Priest who ministered to gays stands in the eye of a storm

• New York Times

tb BOSTON The recent transfer of the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, who gained a national reputation for his work with homosexuals and their families, and the resulting controversy indicate the conflict within organized religion over dealing with homosexuality....

Church officials say the Roman Catholic priest's shift to a quiet suburban parish was made in response to financial and personnel shortages in the archdiocese.

But Father Shanley says he was transferred to negate his ministry to homosexuals:

"Paul Shanley helped me understand and love my child when I found out she was a lesbian," said a mother in Boston. "When the archdiocese took him away, it not

only removed him from individuals, but it also removed him from their families. It hurt hundreds of people."

"The loss is gigantic," said the Rev. Patrick O'Neill, an official in the young adult ministry of the U.S. Catholic Conference. "Paul is a man of reconciliation, like Jesus. We need 100 Paul Shanleys."

While Roman Catholicism and most other denominations regard active homosexuality as sinful or wrong, some clergy and theologians have argued recently that homosexuals must be loved and accepted for themselves, even if homosexuality is not condoned.

For the past eight years, Father Shanley has traveled around the country lecturing to the clergy, educators and counselors and dis-

tributing tapes of his talks on how Catholicism should respond to homosexuality.

The 47-year-old native of Boston became well known here as a street priest in the 1960s, working with runaways and those in the drug culture. His efforts were endorsed by Cardinal Richard Cushing.

When Cardinal Humberto Medeiros succeeded the late Cardinal Cushing in 1970, Father Shanley was allowed to continue his work.

Wearing blue jeans and long hair, the slim, intense priest frequented the fast-food shops of Kenmore Square, the bridge in the Public Gardens and a notorious downtown section where runaways were often turned into male and female prostitutes.

"I discovered the majority of runaways are gay," Father Shanley said. "I told them they were not

sinful and did not need shrinks, but that they had to respect themselves. I told them God loved them, but I did not work only with Roman Catholics. I worked with everybody.'

A psychologist who has worked with Father Shanley and who requested anonymity said the priest's belief that homosexual patterns are formed early in childhood is matched by recent assertions by Dr. William H. Masters and Virginia Johnson, the sex researchers.

"Paul helped homosexuals and their families to see the condition from its start," the psychologist said. "From what I understand from a theological viewpoint, something that is decided at the age of 3 or 4 is less of a sin."

Often feeding or finding housing for runaways, Father Shanley never hid the fact that he was a priest. Brian McNaught, a leader of

Dignity, an organization of Catholic homosexuals, said, "Paul established credibility by remaining a priest when others dropped out. He urged gay people to be responsible, to form long-term relationships."

In recent years, Father Shanley said, Cardinal Medeiros forbade him to "say mass for homosexuals, start a parish for gays, encourage gay unions or give my opinion on the morality of certain acts."

He added, "Fortunately, some of the most respected theologians have taken a liberal position in recent years.'

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Two years ago he traveled to Wichita, Kan., to campaign against a proposed ordinance that would have limited public jobs for homosexuals. The local bishop, who supported the ordinance, was re-. portedly angry that a Boston priest was opposing him in his own diocese.

"Last Jan. 22 I was called in by the cardinal and was told it was time for me to go back to parish work," Father Shanley said. The cardinal told me he didn't think it was necessary to have a ministry for homosexuals because they should feel welcome in any parish." :

One official in the archdiocese said it was normal for a priest to be transferred after seven or eight years.

Father Shanley responded, "I'm the only priest in the country working full-time with gays. Why cancel my ministry?

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"We Catholics always need a scapegoat, and our current scapegoat is the sexual minority, he said. “Most homosexuals left the established church long ago, and I would say rightfully so. I tried to keep them in, and look what happened to me."