Former Iraq war
hostage James Loney says the Ontario-based Catholic
group Knights of Columbus has closed a Catholic youth
leadership camp because he is gay and serves as a
staff member there, the Toronto Star reports.
Loney and the Christian Peacemakers Team said in a
statement that his decision to disclose his relationship
with partner Dan Hunt after his release prompted the
closure of the camp. The Ontario Catholic Youth
Leadership Camp, near Orillia, was to operate this year
between Aug. 21 and Aug. 26.
Reached by the
Star at his Peterborough home last night Jack
Clancey, a Knights of Columbus official, said the decision
to close the camp had nothing to do with the
organization's views on homosexuality. "That statement
is totally out of left field," said Clancey. "We
closed down that leadership camp because we needed to review
the way we were going and the curriculum that we were
teaching."
Loney and Hunt
received the "Fearless" award at a fundraising gala
and awards dinner on Tuesday as part of Toronto's Pride
Week festivities in recognition of their perseverance
during the hostage ordeal. Loney, a Roman Catholic who
helped found Toronto's Catholic Worker community, made
international headlines when he was kidnapped along
with three colleagues in Baghdad last November. He was held
for four months before being released.
The fact that
Loney was gay was kept a secret by family and friends for
fear that, if his captors found out, it would endanger him.
"I was worried that if the captors did find out, that
it would substantially change my treatment or would,
or could, endanger my life," Loney said shortly after
his return.
The Knights of
Columbus has made headlines in the past with its strong
views opposing same-sex marriage. The group has stated they
want Ottawa to re-introduce legislation to "recognize,
protect and re-affirm the definition of marriage as a
voluntary union of one man and one woman to the
exclusion of all others." In the United States, at the
behest of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the
Knights of Columbus printed 10 million postcards
addressed to U.S. senators to support a constitutional
amendment blocking same-sex marriage. (The
Advocate)