ARTICLES

They Face No Censure

California Jesuits Promote Gay Rights

By Maria Kennedy

Last April, three Boston priests, including a California Jesuit, publicly opposed the Defense of Marriage Act -- then a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts state constitution to ban homosexual marriage in that state. Such gay rights advocacy has characterized not only California province Jesuits "abroad," but those also who have remained at home.

In opposition to the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, Father Thomas Carroll of the California province of the Society of Jesus on April 10 opposed the amendment before the Massachusetts legislature. Father Carroll, a native of San Francisco, is the director of the Jesuit Urban Center in Boston. An August 1999 listing in the "Best of Boston" column in Boston magazine listed the Jesuit Urban Center as the best place to meet a gay mate: "True, many happy couples found their love in the Ralph Lauren paint department of Homo Depot -- er, Home Depot. But Sunday morning Mass at the Jesuit Urban Center spawns more blessed pairings. The Urban Center's liturgy is both classic and contemporary; its mixed congregation is mostly gay; its AIDS and HIV support programs are some of the best in town; and its coffee hour is a great place to get phone numbers." When asked, in an interview last April about this listing, Father Carroll told this reporter that the listing had been posted "before my time."

The Jesuit Urban Center seems to be at the center of homosexual activism in the Boston area. According to Jesuit sources, before Father Carroll became pastor, the Jesuit Urban Center was directed by two "co-directors." One, Sister Jeannette Normandin, left last year after she baptized the adopted baby of a gay couple. The other co-director was Jesuit Father Jim Shaughnessy of the New England province. One Jesuit source, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the problem with the Jesuit Urban Center is that "the liturgical congregation is significantly -- even disproportionately -- gay; but then, so is the South End of Boston. A Church that featured lovely music, articulate homilies and a richly ornamented, carefully choreographed liturgy would naturally attract many upwardly mobile, aesthetically sensitive gays. And so even without wanting to, the Church could easily and quickly become a place to meet other "nice" gay men.

"The real problem would lie with the preaching," continued the Jesuit. "Is it tailored to the congregation in such a way that the Gospel is compromised -- that its hard sayings, its harsh condemnations of the lifestyle many there must surely be living, are whittled down to an inoffensive, scandal-free smoothness? I don't know. But I figure: it would take enormous integrity not to compromise."

In a December 3, 2001 issue of the on-line Jesuit newsletter, In News Weekly, the reason for the above concern is evident. "Most people experience the [Jesuit Urban] Center as welcoming," said the newsletter. "Undoubtedly, spiritual and social ministry to lesbian and gay Catholics presents a unique opportunity and challenge anywhere. Under Carroll's stewardship, moreover, the Center has fully embraced that effort. This year's invitation to the Loyola dinner not only acknowledges, but also celebrates, the social ministry to the gay community."

And an invitation to a function at the center reads: "The Jesuit Urban Center has been blessed, over the last decade and more, with a special care for the lesbian and gay Catholics of Greater Boston. Many have found here a welcoming home, a place where they can share their spiritual journeys and find encouragement. The Center, and the community that gathers to pray together there, extends that welcome and that spirituality of encouragement to everyone -- gay and straight alike." As Father Carroll says, "we make every effort here to encourage each other daily, while it is still today."

Carroll's opposition to the proposed amendment banning homosexual marriage did not surprise many. Philip Lawler, editor of the Catholic World Report told me that "under ordinary circumstances it would be astonishing that Catholic priests would testify against an effort to preserve the institution of marriage. But here in Massachusetts we're growing accustomed to headlines about priests who undermine families, and priests who are actively involved with the homosexual movement. What's more scandalous, really, is the fact that these priests are not subject to immediate public reprimand and discipline. Just a few months ago, Cardinal Law refused to allow a priest to speak in Boston parishes, because he was affiliated with Priests for Life, and the cardinal deemed that group too confrontational. But these priests -- who are in flat-out public opposition to the Church on a crucial moral question -- face no such censorship. The only priests who testified on this measure testified against it. There's a clear show of the abdication of responsibility by our Catholic leadership."

In my April interview with him, Father Carroll said that he was born in San Francisco. Jesuit records show that he was born in 1950 and entered the Jesuits in 1974. He was ordained in 1984, and took final vows in October 1993. Prior to his taking the directorship of the Jesuit Urban Center, Carroll taught English at Loyola High School in Los Angeles and served a stint at the National Jesuit News. At Loyola High School, Father Carroll produced a CD of music featuring Loyola High School students. Father Carroll is well known for his expertise as a musician.

