Connecticut Archbishop Henry J. Mansell formally rebuked Father Michael DeVito last month because the priest participated in his cousin’s same-sex marriage ceremony. Though he did not perform the ceremony, he offered a reading and wore his Roman collar.
Because his participation has been “understandably perceived by many Catholics as an implicit endorsement of same-sex marriage,” DeVito’s record has been permanently stained with the Archbishop’s rebuke.
Showing an absence of compassion, the condemnation implies that members of the Catholic Church must stand so opposed to marriage equality that they disassociate from their own family members.