(LifeSiteNews) – A Wisconsin Catholic priest who describes himself as “gay” has credited Pope Francis with inspiring him to reveal himself and no longer live in “hiding” as a homosexual.  

“I came out in December of 2017 as a gay priest,” admitted Fr. Gregory Greiten in a television interview this week, following the death of Pope Francis.

“For many years I kept that in hiding,” said Greiten, but Pope Francis’ controversial statement “Who am I to judge?” inspired him to publicly proclaim his homosexuality during a Sunday Mass.  

READ: Priest to Pope Francis: ‘You are hurting my parish’ by promoting homosexuality


Pope Francis’ “words have lived on in the hearts of many people, not only for me as a gay priest, but also for the entire [so-called] LGBTQ community,” said the priest.  

Greiten seemed to indicate that he believes that the now-deceased pontiff permanently changed the Catholic Church’s approach to homosexual and gender-confused individuals. 

Through Pope Francis, “the door has been opened,” said Greiten.  

The Catholic Church, however, prohibits priestly ordination of men “who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture.’”

2017: Greiten declares his homosexuality

With the approval of his archbishop, Greiten proudly confessed to being a homosexual to his parish and to the world at a Sunday Mass during Advent 2017. 

“I am Greg. I am a Roman Catholic priest. And, yes, I am gay!” said Greiten.

On the following day, he published a lengthy column in the far-left National Catholic Reporter (NCR).  

Not once in the over 2,200 word NCR commentary did Greiten acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ or dedication to Him; nor was the importance of repentance and Confession mentioned. 

“I have lived far too many years chained up and imprisoned in the closet behind walls of shame, trauma and abuse because of the homophobia and discrimination so prevalent in my church and the world,” claimed the priest. “But rather, today, I chart a new course in freedom and in integrity knowing that there is nothing that anyone can do to hurt or destroy my spirit any longer.”

Greitens blasphemously asserted at the time that God creates people to be homosexual and that embracing one’s own identity as “gay” or “transgender,” or that of others, is the first step in being one’s “authentic self” and becoming “fully alive.”  

“I promise to be my authentically gay self. I will embrace the person that God created me to be,” declared the pastor. “In my priestly life and ministry, I, too, will help you, whether you are gay or straight, bisexual or transgendered, to be your authentic self.”

On the contrary, the Catholic Church teaches that the homosexual inclination, far from being good or “authentic,” “is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”

2022: Geiten offered so-called ‘LGBTQ Mass of Celebration and Inclusion’

In October 2022, Greitens celebrated a so-called “LGBTQ Mass of Celebration and Inclusion” as an event “honoring national coming out day.”

Greiten did not mention the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality or chastity at all during his 20-minute homily. Instead, he referenced Fr. James Martin, S.J. and Sr. Jeannine Gramick, both of whom prominently advocate for LGBT ideology in contradiction to the Church’s teaching.

Greiten also rejected traditional relationships, arguing for those where “boy meets boy, girl meets girl.”

Greiten shockingly suggested that those who opposed the advancement of LGBT ideology in the Church should be the ones to leave: “Why don’t you get to leave, since you are bringing such hatred into the Church?”

To omit the ‘hard sayings’ of Christ and his Church is not charity

The Catechism of the Catholic Church #2357 teaches that “‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”

“The respect and sensitivity to which the Catechism rightly calls us does not give us permission to deprive men and women who experience SSA (same-sex attraction) of the fullness of the Gospel. To omit the ‘hard sayings’ of Christ and His Church is not charity,” Cardinal Robert Sarah has warned.  

Those prelates and clerics who justify homosexuality challenge the Church’s genuine understanding of the human person and of human sexuality, sweeping aside authentic Church teaching and endangering, rather than helping, those who suffer a homosexual inclination. In a phrase abounding with as much love as it is truth, Cardinal Sarah warns, “We cannot be more compassionate or merciful than Jesus.”  

Cardinal Sarah’s admonition echoes a public appeal made a few years ago by Jean Lloyd, Ph.D, a former lesbian and now happily married mother of two, to her fellow Christians: “May I make two requests? Continue to love me, but remember that you cannot be more merciful than God. It isn’t mercy to affirm same-sex acts as good. Practice compassion according to the root meaning of ‘compassion’: Suffer with me. Don’t compromise truth; help me to live in harmony with it. I’m asking you to help me take up my cross and follow Jesus.”

Pledge to pray for the repose of Pope Francis’ soul