RELIGION RITE

Catholic Teen Denied Confirmation After Supporting Marriage Equality

Apparently committing a sin isn’t the only way to get in trouble with the Catholic hierarchy—having a personal view that differs from the Church will land you in a lake of fire, too.

Lennon Cihak of Barnesville, Minnesota, was denied confirmation last month after Rev. Gary LaMoine came across a photo on Facebook of Cihak with a pro-marriage-equality sign (right).

The placard originally encouraged voters to approve Minnesota’s proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage, but industrious Lennon crossed out “YES” and replaced it with “NO!”

17-year-old Lennon says he doesn’t hold animosity toward his faith, “it’s just the way the priest has things running—he’s so strict. He won’t loosen up about things.”

Interestingly, some of Lennon’s classmates “Liked” his photo but were not banned from confirmation.

The teen’s mom says she’s stunned by LeMoine’s decision: “You kind of know the Catholic beliefs, but I never thought they would deny somebody confirmation because you weren’t 100%,” explained Shana Cihak, who says she won’t return to the church again.

Lennon’s dad is equally irate: “[LaMoine] was talking about ‘God doesn’t believe in this.’ Well, God created Lennon.”

And presumably, God made Minnesota’s odious marriage amendment fail at the voting book last week.

 

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