A board member of a Catholic charity in St. Louis who was told he couldn't be president of the group because he is gay, is now petitioning for change within the organization, stltoday.com reports.
Jeffrey Goldone, who has been a vice president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of St. Louis board of directors for five years, was barred from running for president because he is in a 20-year gay relationship.
"I was told that I could not run for president because my living relationship goes against the Catholic moral teaching," Goldone wrote in a letter to "fellow Vincentians." In the letter he asks people to sign a petition saying an "injustice has been done" and asking for the group's rules to be modified.
The petition, which has been sent to local and national Vincentian leaders and St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson says, "We believe that active gay men and women bring a multitude of talents and abilities to our society that are to be shared with all, especially those who are in need."
In response to the letter and petition, the group's executive director, Zip Rzeppa, wrote in an email: "We serve all people without discrimination. And please note we are not discriminating against Jeff Goldone, a man who has done much good. He disqualified himself for the position of president by choosing to live a lifestyle of illicit sexual union, which falls outside the teachings of the Catholic Church, and outside the qualifications of Society's international rule."
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