A Catholic priest in New Jersey who says he was dismissed from his campus ministry job over a Facebook post against anti-gay bullying and racism has come out as gay.
Fr. Warren Hall told Outsports, a magazine for gay athletes, that while he remained committed to his vocation as a priest and to his vow of celibacy, he was not going to hide his sexual orientation.
"I have to be myself," Hall said. "I can't worry what other people think."
Hall, who worked at Seton Hall University, announced on social media earlier this month that he had been fired from his job by Archbishop John Myers of Newark because he had posted a picture on Facebook last fall supporting the "NOH8" campaign.
"NOH8" stands for "no hate." It grew out of the battle over banning gay marriage in California.
A spokesman for the Newark archdiocese, which is responsible for assigning chaplains to Seton Hall, has disputed the priest's explanation of his removal.
Hall said he posted an image of himself with the "NOH8" logo on his cheek amid the growing national debate over race and violence.
In an email to Seton Hall colleagues announcing his dismissal, the priest said he intended the post as a message against racism and bullying, not in support of same-sex marriage.
Hall said another priest saw the image, which was posted to Hall's personal Facebook page, and alerted university and archdiocesan officials around Christmas. Hall said he was called in to explain the post, first by the university and then by the archdiocese.
He agreed to delete the post and his explanation of its intent seemed to put the matter to rest, he said.
Then, on May 11, as he was giving an exam to his sports and spirituality class, Hall was told to call Myers.
"None of us want bullying," he said Myers told him, "but you have a further agenda here, and I can't have you at Seton Hall because of that."
Archdiocesan spokesman James Goodness on Wednesday reiterated his comments from an earlier statement that Hall was not dismissed because of his advocacy of tolerance for gays and lesbians.
"The church doesn't fire priests for tolerance; it condemns those who are intolerant," Goodness said.
He added that "many factors ... go into evaluating whether a particular assignment is a good fit for a priest" and said that the "NOH8" episode did prompt the archdiocese to reassess the level of "accountability" that the university chaplain has to the archdiocese. So he said Myers decided he needed someone else in that role.
Hall declined to elaborate on his Outsports interview, which was published Tuesday.
The priest said he was unsure where Myers would assign him but that he had requested a six-month sabbatical. He expressed his gratitude to Myers for assigning him to Seton Hall several years ago after he had lost his job as head of a private Catholic high school following an arrest for drunken driving.
Hall said that in the past year, a few people had learned of his sexual orientation, but now he wanted to be completely open.
"The best way to live is to live honestly. Honesty with oneself is the most important thing, but you have to be honest with other people," he said. "I'm not afraid of those questions anymore."
