Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Bishop Michael Warfel
Bishop Michael Warfel of the Diocese of Great Falls, Montana is upholding the action of one of his priests to deny communion to two gay parishioners who were “married” 15 months ago in Seattle, Washington.
According to the Great Falls Tribune, the issue started more than a month ago when Rev. Samuel Spiering arrived at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Lewistown to serve as the new administrator of the parish.
Within days of his installation he learned that two of his parishioners, Paul Huff, 73, and Tom Wojtowick, 66, had recently been “married”. When asked if this was true, Huff told Fr. Spiering that it was and that they had been in a relationship for 30 years.
A meeting was then set up between the three of them where the couple was informed that they could no longer receive communion or serve in volunteer positions in the parish choir.
This meeting was followed by a conference call between the two men, Father Spiering and Bishop Warfel in which the couple agreed to write a “restoration statement” in support of the concept of marriage as being between a man and a woman. However, when they were asked to divorce and separate, they refused.
As is usually the case with these kinds of disputes, Wojtowick and Huff later claimed to the press that they were “stunned and stung” by the action, even though they both describe themselves as being life-long Catholics and therefore should have been aware of the Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage and its condemnation of homosexual relations.
Naturally, the press presented the side of Huff and Wojtowick in the most glowing possible terms. The Tribune devoted several paragraphs to describing the fine work they did in the community in an effort to whip up support for the couple and opposition to the Church teachings they used only five words to describe – “homosexual behavior is a sin”.
Had they given the full teaching the ink it deserved, or at least the same amount they gave to praising Wojtowick and Huff, the entire community could have been served because it might have defused the knee-jerk reaction by most to see Church adherents as being hate-filled bigots. Isn’t it always better to dialogue and come to understand the positions of others rather than stifling speech by hurling misinformed pejoratives at them?
St. Leo the Great Church, Lewiston, Montana
Once again, this tactic resulted in stirring up the usual division within the local church with some people choosing to leave the parish in opposition to Father Spiering’s actions.
Bishop Warfel acted quickly and called a meeting with parishioners in which he allowed them to voice their opinions on the matter. About 300 people showed up for the meeting which he later described as being split 50-50 in support of, or opposed to, Father Spiering’s decision.
“The comments from the parishioners were probably 50 – 50. In balance, those were both supportive of what the pastor had done in his decision, and then some who were very angry and non-supportive of that decision,” Bishop Warfel said. “There obviously is polarization, and certainly what I want to do is try to effect some healing.”
He also told the press that he knew Huff and Wojtowick were good people but said the decision made about their participation in Communion and the liturgy was not out of animus against homosexuals.
“As a Catholic bishop, I have a responsibility to uphold our teaching of marriage between one man and one woman,” Warfel told the Billings Gazette.
“And I think there’s very solid scriptural teaching on it and our sacred tradition is very strong on it. . . . Either I uphold what Catholic teachings are or, by ignoring or permitting it, I’m saying I disagree with what I’m ordained to uphold.”
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