A Jesuit preparing for ordination has left the Catholic Church over the way LGBTQ people are being treated by the Church in the United States.
Benjamin Brenkert has written an open letter to Pope Francis calling on him to tell the US bishops to make Catholic institutions not sack any more LGBTQ Catholics.
The last straw for the Jesuit, who had spent 10 years discerning priesthood, was when a food pantry worker was fired from St Francis Xavier Parish in Kansas City after her marriage to a woman was mentioned in a local newspaper.
Brenkert asked Pope Francis to speak out “against laws that criminalise and oppress LGBTQ people around the globe”.
Brenkert questioned whether it was fair that he could become a celibate priest as a gay man, but “LGBT employees that are seeking marriage and sacramental recognition of their love could no longer be employees because they were delighting in God’s love for them”.
He said what was needed from the Pope was more than a non-judgemental tone, but “an unequivocal statement of support for LGBTQ people”.
Since Brenkert’s departure from the Jesuits, he has been discerning priestly formation in the Episcopal church.
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