFSNS OF A GAY JU
• THOSE GAY JUS
• GAY EX-JU CONCERT BOOTED FROM CHURCH AFTER BACKLASH
• JAY IS ‘GAY’ — AND A JU WANNABE
• I THOUGHT I ULD BE A GAY JU PRIT. I N’T BELIEVE HOW WRONG I WAS.
• GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE
• GAY JU: CATHOLIC CHURCH MT DISVER 'TENR COMPASSN' FOR ALL
• THE GAY CHURCH

CONFSNS OF A GAY JU: HOW I WAS FORCED TO LEAVE MY CHURCH—AND CALLG

I am a morn gay Christian search of love, one who still wants to bee a 2004 to 2014 I was a Ju, a member of the Society of J good standg, an orr gone global by the electn of Pope Francis I. Here’s my story; is an experiment wh tth tellg, as much as is about jtice for LGBTQ Christians and non-Christians, men, women and children who have been eply affected by the lennia of anti-gay theology and hate speech poed by the Roman Catholic Church.

More than anythg else we were a Roman Catholic fay who orred our liv around the life of the Church, as much as we did big Italian meals and Broadway was a cent childhood, but at home I uld never fully be myself, the Church’s teachg on homosexualy burned any genue relatnship between my parents and me and my four siblgs and me. I’d had enough dner meetgs wh bishops and prits om the Dce of Long Island and the Society of Mary (the Marists) to know that I uld not be an openly gay man their urse of study. No one ever spoke to me about the subject of sex or sexualy: This drew enough red flags for sirg to be a prit, I prayed for guidance and remembered two Ju prits, Fathers Mateo Ricci and Walter Ciszek, members of the Society of J (the Jus), members of what I would quickly learn was the largt, most progrsive and gay-iendly relig orr the Frs.

GAY JU PRIT: “WE DREAM OF A CHURCH THAT WILL ACCEPT .”

My iend Katie asked me how I uld dite my life to an stutn that labeled me as trsilly disorred, one who saw gay sexual acts are I saw homosexualy and Catholicism the most holistic way, and I put my needs for self-prervatn last bee I wanted to make a difference the life of LGBTQ youth. I thought I uld change thgs om the si, but to do this right I had to enter the Church’s most gay iendly orr, an orr wh polil and social nnectns that rivaled the then I knew would take years and years to undo the damage done to the LGBTQ muny by the Church, damage I hoped to help repair my lifetime as a prit. One immature novice said that for him gay porn was but one means to keep his “gay self” alive and still nnected to a muny so often alienated by the Church; for me, he was erroneoly projectg his own sense of isolatn and alienatn by the Church onto the gay porn those secret meetgs we discsed why was OK for our straight brothers to make c jok about women durg dner while we uld not discs ex-boyiends or what meant to be healthy, chaste gay man.

CONFSNS OF A GAY JU

Why was I, a healthy tegrated gay man, choosg life a hostile environment, self-selectg, and eely rpondg to a votn a church that practic “don’t ask, don’t tell” through the impnt guise of hate the s, love the sner? Louis I met a aterny of men jt out of siar noviat, whose newfound eedom led them to gay or straight bars, but also to “the 4th hoe” where we would all gather for libatns and pizzas.

I was more shocked by the stori I’d hear of younger Jus fatherg babi, and gay Jus fondlg each other vans on the way to men were gay Jus whom the Church and the Society of J embraced, gay men who acrdg to the church’s teachg were still objectively disorred, trsilly viant om the natural world and social the Society of J dog , or the LGBTQ muny, any favors by keepg ? ”Every time I heard a prep stunt e the term “faggot, ” or unseled a gay stunt bullied by his peers, I thought of Jam Baldw’s say, ‘Stranger In The Village, ’ (PDF) where he wr, “The children who shout ‘Neger!

Over time I grew tired of wag for the secret world of gay Jus: I uld go on and on about gay Jus playg the piano the Wt Village’s Duplex or about the nights I spent at NYC’s Splash Bar or Eagle Club. I uld talk about failed Ju hook-ups, my own and were the gay Jus who were so closeted that they hid behd nservatism, leavg the Jus for formatn programs dc across the Uned Stat. There were gay Jus who were put cleril prison for embracg unrgrads too long, and others who attend Sexaholics Anonymo, or whose personal llectn of pornography was mistakenly played durg high school lectur.

