NEW YORK (AP) - A day before Easter, the head of New York's Roman
Catholic archdiocese faced a challenge to his stance on gay rights:
the resignation of a church charity board member who says he's "had
enough" of the cardinal's attitude.
Joseph Amodeo told The Associated Press on Saturday that he quit the
junior board of the city's Catholic Charities after Cardinal Timothy
Dolan failed to respond to a "call for help" for homeless youths who
are not heterosexual.
"As someone who believes in the message of love enshrined in the
teachings of Christ, I find it disheartening that a man of God would
refuse to extend a pastoral arm" to such youths, Amodeo said in his
letter to the charitable organization last Tuesday.
Phone and email requests from the AP for comment from the archdiocese
were not immediately answered on Saturday.
The conflict started with a letter to Dolan from Carl Siciliano,
founder of the nonprofit Ali Forney Center that offers emergency
services to homeless gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender young
people. He said the cardinal's "loud and strident voice against the
acceptance of LGBT people" creates "a climate where parents turn on
their own children."
"As youths find the courage and integrity to be honest about who they
are at younger ages, hundreds of thousands are being turned out of
their homes and forced to survive alone on the streets by parents who
cannot accept having a gay child," Siciliano wrote in his letter, sent
last week.
Siciliano, who is Catholic, said parents who are strongly religious
are much more likely to reject children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender. Of the nation's homeless youths, as many as 40
percent are LGBT, studies show.
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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