An openly homosexual man who was removed from his positions of reader and religious-education instructor in his New York parish after he entered into a same-sex marriage is petitioning to be reinstated.
Nicholas Coppola has presented a petition signed by 18,000 people to Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Center diocese.
The diocese released a statement saying it “respects those who may have signed a petition” but that it cannot change Church teaching and expects others to respect that position.