Church discusses gay parishoners
No substantive changes have resulted from a meeting Saturday between Bishop Michael Warfel, leader of the Catholic Diocese of Great Falls – Billings, and parishioners of St. Leo the Great Catholic Church regarding the suspension of church privileges for two gay parishioners in Lewistown.
Following a meeting with roughly 300 parishioners in Lewistown, Warfel said the following:
"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.
"There obviously is polarization, and certainly what I want to do is try to effect some healing."
Warfel said that in the immediate timeframe he has to ponder the issue and reflect upon the comments that he heard.
"At the same time as a Catholic bishop I uphold our Catholic teachings," Warfel said.
Warfel was in Lewistown to lead a Mass and to listen to people's concerns about the church's recent disassociation of two gay parishioners who have been told they cannot receive Communion or fully engage in their life in the church because they were married in a civil ceremony more than a year ago.
On Aug. 6, four days after the installation of a new parish priest, longtime St. Leo's parishioners, Tom Wojtowick, 66, and Paul Huff, 73, were asked to attend a private meeting to discuss concerns of the Rev. Samuel Spiering. Huff and Wojtowick had just returned from a trip out of state, and had not met Spiering, 27, or attended a Mass over which he presided.
Huff and Wojtowick had been married in a civil ceremony 15 months earlier in Seattle, Wash. They have been in a committed relationship for more than 30 years.
At a meeting the following day and in telephone conversations between Spiering, Warfel, Huff and Wojtowick in the days thereafter, the two parishioners were told that they would no longer be allowed to participate in fundamental Catholic religious observances or ministry programs.
To restore their position within the Catholic Church, Huff and Wojtowick must obtain a divorce, discontinue living together, and write a restoration statement defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Wojtowick and Huff have thus far declined to do so.
According to information provided by Wojtowick and Huff, as many as 40 parishioners have since left regular attendance at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church.
Huff and Wojtowick have both historically been active in their community and in their church. Huff is a two-time past-president of the local Kiwanis Club, chairman of the Fergus County Fair Board, board member of the Lewistown Art Center and formerly served as an organist and cantor in the St. Leo's church choir.
Wojtowick recently retired as executive director of the Central Montana Council on Aging, and has served as either a board member or chairman of the Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown Art Center, and as an adviser to the Central Montana Medical Center Home Health and Hospice Program. Wojtowick is a four times elected representative of the Fergus County Community Council.
Speaking in an interview with the Billings Gazette last Thursday, Warfel said he knew Wojtowick and Huff to be "good people" and stated that the decision of Spiering was not "animus against someone who happens to be homosexual," but an issue that stands in conflict with Catholic teachings.
"As a Catholic bishop, I have a responsibility to uphold our teaching of marriage between one man and one woman," Warfel told the 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," Warfel told the Gazette.