A controversial Philadelphia-area priest is making headlines again by
comparing the Roman Catholic Church to his Old Catholic Apostolic
Church, and saying his branch has never had a sex-abuse scandal.
Father
Jim St. George was fired last week from Chestnut Hill College in
Philadelphia as a teacher because he is gay, and he is now trying to
raise awareness for his church, the Old Catholic Apostolic Church.
His
branch broke away from the Roman Catholics in the 1870s, and their
differences are the subject of a new ad campaign for newspapers.
The
newspaper ads for St. Miriam's Church in Blue Bell are designed to make
it clear the Old Catholic Apostolic Church has nothing to do with the
Roman Catholic Church.
The first ad says, "our church has never had a sex abuse scandal."
Another says, "how could you say no to your little girl becoming a priest?"
Father
St. George points out the off shoot Old Catholic Church is not
recognized by the Vatican and it allows women and gay clergy.
He says the ads just highlight those differences.
"It's
really about our differences, here is what makes us our catholic,
here's what makes St. Miriam's St. Miriams, there's nothing in there
that's negative against any other denominations including the Roman
Church. That's simply not our point."
The church says the ads are not in response to the recent grand jury report released on sex
abuse within the archdiocese.
Father St. George says the campaign has been in the planning stages for months.
Father
St. George lost his job as a teacher at Chestnut Hill College, which is
a private Roman Catholic institution, when the school said it didn’t
know Father St. George was gay when he was hired to teach.