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Pope Francis stirs optimism, hope for acceptance among gay priests and parishioners

By: 
Mark Mueller / The Star-Ledger

The Rev. Mariano Gargiulo, Rector of St. James' Church in Ridgefield, is quoted in this article.

[The Star-Ledger] With one offhand phrase — "Who am I to judge?" — Pope Francis Monday brought encouragement and guarded hope to gay priests and lay people who have felt ostracized by the Roman Catholic church’s strict stance on homosexuality.

The pope didn’t signal a change in church teachings when he addressed the media aboard the papal plane as he returned to the Vatican from Brazil. Homosexual acts remain "intrinsically disordered" in church thought.

But observers noted a dramatic shift in tone from Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, and said it appeared to reflect a growing acceptance of gays in the priesthood, at least as long as they remain true to their vow of celibacy.

"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Francis told reporters. "We shouldn’t marginalize people for this. They must be integrated into society."

For nearly two decades, the Rev. Mariano Gargiulo shielded his identity as a gay priest in the Archdiocese of Newark. Ultimately, he chose to leave the Roman Catholic Church for the Episcopal Church, where he can be both a priest and a gay man in a longterm relationship.

"The Roman Catholic Church thinks in terms of centuries — not in terms of days or months or years — when they make a change, so for Pope Francis to say what he said really is a great step forward," said Gargiulo, pastor of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Ridgefield. "It’s wonderful, because it sort of reversed what Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II had been saying."