Lesbian couple forbidden in Catholic parish

Shunning Of Faithful Comes As Catholic Leaders Increase Anti-Gay Activism

(St. Clair Shores) – A lesbian couple has been turned away from St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church for no other reason than the fact that they are in a committed loving same-sex relationship.

On a recent visit to St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church Cheryl Mathers and her life-partner Mary Horon filled out a membership card to join the church but never received the promised materials in the mail to complete the process of joining. After numerous ignored phone calls and messages Father Michael Bugarin finally called Mary and said, “Oh you’re the gay lady.” Mary replied by saying they were a gay couple and wanted to join the church. Bugarin replied with, “No, I cannot allow that. This is a family oriented church.”

Mary responded by saying, “No problem, we are a family.” After pausing, he responded with, “I can’t have gay people here. You obviously won’t hide it and God knows you’re a sinner. I am sorry you are not welcome here.”

Cheryl and Mary then called several Catholic churches in the area and all of them said they would accept them as a family in their church. They are now members of St. Basil the Great Catholic Church in Eastpointe.

“More and more Catholics have left the church in recent years because of homophobia and discrimination,” said Sean Kosofsky, Director of Policy for Triangle Foundation. “How can any church turn away good and decent people simply because of their sexual orientation?”

“It’s one thing to be turned away by a friend and quite another to be turned away by a church,”Said Cheryl Mathers.

“You can’t stop me from being Catholic. I will always be Catholic and I will always love everybody, despite the treatment that was shown to me by St. Joan of Arc,” said Mary Horon.

Recently a Roman Catholic Priest in San Diego refused to perform a funeral for a gay man from that community. The Bishop later apologized. In Detroit last month Cardinal Maida of the Archdiocese of Detroit banned a Catholic nun known for outreach to gays and lesbians, from an event at a local church. That event was in conjunction with the screening of “In Good Conscience” at the Reel Pride Michigan (gay and lesbian film festival).

Furthermore, the Michigan Catholic Conference made a political contribution of nearly $1 million last year supporting Proposal 2, which banned marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. Last week the Detroit Archdiocese announced the closing of many parish schools, citing lack of funds to operate them.

“The Archdiocese can apparently find money to invest in anti-gay politics but not to operate their schools,” said Jeffrey Montgomery, Triangle Foundation Executive Director. “Between shunning good Catholics from their pews and making questionable contributions that hurt families, it should not surprise anyone that the shepherd is losing the flock.”

More information is available via the Triangle Foundation site www.tri.org/

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