I wonder, does this bishop feel the same way when one of his priests reveals that he is straight?
The whole reason "gay" is always and everywhere inappropriate for use in pastoral setings is preciesly because to use that word is to join in the "celebration" of a disordered sexual orientation toward objective evil. Some folks seem to enjoy embracing "gays" (and discussing those embraces) more than is prudent.
'Orthodox' priests in both Rochester and Albany dioceses are given the grunt assignments. In the case of one Albany priest, working as chaplain at a local hospital proved most beneficial in that he could accrue information for a dossier requested by (now deceased) Cardinal O'Connor, on the activities of homosexual priests in this diocese. That information was intended for the Vatican. Unfortunately, due to the Cardinal's rapidly decline in health, it was never delivered. The rest is history.
Fr. John Minkler, 57, was found dead Sunday, February 15. This was 48 hours after he was directed by the Diocese of Albany, N.Y. — according to what he told this reporter — to sign a statement denying he ever wrote a letter nearly nine years ago to the late John Cardinal O’Connor. That letter, in part, mentioned "a ring of homosexual Albany priests which also included Bishop Howard Hubbard.
Refreshed after a week-long retreat at a Trappist monastery in Spencer, Mass., Fr. Minkler returned to his home in Watervliet on the morning of Friday, February 13, and found a message on his telephone answering machine requesting him to come to the chancery to discuss the letter, which surfaced at a February 12 press conference at which Hubbard was denying public accusations he had been involved in homosexual relationships.
That telephone call from Fr. Kenneth Doyle, diocesan spokesman and both a civil and canon lawyer, and an old friend of Minkler’s since the time they both served as altar boys at the same parish church in Troy, ordered Minkler to come to the chancery at once.