On Sunday Father Gregory Greiten of the Milwaukee Archdiocese came out to his parish, then the following Monday he came out to the world.
During his sermon at the St. Bernadette Catholic Parish Father Greiten stated, "I am Greg. I am a Roman Catholic priest and, yes, I am gay". The parish erupted into applause, later giving Greiten a standing ovation after he announced he would "no longer live in the shadow of secrecy".
The next day Greiten published a heartfelt essay in the Naitonal Catholic Reporter in which he described the difficulties of having to hide his identity within the church.
"For years now, I have been carrying a heavy burden, a secret cloaked in silence that the leaders of my church have not wanted me to share publicly. Each time I had a great desire to speak out I was challenged by other priests and leaders."
"Today, I break the silence and emerge free from the shackles of shame placed upon me at a young age. There is so much to speak about, to repair and to heal — much beyond the limits of these words in print.
"I am gay."
Greiten explained how, growing up in a seminary in the '80s he was taught not only that homosexuality was something that should be punished, but that it was "disordered". Growing up in an environment where men were shamed into silence, Greiten attempted to repress his sexuality from the world and himself.
When the priest was 24 he finally couldn't deny who he was any longer, and the internalised shame drove him to consider ending his life but was able to find solace in his work, going on to celebrate his 25th anniversary of ordination in May.
By choosing to enforce silence, the institutional church pretends that gay priests and religious do not really exist. Because of this, there are no authentic role models of healthy, well-balanced, gay, celibate priests to be an example for those, young and old, who are struggling to come to terms with their sexual orientation. This only perpetuates the toxic shaming and systemic secrecy.
After his sermon, parishioners from St. Bernadette were full of love for the priest with one commenting, "I could care less, I love him for the person he is".
While it's difficult to narrow down a precise number of men in the Catholic church who identify as gay, polls in the past have estimated the percentage in the U.S. could range from 15% to up to 50%.
Read Greiten's entire personal essay here.
