Priest resigns from Michigan church after protests over his criticism of a gay author
BEAL CITY, Mich. (AP) — A Catholic priest has resigned as pastor of a church in a small central Michigan community, the result of weeks of controversy following his publicly expressed regret that a gay author had read a book to preschool children.
Gay rights activists and others have held regular protests outside St. Joseph the Worker Church in Beal City, 85 miles (136.7 kilometers) north of Lansing, the state capital.
The Rev. Thomas Held’s departure as pastor was announced this week by the bishop of the Saginaw Catholic Diocese, The Morning Sun reported.
Held “has come to the decision that it would be impossible for him to bring unity to the parish,” said Bishop Robert Gruss, who called it an “unfortunate situation.”
There has been tension since Held went on Facebook on March 13 to respond to a parish preschool visit days earlier by local author Dominic Thrasher, who read from his book, “The Adventures of Cece and the Sheriff.” The main characters are puppies.
Related articles
OpenAI pauses ChatGPT voice after Scarlett Johansson comparisons
NEW YORK (AP) — OpenAI says it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices after some users s2024-05-21InPics: People celebrate Laba Festival in Beijing
(Xinhua) 09:06, January 19, 2024People eat Laba porridge at the Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing, c2024-05-21Innovation boosts revival of China's cultural, tourist industry
(Xinhua) 08:07, December 28, 2023BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The theme of China's cultural and tour2024-05-21Dawn Staley and her NCAA champion South Carolina Gamecocks celebrated with parade and rally
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and her national champions2024-05-21What's next for Iran after death of its president in crash?
JERUSALEM (AP) — The death of Iran’s president is unlikely to lead to any immediate changes in Iran’2024-05-21Ancient tombs excavated in Guangzhou
(Ecns.cn) 13:23, December 20, 2023An excavation site of some ancient tombs at a construction site in2024-05-21
atest comment