(Boston) A Catholic church in Boston's heavily gay South end will close in July, ending an outreach to the LGBT community that has gone on for more than a decade. The Jesuit Urban Center has been home to countless Catholic gays and their families, but the superior of the New Jesuit Order, the Rev. Thomas Regan, says the decision had nothing to do with the sexuality of the preponderance of the church's members.
Parishioners learned of the impending closure at mass on Sunday.
"This comes after a few years of rough times for gay Catholics, with Vatican and local Episcopal declarations that have not been so friendly," Dr. Juan Jaime de Zengotita told the Globe. "I don't know what will be the future of gay ministry."
Massachusetts Catholic bishops have been a leader in a push for a constitutional amendment in Massachusetts that would ban same-sex marriage. The legislature approved the measure in the first of a two part process in January. The measure is to come up again this session. If it is again approved the question would be put to voters.
Last year the Catholic diocese of Boston announced that it will close its adoption agency rather than conform to Massachusetts law that prohibits discrimination against gays and lesbians.
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