THOSE GAY JUS

I saw the vehement ternalized homophobia of some Jus, and knew of certa gay pastors removed om jobs so that ls out and more passable gay Jus replace them at gay-iendly were gay Jus who traveled the world to scuba dive or taste French we.

I lament that the gay Jus rema silent while their gay or lbian lay lleagu are fired om jobs and brought closer to 35, I ntue to ponr the qutn: Why is fair for the Church to orda gay men who sneak out at night jt to be wh other men of their muny, while the Church nmns gays who want to marry and to exprs their love? One week ago at Posh, a popular New York Cy gay bar, a gay Catholic who worships at the Plist Church near Fordham Universy’s Lln Center Camp told me not to be angry wh the Church.

The two men should meet: Maybe my new iend uld help my Ju brother to e out of the every new stage of formatn, I met more and more gay Jus who were happier sippg stch, orrg cigars, opera tickets, and sho, publishg books or holdg secret mass wh LGBTQ sympathizers (that followed unsanctned lurgil brics) than publicly nontg the jtice experienced by members of their muny. I believe the gay Jus won’t e out bee they live fortable liv, wh accs to so many thgs, like the latt technology or villas abroad or tenured posns at universi, not to mentn the unlimed gas rds that make domtic travel really other words, the gay Jus are livg better liv than the timated 320, 000 to 400, 000 homels LGBTQ youth Ameri. “Our reticence to share our stori wh the church or to speak out when queer people are fired or mistreated likewise ces the church’s narrative around homosexualy mostly to those who misunrstand or monize .

GAY EX-JU CONCERT BOOTED FROM CHURCH AFTER BACKLASH

But realistilly will our stutn grow s unrstandg of sexualy if we who have experience as both gay men and clergy won’t stand wh other queer people and other Christian church and share what God has shown , that while we would love to not be aaid or ashamed anymore, to not feel danger or like a burn, we would never choose to not be who we are?

Morators:DougErd, ryld, BuzzardThe Jus: the go-to relig orr for homosexual men wantg to bee pritsThe Jus: the go-to relig orr for homosexual men wantg to bee pritsFeb 26, 2015#12015-02-26T11:53Who knew that the Society of J, aka the Jus, was the go-to relig orr for gay men wantg to bee prits? I saw the vehement ternalized homophobia of some Jus, and knew of certa gay pastors removed om jobs so that ls out and more passable gay Jus replace them at gay-iendly parish.

JAY IS ‘GAY’ — AND A JU WANNABE

His dictment of some gay prits that sire to keep their liftyle quiet while beneftg om the perks of the Ju orr sheds light on the nfn occurrg wh the semari; a nfn which should be clarified and settled. At every new stage of formatn, I met more and more gay Jus who were happier sippg stch, orrg cigars, opera tickets, and sho, publishg books or holdg secret mass wh LGBTQ sympathizers (that followed unsanctned lurgil brics) than publicly nontg the jtice experienced by members of their muny. I believe the gay Jus won’t e out bee they live fortable liv, wh accs to so many thgs, like the latt technology or villas abroad or tenured posns at universi, not to mentn the unlimed gas rds that make domtic travel really easy.

I THOUGHT I ULD BE A GAY JU PRIT. I N’T BELIEVE HOW WRONG I WAS.

The article, which was reportedly approved by Torr-Botello’s superrs, scrib his ial stggl wh discerng a ll to mistry, notg that his iends and fay exprsed ncerns he uld face obstacl as a person of lor and would be forced to the closet after seventeen years of acceptg myself as gay. He ced exampl of Catholic school teachers fired for beg openly gay as well as other groups who have felt exclud by the church, such as people of lor, women, divorced Catholics, and children wh disabili. Asked why lbian and gay Catholics should rema the church, pecially after Pope Francis’ disappotg exhortatn Amoris Laetia, the prit replied:I know many Catholic gays and lbians who refe to be ostracized and who rema the church spe what they have had to and are havg to suffer..

"Still, Brenkert knows he ma the rrect cisn and hop n help spire other gay and closeted people of fah to enter to their own discernment regardg their beliefs whout the terference of a meddlg and outdated hierarchy and orthodoxy. The prent-day Jus, however, are a stark ntrast to the Jus of yteryear, embracg and perpetuatg theologil errors like Liberatn Theology, Procs Theology and what's begun to be lled homohery.

