Epitomizing how people hide their homophobia, the Catholic Diocese of Worcester has been caught lying to prevent selling their Northbridge, Massachusetts mansion to a gay couple who planned to rent it out for local events, including same-sex weddings. Monsignor Thomas Sullivan in charge of the property told a reporter the deal collapsed because the couple couldn't get financing, but the reporter had a copy of Sullivan's email to his real estate agent:
"I just went down the hall and discussed it with the bishop. Because of the potentiality of gay marriages there, something you shared with us yesterday, we are not interested in going forward with these buyers. I think they're shaky anyway. So, just tell them that we will not accept their revised plan and the Diocese is making new plans for the property. You find the language."
In Massachusetts it is illegal to discriminate against buyers based on sexual orientation. The gay couple, James Fairbanks and Alain Beret, who have been together 35 years and married in 2004, plan to sue. Their lawyer points out that gay weddings could have happened in the event space regardless of the orientation of the buyers.
Because a news story about the Catholic Church being antigay and breaking the law isn't shocking, the real stunner is this: The deal for the 44-room mansion on 6 acres was $550,000 plus a sprinkler upgrade for $240,000.
Oh, just more and more Catholic officials here in the Bay State who think they're above the law. Including Cardinal Law himself. Yes, discrimination and lawbreaking have become commonplace within Mother Church here and elsewhere. But my favorite bit of background is this: Oakhurst, the property in question, is perhaps best known locally as the former House of Affirmation, a treatment home for pedophile priests, which closed amid scandal in the late 1980s.
Posted by: Sandy | July 31, 2012 at 10:09 AM
I'm sitting here in Orange County, CA, shivering, thinking how if we could sell our little home, we could easily take over that mansion and still have funds for renovation. Oh, if this housing market ever turns around!
Posted by: Kergan Edwards-Stout | July 31, 2012 at 09:01 PM
We cannot hide the fact that there people who are afraid of anything in this world. Even ourselves are afraid of something that are just so small. But when we go near it, w become the numbest.
Posted by: Charlotte Boyle | November 12, 2012 at 01:29 PM
Let us respect each other opinion.
Posted by: David Hudson | November 22, 2012 at 10:09 PM
I cannot blame the catholic officials for doing this. They just want to protect its people so is the house where people worship God. We should not meddle on their problem anymore.
Posted by: Natasha Holcomb | January 19, 2013 at 08:22 AM
Is it really in their right to discriminate? This a a very sensitive topic, and i believe the church has no right to discriminate like that. They should first clean their own image before they start judging others
Posted by: Jury Minks | January 25, 2013 at 12:35 AM