A Catholic deacon who is openly homosexual has continued to write salacious reviews of obscene movies for a “gay” newspaper in San Francisco for at least a year since Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was informed of his activities, LifeSite has learned.
Over a year ago, in June 2017 the archdiocese told LifeSite that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, was concerned about Deacon Brian Bromberger’s writings, but later acknowledged that the archbishop had met with Deacon Brian Bromberger and had allowed him to continue writing for the publication while exercising “careful discretion” over subject matter, given that it was his only source of income at the time.
The articles, written by Deacon Brian Bromberger, have included numerous positive reviews of sexually explicit movies depicting homosexual acts.
The articles have been published in the homosexualist Bay Area Reporter, a publication that openly celebrates sexual perversion and mocks the Catholic Church on its front page. Bromberger has written for this publication since at least 2014, while functioning as a deacon in various Catholic parishes.
Now LifeSite has verified that, in the months since the archdiocese’s director of communications assured LifeSite that the deacon’s articles for the Bay Area Reporter were “part of the review process” being applied to him, the deacon has continued to write movie reviews and other articles for the newspaper that speak approvingly of obscene movies about homosexual relationships and even directly attack the Catholic faith.
After raising the issue of Bromberger’s writings with Archbishop Cordileone’s secretary in June of 2017, LifeSite’s questions began to be referred to the archdiocese’s Director of Communications, Mike Brown, to whom LifeSite sent extensive evidence of Bromberger’s articles and their content. LifeSite also sent information to the archdiocese about a gay “workshop” that Bromberger had done at a Catholic parish, called “LGBTQ gifts for the Institutional Church.”
LifeSite again contacted Brown in January of this year, sending evidence of several new Bromberger articles for the Bay Area Reporter containing lascivious and morally subversive material. Brown then told LifeSite that Archbishop Cordileone had met with Bromberger personally for a second time, in December of 2017, and that he “has discussed these matters with the Archbishop,” and that he “has been counseled about his freelance work.”
Brown also indicated that although Archbishop Cordileone had “asked” Bromberger to find a different job, he had also indicated that Bromberger should exercise “discretion” in his writings for the Bay Area Reporter. Moreover, Brown claimed that Bromberger was trying to “reach” people on behalf of the Catholic Church.
Brown told LifeSite that Bromberger’s “freelance writing in the Bay Area Reporter (BAR) is his only means of income, and this has been the situation for quite some time now.” However, he added, “At the same time, he has been asked to look for a more suitable publication to write for. Under all these circumstances, the Archbishop has reminded him of the need to exercise careful discretion in the topics he chooses to write about, as he proceeds with his hope to reach people who otherwise would have no contact with the Church.”
In recent communications, Brown agreed that the articles were in violation of an agreement that Archbishop Cordileone had made with Bromberger, and claimed that the issue was important to the archbishop, but that he was out of town traveling and wouldn’t be able to address the problem for some time.
Brown added that Bromberger was continuing to be counseled and that an unnamed person who is monitoring his articles has noted some positive change in their content.
Finally, Brown said that Bromberger had not carried out any workshops since he had been placed in a process of review by the archdiocese last fall. LifeSite then informed Brown of the announced LGBT workshop done by Bromberger in January of this year. Brown replied, “I was misinformed,” and added, “Further, the Archdiocese was unaware of this speaking engagement and if it did occur it is certainly a violation of the agreement with Deacon Bromberger.”
Full story at LifeSiteNews.
What is so hard about suspending him. Like the archdiocese really needs him as a deacon. Gimme a break. The archbishop is being played. Suspend him, and then he can do whatever he wants for work. Why does he have to be a deacon? Are there any manly men in the church clergy anymore? Is anyone in charge? Are the homosexuals in Sin [sic] Francisco that powerful that the archbishop doesn’t want to upset them?
The permanent deacon idea was established by V2 mainly to assist priests in Africa and Asia. Most of the deacons in the world are in the U.S.A. Many of them have been poorly formed and know little about the faith. In LA, a man who was married outside the Church (and never had his marriage validated) was recently invited to become a deacon by his pastor. I personally believe that deacons are a knitted commode; they are basically useless, and as my pastor calls them ‘permanent demons’.
That fits with my experience. I think the permanent deaconate is a waste. Worse, because of poor formation its something of a curse when deacons preach. I was at a parish in Long Beach where the deacon said Catholics have to welcome gays and illegal aliens. After the homily the priest stood up and applauded and encouraged the rest of the congregation to applaud by saying, “Wasn’t that a great homily?” Made me sick. Never went back to that parish.
Herman,
The concept of the permanent deacon wasn’t established by Vatican II but by St. Peter and the Apostles. It predates the presbyterate and, within the first 500 years of the Church, the diaconate had significantly more influence over parishes and the Church than it ever will today.
The deaconate is increasingly becoming important in the contemporary church because of the priest shortage. Deacons are ideal as parish managers, evangelizers, catechizers, and baptizers. They can also serve many other important functions.
The reason why we have many inferior deacons is the same reason why we have many inferior priests. The solution is reform: not erradication.