As a ndidate for the Wtern Provce of the Society of J (though he has not stated yet whether as a future prit or future brother), Jay Pearson is an animated example of a misled soul who believ that beg "gay" and beg "out" means te eedom.

GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE

Jay has gone uber-public about all this part to "speak out agast some bishops as well as those among the iologil ants the Church who are attemptg to blame gay prits specifilly and homosexualy generally for the sexual abe crisis.

" Jay vigoroly attacks the "spegoatg" of homosexual clergy he believ has been perpetrated by bishops like the late Bishop Robert Morlo of Madison, Wisns and Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMany of New York Cy’s most outwardly gay-iendly parish are ncentrated Manhattan, a center of both gay culture and efforts to build a gay-iendly Watts for The New York TimThe pews fill up quickly each Sunday at the Church of St. Mistri; anizg events like spirual retreats, hik and happy hours at lol gay bars; celebratg Mass and other events durg Pri Month; and by speakg up for the gay Watts for The New York TimWhen the Vatin issued a statement March that said prits uld not bls same-sex unns, which rid as a form of s, the parish and a handful of others Manhattan issued statements of dismay or ed hoi durg Mass as an opportuny to fort L.

Interviews wh more than two dozen gay Catholics New York revealed a powerful sire to rencile their sexual inty wh their fah both God and an stutn that has often approached them wh hostily. Lbian, gay and bisexual people are much ls likely than heterosexuals to attend relig servic, intify as a member of a relig group or believe that Scripture is the word of God, acrdg to Pew Rearch Center survey data om 80 percent of people surveyed that poll said they nsired the Catholic Church to be “uniendly” to the L.

GAY JU: CATHOLIC CHURCH MT DISVER 'TENR COMPASSN' FOR ALL

”The efforts to create a gay-iendly Catholicism highlight the reful path the Catholic Church and s clergy mt walk liberal plac like New York, an important Amerin relig center where churchgoers often look askance at the Vatin’s stanc on admistered day-to-day by more liberal, self-erng relig orrs — cludg the Jus, the Plist Fathers and the Francisns — affords the parish and their prits the eedom to do thgs like preach hoi that extol the digny of gay people and the value of their relatnships a way that prits who work directly for the rdal tend to also giv the archdce some distance om activi that tradnalists might oppose, like the Pri march participatn of St. While Pope Francis famoly rpond "Who am I to judge" when asked about gay prits durg a papal prs nference, he has also said that anyone wh "ep seated" homosexual tennci shouldn't be a prit.

"Their place is not mistry or nsecrated life, " he Jam Mart, a Ju prit and thor, and the most high-profile advote for LGBTQ Catholics, said, "I thk that if you had sudnly all the gay prits the Uned Stat e out, I thk the Church would be forced to look at the qutn of homosexualy a very different light.

" "One of the thgs I lament is, if there were a se of, say, bullyg a parish or a school, would be wonrful for the gay prit to get up and say, 'Look, I was bullied as a boy, '" Father Mart said.

THE GAY CHURCH

""It is a large, silent muny, a vast silent majory, " said Frédéric Martel, a French thor who spent four years rearchg his book, "In the Closet of the Vatin, " about the gay unrworld there. Father Greg Green, fahfully servg his parish Wisns, said secrecy is a surge the church, so the first step for him is beg open and asked, "You signed up to work for an stutn that thks beg gay, actg out on that, is a s. Bernatte Catholic Parish, Milwkee, Jam Mart on Twter"In the Closet of the Vatin: Power, Homosexualy, Hypocrisy" by Frédéric Martel (Bloomsbury Contuum), Hardver, Tra Paperback, eBook and Aud formats, available via Amazon and Indiebound Story produced by Sari Aviv and Anna Matranga.

Damien Torr-Botello, a man studyg for the Roman Catholic prithood, discs his homosexualy and lls on the church to be more welg of LGBT people an say published onle Torr-Botello entered the Ju relig orr 2011, some of his loved on "feared I would be forced to the closet after seventeen years of acceptg myself as gay, " he wr on The Ju Post. ""I pray as a Church we disver tenr passn for each other to love the God that dwells all, " he reportedly had the approval of his superrs for the post, acrdg to ThkProgrs, and his public discsn of beg gay is "not necsarily a direct vlatn of Catholic teachg.