kevlar padre

Father Geoff Farrow spoke on Sunday in Fresno, as he had been used to doing before being suspended by the Catholic Bishop for failure to appropriately promote hate and bigotry as per pastoral instruction letter.

Although he was back in the old hood, things were different. First, he wasn't in the sanctuary, he was on the steps of City Hall. It wasn't his usual parish, it was a No on 8 Rally. He shared the stage with Christina Chavez, the granddaughter of immigrant rights activist Cesar Chavez.

And there was one other difference- it was the first time that he had ever worn a Kevlar vest under his collars. I borrowed it from my ex, Michael, who works in law enforcement and was more than happy to help out. There had been a few concerning messages and just enough Yes of 8 supporters starting fights and getting arrested (and one church promising to let out early for counter demonstrations) that it seemed a wise precaution. Of course, a vest is only so much protection, it wouldn't keep a bullet from entering his brain. But it was a darn sight safer than nothing.

After the rally, one of the undercover police officers came over to him and tapped his chest. "Too bad you have to wear that, Father" he said. Too bad indeed.

But he wasn't wearing it because of anyone from the No on 8 side of the aisle.

Kudos to Father Geoff for going back to Fresno on behalf of No on 8. The Kevlar padre's got guts.

rising on the charts

Good news from the LA Times website this morning- Father Geoff's interview with Steve Lopez, which appeared in yesterday's edition, is the second most emailed story of the day.

Here's an excerpt...

Gay priest is true to his faith, at odds with his church

So who is this Catholic priest from Fresno who stood up and spoke out against Proposition 8, putting his career on the line? As a gay man who finds the church's views on homosexuality so objectionable, why has he been a priest for more than 20 years and subjected himself to such moral conflict?

After reading my colleague Duke Helfand's story about Father Geoffrey Farrow and his recent career-suicide from the pulpit, I was curious.

read the entire interview here

and don't forget to visit no on 8

front page

My conservative family reacted pretty well when I broached the subject of the love that dare not speak its name, with my father gently admonishing me to "keep it out of the newapaper". For his sake, I pretty much have, limiting my media exposure to network news cameras at various marches on a series of state capitols, and this blog thing. But nobody reads this, right?

My good friend Father Geoff, on the other hand, in his fight for equality for all, has taken it to the newspaper.

Click here to read his page one interview in today's LA Times

And if you haven't yet donated to no on 8, please do so if you can.

father geoff farrow

He really is a good friend and a wonderful man, full of love and humility and courage. I'm not religious, but the guy walks with grace.

I helped him get his word out as best I can to all of you fine folks, and tuesday we set him up a blog site. I helped with the basics, but now he has the tools and the passwords, and the words that flow are all his. Please follow along with him as his walk of faith takes him places heretofore unseen.

Father Geoff Farrow

And please, help defeat Prop 8. It's not about defending marriage. If it were, they would encourage marriage and discourage divorce. It's about stepping on the little faggots and taking back their civil rights. I for one will not go back to second class citizenship without a fight. I'm not borarding Sarah Palin's bus to Restorative Therapy camp while I can still stand. So please help. If you can donate money, please do. If you can't, please pass the word. It's the most important civil rights struggle of our epoch, and a loss here will encourage the oppressors to crush their way across the country.

No On Eight.

Help if you can. Please.

so these two priests start talking....

Reprinted from Father Tony of the Farmboyz

Father Tony, in his own words:

I just got off the phone with Father Geoffrey Farrow. (A blogger friend of his suggested I contact him and was kind enough to facilitate our introduction.)

If the word gracious can be undertstood to mean filled with grace in the spiritual sense, I’d like to apply it to Father Geoff who has surely fired a graceful shot to be heard round the world.He seems like a gentle man. A man of integrity who demonstrates once again that the greatest thing a man can do in this world is simply to be true to himself and to care about the people entrusted to him.

Trained in different seminaries and assigned to pastoral ministry in different parts of the country, our paths seem not to have crossed, but there is not a word of his magnificent story that felt foreign to me.

Having refused to bind himself to a directive from his bishop regarding Prop 8, and having delivered himself of a fine sermon about the nonsensical and un-Christian stance of the Roman Catholic Church regarding gay men and women and gay marriage, Father Geoff will return to his parish this weekend as usual and until he hears otherwise, will continue to serve his parishioners as usual. He has not been suspended.

Not yet. And this was a large portion of our conversation. Father Geoff has put the bishop of Fresno in a spectacularly awkward position. If he ignores what Father Geoff has said from the pulpit, he will catch hell from Rome. If he suspends Father Geoff or in any way reduces his faculties, he will be rightly demonized for silencing an honest and sincere priest who puts the message of Jesus Christ above the hidebound laws of the church, and he will find himself in the center of a defining war that has been percolating for far too long.

Father Geoff is unsure of his future, but he says that for the first time in years he feels at peace with himself while fearful about his ability to deal with the strife and tumult that is about to come his way. He said, “I feel like the little boy in the crowd who says the emperor is naked.”

We talked about the fact that most priests are gay, and about the power structure that keeps them silent when in their hearts they know they should be working to overturn the ridiculous mistreatment of gay people by the Catholic Church. He said that at a gathering of priests that followed the news about his sermon, the bishop was assured by many of the priests that Father Farrow was wrong and should be punished. This is disgusting and yet so very believable.

I wish I could shout out to all the thousands of gay priests out there. This is your chance, guys. Father Geoff took the first shot. He made the bold jump. Are you going to let him stand there alone and vulnerable? Are you going to turn your back on him? Or, will you stand up and be counted? Will you use your pulpits to support what he has begun?

The bishop can get away with suspending one man, but he cannot suspend all of you.

Do the right thing. This is why you were ordained.