California Jesuit provincial Father Thomas Smolich declined to comment on Carroll's opposition to the Massachusetts Catholic Conference. At the request of his executive assistant, I sent Father Smolich a faxed copy of a series of questions pertaining to this story. Some of the questions included: "Why would this Jesuit [Father Carroll], as well as others, be so active in gay rights?" "Last year, a co-director at the Jesuit Urban Center left after baptizing the child of a same sex couple. Is this typical of the center's activities?" Another question posed was: "the Massachusetts conference is supporting the Defense of Marriage Act; is it okay for a Jesuit to oppose this act? It looks like the Church is contradicting herself, doesn't it?"

In April, Father Smolich acknowledged in a message he left for me that he had received the faxed series of questions, but that he was "declining comment about them and any other aspect of the story."

On the West Coast, Jesuits are also involved in homosexual activism. Jesuit Father Greg Miller is a board member of the Sacramento chapter of Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educational Network. According to its own statement of purpose, "the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. Since homophobia and heterosexism undermine a healthy school climate, we work to educate teachers, students and the public at large about the damaging effects these forces have on youth and adults alike. [The Network] seeks to develop school climates where difference is valued for the positive contribution it makes in creating a more vibrant and diverse community."

According to a July 25, 2001 message posted on the group's website, Miller attended a week-long leadership training seminar where participants had a chance to learn techniques that will help them establish homosexual outreach programs in area schools. In his message, Miller speaks of how after the training he is ready to use his newly acquired skills with friends, "teachers, mothers, an administrator -- all friends from when I was at Jesuit High School." (He referred to his stint at Saint Ignatius High School in San Francisco.) Miller then goes on to encourage these colleagues to become active in the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educational Network. "It was the beginning of putting my training into action through facts, autobiography, solutions, and ways of action," wrote Miller. "I asked them to become new members in our Chapter, as well as donors."

In a January 12 letter to bay area schools, Miller, using the Network's letterhead, asks administrators to tell students and student groups about an upcoming Gay, Straight Alliance training session that he would be leading at Saint Ignatius parish in Sacramento on January 26. When protestors, both Catholic and Protestant, arrived at the parish on the morning of January 26, they were told by event organizers that they were not welcome at the event. Undaunted, the protestors told the event organizers that they had a right to be at the church since they were Catholic. At that point, event organizers called the police. When the Sacramento deputy sheriffs arrived, event organizers told them that they had rented the facility for the day and that the protestors were not supposed to be there. Sheriff's deputies then told the protestors that they were risking arrest by being there. After several exchanges, including more threats of arrest, the event organizers went into the parish hall to participate in the leadership training. In spite of being asked for by name, Miller refused to come out and publicly tell the protestors that they were not supposed to be on the church's property. Later, in an interview with this reporter, the pastor of Saint Ignatius parish conceded that it had not been a good idea to allow the Gay Straight Alliance to hold a training session on church property.

Another Jesuit who is involved with homosexual activism on the West Coast is Donal Godfrey. Godfrey, ordained in 1992, is an Irish province Jesuit who is a graduate student at the University of San Francisco. In 1997 Godfrey spoke at a seminar in Derry, Ireland, calling for special ministries for homosexuals in Ireland. Father Godfrey continues to speak out on behalf of homosexual issues in San Francisco. During the recent meetings held in Rome over the issue of sexual abuse among Catholic priests, homosexual groups feared that the Vatican would propose the screening of prospective candidates for the priesthood and would forbid bishops from ordaining men with same sex attractions. Father Godfrey largely dismissed such fears as baseless. "I think it is very unlikely that any such screening could or will take place as a general principle," Godfrey told Gay.com/PlanetOut.com, a homosexual newswire. "It may happen in some specifically reactionary dioceses," he cautioned.

On May 12, Father Miller announced that he was leaving the Jesuits and the priesthood. "I wanted to write and let you know that I have decided to leave the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the priesthood. I leave in excellent standing," Miller told parishioners at Saint Ignatius in a letter published in the parish bulletin. "After many months of personal prayer and discernment, meetings with my spiritual director and conversations with my Provincial, God is leading me out of the Jesuits and the priesthood. I am in deep peace with this decision."

When asked what he would do after leaving the Jesuits, "Go back East? go to Europe?" Miller answered, "all of the above."

Father Smolich told me that while he was saddened with the loss of Miller, he trusted that God "is working in this." Smolich then added that the laicization process for Miller has already begun.

TOP