Gay Priest Recounts His Coming Out Story

In an interview with Spectrum News NY1, Father Bryan Massingale shared some of his personal journey of being an openly gay, black priest in the Catholic Church. 

Massingale, a theology professor at Fordham University, New York City, who also ministers at St. Charles Borromeo parish in Harlem  shared that he never fit the traditional mold of what a Catholic priest looked like.

Fr. Bryan Massingale

During a silent retreat in the 1980s, he actually had doubts of how his identity aligned with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

“I looked at creation and there were no gay people in creation,” Massingale said. “And it was then that I realized that … despite hearing the words that we were all created in God’s image and likeness, at some deep level, I didn’t believe it.”

Since that time Massingale struggled with and eventually reconciled his Catholic identity with his gay one, though he was not public about his sexuality. Several years ago, Massingale was challenged to speak publicly about being gay after a woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo shared photos and stories of individuals harmed or killed for their sexuality. Massingale was pushed to speak because of his presence as an American, where other countries were not at liberty to share as freely as him. In 2019 Massingale was invited to speak at an assembly of the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, which brings together groups who work for pastoral care and justice for LGBTQ+ people, and that is where he came out publicly.  While at first he wasn’t sure what to say, he settled in on sharing his own story. 

Since coming out, Massingale has received some criticism, but he feels an overwhelming amount of support.

“There’s been overwhelmingly far more positive experiences, but there has been a backlash,” Massingale said. “But the backlash hasn’t come from the ordinary person in the pew. The backlash sadly has come from my fellow clergymen.”

Massingale was asked about Pope Leo’s approach to LGBTQ+ Catholics, and he acknowledged fears that there would be a retreat from Pope Francis’ more welcoming tone.

“There was a fear after Pope Francis died that a future pope would come in and undo the welcoming overtures and advances that had taken place under Pope Francis’ papacy,” he said. But Massingale showed his support for Pope Leo by echoing the new papacy’s commitment to maintaining the same approach to LGBTQ+ Catholics that Pope Francis did. 

As a professor and priest, Massingale has become a leading voice on issues of identity like sexual orientation and race when it comes to faith. He remains optimistic that despite challenges and criticism there will be continued inclusion and equality within the Catholic Church.

“My blessing for our community is that we can stand as we are without shame,”Massingale said, “knowing that we are created in the image and likeness of a God who loves us beyond our understanding.”

–Matthew Gorczyka, New Ways Ministry, July 8, 2026