Gay priest suspended by church for supporting LGBT rights
A gay priest has been suspended after expressing support for a woman who was fired for being in a same-sex marriage.
The Rev. Warren Hall has lost his job after speaking out in favour of the LGBT community and expressing support for a former dean of guidance and basketball coach who lost her job because of her sexuality.
Kate Drumgoole, 33, was fired in January after photos appeared online of her 2014 wedding to Jaclyn Vanore.
However, Paramus Catholic High School claims Drumgoole was not fired because she is gay, but because she is in a same-sex marriage. She is now suing the school.
After voicing his support for Drumgoole, Hall says he will no longer be able to celebrate Mass in public, present himself as a priest or work in the New Jersey parishes he calls home.
“The problem is that we have an archbishop who doesn’t believe you can be gay and Catholic,” Hall wrote in an email to Religious News Service.
Hall came out as gay last year after he was fired from his post at Sefton Hall University because of a pro-LGBT Facebook post he wrote.
“I have to be myself. I can’t worry what other people think,” Hall told OutSports.com.
The Newark archdiocese gave conflicting statements on why Hall was fired, saying at first that the priest was scheduled to be reassigned.
It then stated Catholic priests are required to live in “chaste celibacy,” according to the New York Times.
Hall’s departure marks a sad end to his time at the church, where he was so warmly welcomed by parishioners just over a year ago.
“If the Boy Scouts can put gays in there, what the heck is the difference?” 89-year-old church goer Joe Bradley said at the time.
