Michigan priest resigns amid dispute over school appearance by ‘openly gay’ author

[Michie]

A priest at a Michigan parish has resigned his post following a controversy over an “openly gay” author’s appearance at the parish parochial school’s pre-kindergarten class.

Father Thomas Held has resigned from the pastorship at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Beal City “effective immediately,” Diocese of Saginaw Bishop Robert Gruss said in a statement on Tuesday.

The parish and Held himself have been at the center of controversy since last month after area author Dominic Thrasher made an appearance at the parish’s school to read one of his children’s books, which are based on his family’s dogs.

Thrasher has identified himself as “openly gay.” About a week after he visited the school, the church’s Facebook page was updated with a message from Held in which he wrote that “a guest who does not represent the values of our Catholic faith read to our pre-k children” as part of a schoolwide reading program.

Continued below.

Michigan priest resigns amid dispute over author appearance at school

The Sagninaw priest has been at the center of controversy since last month after area author Dominic Thrasher made an appearance at the parish’s school.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

 

[chevyontheriver]

A priest at a Michigan parish has resigned his post following a controversy over an “openly gay” author’s appearance at the parish parochial school’s pre-kindergarten class.

Father Thomas Held has resigned from the pastorship at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Beal City “effective immediately,” Diocese of Saginaw Bishop Robert Gruss said in a statement on Tuesday.

The parish and Held himself have been at the center of controversy since last month after area author Dominic Thrasher made an appearance at the parish’s school to read one of his children’s books, which are based on his family’s dogs.

Thrasher has identified himself as “openly gay.” About a week after he visited the school, the church’s Facebook page was updated with a message from Held in which he wrote that “a guest who does not represent the values of our Catholic faith read to our pre-k children” as part of a schoolwide reading program.

Continued below.

Michigan priest resigns amid dispute over author appearance at school

The Sagninaw priest has been at the center of controversy since last month after area author Dominic Thrasher made an appearance at the parish’s school.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

Cancel culture is alive in a Catholic parish. Or a 'c'atholic parish. I donno. But they got rid of a priest who was trying to be responsible.

 

[Simon_Templar]

Cancel culture is alive in a Catholic parish. Or a 'c'atholic parish. I donno. But they got rid of a priest who was trying to be responsible.

Cancel culture is nothing new.

The exception is a culture where scandalous behavior WON'T get you shunned from society. Most societies have and continue to use social pressure and exclusion from society to enforce socially acceptable behavior.

In fact, I'm willing to bet there probably are almost no people who think they oppose "cancel culture" who wouldn't have draw a line that if person crossed that line they would believe that person should be shunned from society.

The question is, what things ought to bring down social condemnation and what things ought not bring down social condemnation, and how should that determination be made? As Christians, of course, we also must make room for mercy and forgiveness, if we ourselves want to receive mercy and forgiveness.

I think a lot of people don't realize that in a certain sense the period of relativism is over. The "woke" left are not relativists, they are nearly puritanical moralists. They just happen to have a morality that is virtually the opposite of ours (meaning traditional Catholicism). What we view as good, they often view as evil, and what we view as evil, they often view as good.

It should be noted that when they bring down social condemnation, what they are essentially doing is shunning people that they consider to be heretics.

It can be argued pretty convincingly, in my opinion, that they are forming what amounts to an anti-church.

 

[RileyG]

They need to stop with the LGBT nonsense. All sins must be repented of. Period.

 

[FaithT]

I know nothing about this priest but they might have lost a very good one over this. He had a right to express his feelings about this and I think the pro LGBT communitiy needs to shut up. But they wont.

 

[chevyontheriver]

But they wont.

Fer sure.

 

[RileyG]

I know nothing about this priest but they might have lost a very good one over this. He had a right to express his feelings about this and I think the pro LGBT communitiy needs to shut up. But they wont.

They won't shut up until they have full acceptance for their lifestyle by everyone in society. Anything less is seen as "hate."

 

[RileyG]

Fer sure.

I have a brother who is active in that lifestyle. He habitually cheats on his so called boyfriend and is still miserable. Makes me more disgusted towards the LGBT "community" as I see it destroy him.