Boston Archbishop Defends Hingham School Pastor

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, defended the pastor who prevented the son of a lesbian couple from enrolling at a Catholic school in Hingham, Mass. While saying that the pastor acted in what he believed was the best interest of the child, the cardinal also argued that Catholic schools do not exclude based on categories, a point he supported by likening homosexuality to prostitution.

As The Boston Globe reports, O’Malley said that the Catholic church does not exclude categories of children from its schools. He used an anecdote about inviting the young daughter of a prostitute to attend Catholic school to illustrate the concept.

“But, at the same time, O'Malley praised the Rev. James Rafferty, the pastor of St. Paul parish in Hingham, who, the cardinal said, had acted in what he thought was the best interest of the child,” reports the Globe. “And the cardinal said that, as the archdiocese crafts a policy for Catholic school admission, a Denver bishop’s decision to ‘question the appropriateness’ of allowing children of gay parents to attend Catholic schools should be ‘seriously considered’ because that decision was also made with the welfare of the children in mind.”

Read the full post from O’Malley here.