A framed portrait of Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist preacher named after a rebellious 16th century German priest banished from the Catholic Church, greets parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Harlem.
The Rev. Bryan Massingale, who speaks at St. Charles on occasion, follows in the footsteps of both Martin Luthers in his preaching.
Massingale, like King, decries the evil of racial inequity in America. He teaches African American religious approaches to ethics as a professor at Fordham University.
Massingale, like the German Martin Luther, is frequently at odds with official Catholic teaching; for example, he advocates women’s ordination and the abolition of celibacy for Catholic clergy. As a gay man, he publicly opposes the church’s position on same-sex relationships, pushing instead for full inclusion of LGBTQ Catholics inside the church.
Gays and lesbians should be treated with dignity and respect, according to the Vatican, but gay sex is “intrinsically disordered” and wicked.
Massingale, who came out as homosexual in 2019, envisioned a society “where the dignity of every individual is acknowledged and protected, where everyone is cherished” in his sermon on a recent Sunday.
He recalls the parish priest remarking, “This would not be a very comfortable parish for you to be a part of.” Following that, the family went to a largely African-American Catholic church.
After celebrating his first Mass at a largely white parish as a freshly ordained priest, Massingale recalled another event.
‘Father, you coming here is the biggest mistake the archbishop could have made,’ said the first parishioner who greeted me at the door. ‘No one will ever accept you,’ says the narrator.
Massingale claims he considered leaving the Catholic Church, but ultimately opted to stay because he was needed.
He declared, “I’m not going to allow the church’s racism rob me of my relationship with God.” “I regard it as my responsibility to make the church more global and the institution that I believe Jesus intended it to be,” he says.
Racism inside the United States Catholic Church, according to Massingale, is one of the reasons for the emigration of some Black Catholics; he believes the church is not doing enough to combat racism both within its ranks and in society.
According to a Pew Research Center survey from 2021, about half of Black individuals in the United States who were raised Catholic no longer identify as such, with many becoming Protestants.
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