Father Bob Pierson, an openly gay
priest in the monastic community at St. John's University in
Collegeville, last month told Catholics that it is okay to vote
against a proposed gay marriage ban in Minnesota.
At an event in Edina, Pierson told
roughly 200 Catholics that the amendment “violates an important
principle in Catholic teaching, and that as Catholics, we can vote
no.”
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church
states in #2358, gays and lesbians 'must be accepted with respect,
compassion , and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in
their regard should be avoided.'”
“It was in November 2005 that I was
offended to learn the Vatican had released a document that stated
that gay men cannot be priests because they are 'seriously obstructed
from properly relating to men and women,'” Pierson said. “I
couldn't believe what I was reading. I knew that I was gay when I
was ordained. Did that mean that my 21 years of ministry was a
mistake? My faith suggests that I could not in good conscience
continue to remain silent, and I cannot remain silent today. I spoke
up then, and I am speaking up now to say that I believe this
amendment violates an important principle of Catholic teaching, and
that as Catholics, we can vote no.”
In October, John C. Nienstedt, the
archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, ordered
priests to either support the amendment or remain silent.
A video of Pierson's speech has
received more than 28,000 views on YouTube. (The video is embedded
in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)