Catholic priest ordered to remove ‘Jesus had two dads’ sign
A Catholic church in New York has been forced to remove a sign that reads ‘Jesus had two dads and he turned out fine’.
Rev. Roy Herberger, of St Columbia-Brigid Roman Catholic Church in Buffalo, New York, put up the comical message last week.
The priest says the message wasn’t actually intended to support LGBT rights, and was meant to be an encouraging children who have heterosexual step-parents.
However, he was besieged with complaints from parishioners and other hardcore Catholics who interpreted it as an endorsement of same-sex parenting, which Church doctrine condemns.
His boss was among those who weren’t amused by the message – ordering the sign to be removed.
Bishop Richard J Malone of the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo said in a statement: “As soon as I learned of this sign, I took immediate action to have it removed.
“The pastor told me that the ‘2 Dads’ were meant to refer to a child who has both a father and stepfather.
“There are several children in his parish who have both a father and stepfather.
“However, given the potential for the meaning of this message to be misunderstood and even perceived in a heretical way, it was immediately removed.”
Herberger, who says he got the sign idea after looking on the internet, insisted to Yahoo: “I only had one purpose… After 48 years in the church, I see so many kids with stepparents, or even in single-family homes or being raised by grandparents, who feel that they’re not as good as other kids who have a nuclear mother-and-father family.
“I’ve seen what that does sometimes when they’re comparing themselves to that nuclear family, and I wanted to say, ‘Hang in there. You’re good. Things will work out for you’.
“I wanted to provide support and understanding for kids in that situation.”
John Vennari, a writer with Catholic Family News – listed as an extremist Radical Traditional Catholic group by the Southern Poverty Law Center – had ranted about the sign.
The anti-LGBT writer had complained: “This pro-homosexual sign effectively mocks the Blessed Trinity, mocks the Hypostatic Union, mocks the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph – some of the most sacred components of our Catholic Faith.”
