BishopAccountability.org
	" Suspended As a Priest and Removed As Pastor" Fresno Bishop Takes Action against Defiant Priest California Catholic Daily October 15, 2008 http://www.calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=29f77a5f-27b0-4278-b94f-cdad7703dba5 Bishop John Steinbock has removed a priest who told parishioners to vote against Proposition 8 and confessed on a television newscast to being a homosexual from his post as pastor of the St. Paul Newman Center in Fresno. The bishop also took away Fr. Geoffrey Farrow's diocesan salary and health benefits, and told him not to return to the Newman Center or any other parish in the diocese he had served at previously. The Los Angeles Times quoted Bishop Steinbock as saying in a letter to Fr. Farrow, "Your statement contradicted the teaching of the Catholic Church and has brought scandal to your parish community as well as the whole Church." Writing in an Oct. 10 post to his personal blog (http://fathergeofffarrow.blogspot.com), Fr. Farrow confirmed the news reports. In what he called "an open letter to my parish community," Fr. Farrow wrote: "In a letter which I wrote to our bishop early this week, I explained that I intended to take a private retreat and then, unless I heard otherwise from him, resume my duties at St. Paul's this weekend. Today, I heard from the bishop that I have been suspended as a priest and removed as pastor of the Newman Center. In all candor, I had anticipated that response which is why I had removed my personal property from the parish house and offices. I bear no personal antimosity (sic) to the bishop for his decision." Fr. Farrow's use of a blog to continue discussion of the controversy appears to put him in continuing defiance of his bishop, since the Times also reported that Bishop Steinbock's letter warned him against "using the Internet as a means of continuing your conflict with the Church's teaching." According to the Times, the letter also "hinted that other penalties could follow, including defrocking him." The newspaper said the bishop did not return its phone calls. The defiant priest is also continuing his personal campaign against Proposition 8. In an Oct. 9 post to his blog, Fr. Farrow wrote: "I am however, making good use of my time. I am speaking with various groups and individuals who are working very hard for the 'NO on Proposition 8' campaign. I have to tell you, this is a fight for all of us, not just for people in the state of California. If the yes on prop. 8 party wins, they won't stop with robbing gay and lesbian people in California of their right to marry. They will then, move on to weaker states and go after domestic partnership laws, adoption laws, and employment protection laws. Essentially, they would like gay and lesbian people to have no rights at all and simply to not exist." Meantime, at the St. Paul Newman Center in Fresno on Oct. 12, a letter from Bishop Steinbock reiterating the Church's support for Proposition 8 was read at Sunday morning Masses, prompting some to applaud and others to get up and walk out of the sanctuary, according to the Times. The controversy began on Oct. 5, when, following his homily at the 11 a.m. Mass, Fr. Farrow told parishioners he opposed the marriage initiative, despite strong support from the state's bishops, including his own. And, in a television interview before the Mass on KFSN-TV in Fresno, the priest admitted his own homosexuality. Fr. Farrow, 50, was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Fresno in June 1985 after earning a BA in Philosophy and a Master's degree in Divinity from St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, according to the web site of the St. Paul Newman Center. Since his ordination, Fr. Farrow has served at parishes in Merced, Bakersfield and Visalia, and, as an Air Force reservist, as a chaplain at Edwards Air Force Base.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.