Australian priest supports gay marriage, gets booted from conference

Father Frank Brennan, Jesuit, stands in defense of LGBTQ marriage.

Unfortunately, that public backing cost him. Brennan got barred from a recent Catholic religious conference due to his public support for same-sex matrimony.

Brennan is a priest and writer, and has been described as a “Living Treasure” by the government of Australia.

He was asked to speak at an event in Tasmania. The get-together, called CatholicCare, is set to happen in February of 2019.

But the progressive priest’s message of tolerance didn’t sit well with the Archbishop of Hobart, Julian Porteous. Porteous blocked Brennan on account of his vocal advocacy for same-sex weddings.

Brennan hasn’t been shy about letting his fellow clergy know where he stands on the issue.

He pushed for Australia’s 2017 equal marriage vote, telling fellow Catholics (against the wishes of the archbishops) that marriage equality was for the “common good.”

Porteous, an opponent of equality in marriage, was hardly swayed. And thanks to this divergence in perspective, Porteous found reason for Brennan not to travel to Tasmania.

Since the Brennan barring, the Archbishop has been denounced as a hypocrite.

According to Metro Weekly, LGBTQ advocacy organization the Tasmanian Gay and Lesbian Rights Group was annoyed by Porteous’ ruling.

Rodney Croome, a spokesman for the group, said “During the marriage equality debate Archbishop Porteous regularly claimed that his free speech was being stifled and that marriage equality should be discussed freely, but now he openly admits to silencing a well-respected priest, Fr Frank Brennan, at a conference in Hobart seemingly because Fr Brennan supports marriage equality.

“Archbishop Porteous only cares about free speech when he is the one talking.”