Thomas More in Grand Rapids
A Grand Rapids woman who is “married” to another woman was denied communion at her Catholic parish. She’s leading a campaign the priest’s ouster for acting according to Catholic teaching, and the tabloid media (is there another kind today?) is giving her a platform and a 50,0000 watt amplifier:
[Y]ou know what, silent parishioners? You need to find a backbone. Your priest is doing the hard work of defending the Eucharist and defending Church teaching, and is being held up by the local media and gay activists as a pariah. You are wrong to let him stand there and take all this contempt and abuse by himself. Conservative Christians often complain that the clergy won’t take tough stands on issues. Well, here’s a priest doing exactly that, but it appears that he’s standing all by himself. This is a test for him, certainly, but also for the orthodox Catholics of Grand Rapids.
…
I know it’s hard for parishioners who support Father Nolan to stand up publicly for him. But there he is, facing a ridiculously biased local media, and a well-publicized campaign to have him thrown out of his position, and made a pariah in the community, all because he is a faithful Catholic. The way the laity support him, or fail to support him, is going to be a teaching moment for all other Catholic priests thinking about whether or not to stand up to the demands of LGBT bullies and their allies.