Catholic high school refuses to publish same-sex marriage announcement

SEATTLE — A local Catholic High School refused to publish a wedding announcement of a former student leader because she married a woman.

James Nau found out his good friend of 20 years was not allowed to get her wedding announcement printed in the Bishop Blanchet High School alumni magazine.

His post on Facebook questioning the decision was shared hundreds of times and resonated with many in the local Catholic community.  The full post, excluding the friend’s name as requested by her, is posted below.

KIRO 7 connected with Nau via Skype from his home outside Chicago. He said he heard from BBHS’s president, but knows the decision flows from the Archdiocese, and he hopes the church will engage in a dialog about this topic.

THE POST:

An open letter to the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle.

I write today on behalf of my friend and former classmate at Bishop Blanchet High School. On the occasion of her wedding, she submitted an announcement to Bishop Blanchet’s alumni magazine. In response, the school issued her a letter which said, in part, “the Archdiocese does not permit this type of information to be published in our Catholic school magazine." As you have no doubt surmised, she is a woman, and so is her wife.

My purpose in this letter is not to contest the Catholic Church’s position on gay marriage, for despite my disagreement with it, I have no doubt in the futility of that particular endeavor. Rather, I would invite you to consider that a marriage is first and foremost a celebration of love, and while the debates within Christian communities around the question of gay marriage indicate something short of scriptural clarity on the matter, there is another matter upon which scripture is absolutely clear: the value of love.

In Matthew, Jesus commands us to love the Lord God and to love our neighbor, a sentiment echoed in Mark and pressed even further in Luke as we are told to love our enemies. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us that love outstrips even faith and hope, and in John’s first letter we are taught that “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” Nowhere is there ambiguity about the importance of love. What is more, marriage is a celebration, and communities should celebrate together. Again, reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we know that “if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

This policy which prohibits the public acknowledgement of her marriage stands behind a faith that you no doubt believe is right, but it does so at the cost of what is greater: love. When there is an opportunity to rejoice in love that exists among the members of your community, you have chosen instead to shut them out, and on this issue Pope Francis has warned, “a Church with closed doors betrays herself and her mission.”

The Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle has played a large role in my life. I am a graduate of St. Louise, Blanchet, and Seattle University. I was an altar server. I have been confirmed, mentored others in confirmation, played CYO sports, worked at CYO summer camps, gone on service trips, led retreats, participated in campus ministries, taught at Blanchet, coached at Blanchet. I stood vigil beside the body of Archbishop Murphy when he lie in state in St. James Cathedral. At Blanchet, I was the student body president and (she) was the vice president. She and I were homecoming king and queen together. I mention this not as boast, but simply in the hope that our place in this archdiocese might lend us some credibility in your eyes. It is my education by the Archdiocese of Seattle that has made me into the person who writes this letter.

While the Church might persist in its opposition to gay marriage, it would do well not to forgot to rejoice in love where it can be found, especially within its own communities and from a woman who it has been justified in honoring in the past.

Cox Media Group