Republican Candidate Stops for Mass at Gay-Friendly Parish

Paul Ryan

Instinct magazine reports that Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan stopped at a gay-friendly Catholic parish for Mass recently while on the campaign trail.

Ryan and bodyguards attended a 10:00 a.m. Mass at St. Patrick-St. Anthony parish, Hartford, Connecticut, run by the Franciscans. Instinct cites a New York Times story from a few years back when Connecticut was debating marriage equality:

“In an October letter to each diocesan parish, the Hartford Archbishop, Daniel A. Cronin, asked all Catholics to sign a petition, endorsed by the diocese and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and the Family Institute of Connecticut (a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization), against the proposed laws. The Franciscan fathers at St. Patrick-St. Anthony refused to read the letter to their congregation or circulate the petition.”

St. Patrick-St. Anthony parish is currently the only Connecticut parish listed on New Ways Ministry’s gay-friendly parish list. Their parish motto is “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.”

Let’s hope and pray that some of the Franciscan spirit of welcome and concern for the poor and marginalized was transmitted to Mr. Ryan.

–Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry

Jan Hendron says:

October 4, 2012 at 10:34 am

….and I happened to be at that Mass. I was truly moved that God led him to this particular church – where everyone is treated justly with reverence and respect, honor and compassion. —– everything he has spoken against. The church was packed, as usual; and many visiting Franciscans were here kicking off their fund raiser for continued services to the poor for medical, shelter, food, and other. All the services he wants to cut!!! The Readings, Gospel, prayers of the faithful, homily, hymns…..all were so very appropriate for God’s appeal to ALL of us. I was in awe of this unexpected visit from Paul Ryan and God’s Message