Posted on 05/03/2007 3:58:41 AM PDT by Cagey
Jim McGreevey's tortured soul-searching took him from governor to "gay American."
Now he could become the Rev. James E. McGreevey.
McGreevey, whose political career ended nearly three years ago amid claims of an adulterous affair with a male aide, is headed to the seminary to decide if he should become an Episcopal priest.
The 49-year-old McGreevey, who said his Catholic faith and upbringing was central to his public persona, has been accepted into a three-year master of divinity program at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, the school confirmed Wednesday.
The announcement comes three days after McGreevey was formally accepted into an Episcopal church in Manhattan.
McGreevey will begin taking courses at the seminary in September. The school, also based in Manhattan, is the flagship seminary for the 2.3 million-member Episcopal church.
"We look forward to welcoming him as a member of the General Seminary community," spokesman Bruce Parker said in a statement.
He added that the former governor has met all of the admissions requirements and that his application, like those of other prospective seminarians, was reviewed by a committee faculty members, students, and the admissions director.
Completing the master's program is the typical path to priesthood in the Episcopal Church. McGreevey will also need the support of a parish and a diocese before he can be ordained. He would also likely first serve as a deacon.
A spokesman for McGreevey's church, St. Bartholomew's in Manhattan, declined to comment on the former governor's plans.
"We don't discuss the personal lives of parishioners," Bob Johnson said.
The church held a confirmation ceremony last Sunday, at which about 100 people were either received or reaffirmed into the Episcopal Church. McGreevey is believed to have been one of them.
McGreevey's decision to contemplate a vocation comes as his estranged wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, makes public her version of their often icy marriage in her new book and publicity tour. The two are divorcing and their court filings have become increasingly testy.
His formal embrace of the Episcopal Church marks a complete break from the Roman Catholic religion of McGreevey's family and boyhood, a faith he often detailed in his public campaigns, complete with tales of being an altar boy and learning at the hands of dedicated nuns.
The Roman Catholic church considers homosexual behavior sinful and says gay people should stay celibate. The Episcopal Church -- the American offshoot of the Church of England -- has been ordaining openly gay priests for decades. In the Episcopal Diocese of Newark there are about 20 openly gay priests. The diocese covers seven counties, including Bergen and Passaic.
Louie Crew, a prominent North Jersey Episcopalian who is a friend of McGreevey's, said the former governor's decision is good news.
"There are dozens of priests who are effective because they went through some sort of personal struggle," said Crew, who founded Integrity, an Episcopal ministry for gay people. "Enduring a personal crisis brings a level of empathy which is so necessary to the priesthood."
Being Roman Catholic was as much a part of McGreevey's public persona as his blue suits and striped ties.
Over and over on the campaign trail and again while mayor of Woodbridge and later governor, McGreevey would boast of his Catholic school education and years in parish life.
While governor, he and Dina attended Mass regularly at the Aquinas Institute in Princeton. The couple even had a private audience with Pope John Paul II during their honeymoon in Rome.
But as governor, McGreevey's stance on social issues such as stem cell research and abortion rights put him in conflict with church authorities.
"I love my faith," McGreevey said in an April 2004 interview in which he also said Trenton's bishop and Catholic leaders in Rome were wrong to tell him and other politicians to end their support of abortion rights. At the time, American bishops were questioning whether Catholic politicians who openly support abortion rights should be denied sacraments, including Communion.
During that interview, McGreevey repeatedly said he developed his public position after reading works by John Henry Newman, a ranking Anglican prelate who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1845 and was later named a cardinal.
McGreevey later said he would no longer accept Communion in public.
Two months later, McGreevey stunned the world and his wife by announcing that he is a "gay American" and that he had had an extramarital affair with a staff aide.
That aide, Golan Cipel, denies the affair and has insisted that he was sexually assaulted by McGreevey.
Since his resignation, McGreevey has been through extensive therapy and soul-searching. That included many prayer sessions with an Episcopal group.
"We see him regularly, and he's in good spirits," said Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, a McGreevey confidant. "It's no secret; he wrote about it in his book, when he was young he had a yearning desire to be a priest."
A Fair Lawn priest said McGreevey could inspire others to join the priesthood.
"There are many people who think they don't have what it takes to be a priest," said the Rev. Kevin P. J. Coffee of Episcopal Church of the Atonement. "But actually, God tends to take the bruised and broken reed and work through that."
If nothing else, Coffey said, McGreevey's interest in the church will spark some interesting conversations.
"And any time we have people talking openly about the church and about God, that is not a bad thing," Coffey said.
Its surprising that his choice of careers didn’t begin with the church as they have with so many homosexuals, although most of them have used it as cover for their “lifestyle.”
“the 2.3 million-member Episcopal church.”
I think this used to be a Christian denomination years ago.
Just another social activist group now like many “churches”.
Yeah, he mistakenly thought the church was seeking "the king of glory holes".
Well, he was an altar boy, and now he thinks being gay is his reason for living....
It really reflects how Immoral the Episcopal Church is .. more about Politics than Gods Way!
I thought it was the other way round?..........
A good day for Satan.
How come every deviate Catholic always preceeds his whacko comments bashing Jesus Church with the statement...I was an Altar boy.... like it gave us canon law wisdom beyond our years!I just don’t get it Kerry said it Kennedy said it Biden said it... even Tom Ridge said it.. all the Pro Aborts catholics say it like being an altar boy got you in the express lane for Redemption..
I thought it was the other way round?..........
I suppose the “laying on of hands” was instrumental.
Aw, C’Mon, man! I should NOT have to explain that!............how old are you?.......
Bet I can guess which entrance he'll use.
Coffee on the monitor alert. That is too funny!
“This guy seems seriously confused.”
Oh yes, that’s almost an understatement. He could profit from some serious psychological help and not just because of the gay thing, although that’s probably from where it all stems. He’s all over the map in his behavior. Married,divorced, married, out of the closet having an affair with a subordinate,living with some financier, getting divorced again (of course), and now this. He’s got a serious case of the fidgets.
Is he looking for young boys?
Or in McGreevey’s case the Seminary entered him.
All I’ve ever heard of him (being from Illinois) is his gay announcement and leaving office and his marriage. What you post is news to me.
Yes, he sure seems to be a slimeball.
Its on 9th Avenue in Chelsea, aka the Gayborhood. McG will feel right at home there.
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