Herman,
In my post (above), I neglected to qualify that the original form of the diaconate was the permanent diaconate.
Drat! It looks like I did qualify it correctly in my first post. :)
Deacons have received the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
Our diocese has a very intense deacon formation program.
We had a deacon that transferred from another diocese that was not as good but he is getting better because we have ongoing formation programs for priests and deacons.
Deacons share in Christ’s mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint (“character”) which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the “deacon” or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1570
When the villagers of gubbio told st Francis that a ravaging wolf’s only source of food was human flesh,he talked with the wolf about his bad behavior ,the wolf repented and was funded by the village people thenceforth. Could the diocese help with transitional support for the good of all? At least the wolf of gubbio wasn’t helping other wolves scope out prey.
I agree! He is, after all, Diocesesan clergy. If the Archbishop can hire Maggie Gallagher to work from her home halfway across the country, surely he can find a position for a professional writer who is an ordained minister of the Church.
Professional writer? More like two-bit.
Is the Archbishop running an employment agency? The deacon should be required to choose between active ministry and viewing–before reviewing–pornography. And to choose IMMEDIATELY.
Ahem: penning short opinion pieces about gay movies for a small-time gay publication does not make one a professional writer of any caliber. Besides how does writing such reviews qualify him to write anything for the archdiocese? Perhaps the man can’t find a better job for reasons that have to do with talent, skill or lack of them. I hope the archdiocese wouldn’t put people into positions they’re not qualified for just because. But that happens all too often.
What are you saying, “YFC”? This guy — openly homosexual — writes words that are contrary to Church teachings and are a scandal. Is this incorrect? Unless it is, he should be sacked.
Perhaps the homo-lobby got to Abp. Cordileone, or that he has become tainted by being around perversity on such a consistent level. He needs to rid the Churches of any homosexual that holds a clerical position or a lay position of any authority. Homosexual acts, and support, are evil and cannot be tolerated.s
Drewelow: What a great idea! It is charitable in the best sense. Archbishop Cordileone seems to be compassionate to his financial difficulties. Reimburse him for whatever he was earning with his freelance writing on condition that he stop that kind of writing and seek other employment.
This shouldn’t even be an issue or a difficult personnel matter. Just fire him. Done. Easy. Over. Like someone said, is this deacon that important to the diocese?
Mike, you can’t fire a guy you don’t employ. He’s not employed by the diocese, or, apparently, any catholic institution.
He can be fired as a deacon, in other words prohibited from exercising diaconal ministry. No assisting at Mass, no preaching, no baptisms, no marriages, no marriage prep, no church ministry.
Being a deacon is a privilege. If one brings shame or scandal to the office, their privileges can and should be suspended by the body that granted the privilege, in this case, by the archdiocese of San Francisco.
It’s this simple: if he remains a deacon, the bishop is okay with what he’s doing, regardless of what the spokesman says. If the bishop wanted him out, he would be out.
If this man’s only income was that of an abortionist, would the AB allow that?
We in the archdiocese of San Francisco had such high hopes when AB Cordileone came and Diocese of Santa Rosa had the same for Bishop Vasa! What has happened to these two traditional Bishops?
Everyone, keep praying for them!
Pray for courage for all Church leaders. Of course, Bromberger should be dealt with.
Yet, there are many faithful, good, hard-working, even holy deacons. Saint Francis of Assisi comes readily to mind as do several other deacon Saints. And, as noted, the diaconate goes back to St. Peter and the Apostles, see Acts Chapter 6.
Please pray for us deacons, for priests, for bishops and for all!
If the Archbishop is too busy to deal with this, perhaps he should assign it to the Auxiliary, or cut back on his travel schedule,
This deacon needs to be kicked out— not “babied” and “counseled” to write for a “more suitable publication!” He should be told, “repent or leave the Church!” How on earth did he ever get accepted to study, to be ordained as a deacon, to begin with?? The permanent diaconate program needs to be examined!
Linda Maria,
I believe there has been a re-do on the education of Deacons recently in the Archdiocese of San Francisco!
More strict as I understand it!
Massive Harm to the Church caused by the ‘Lavender Mafia’ playground – translates to even greater harm to the Young, who find no refuge from such Objectively Dis-orderedl Pogroms as the Evil spawned rampages throughout the Church
SEE
Revelations of US cardinal sex abuse will force pope’s hand
https://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/07/20/revelations-us-cardinal-sex-abuse-will-force-popes-hand.html
There are many good priests and bishops, with the bet of intentions, to correctly practice their holy Faith, and to seek the good of the Catholic Faithful. However, at Vatican II, Church leaders made a very strong decision. They opted fr “individual rights to freedom of religion, and individual freedom of conscience!” They felt that in past eras, the Church had never allowed for individual freedoms, and had been too cruel to everyone, clergy and laity! This policy remains in effect today. The wolves do whatever they want, with the Church! Nothing we can do about it— except pray!
we can definitely do something very effective-withdraw our financial support for the Archdiocese (Annual Appeal for example). We should not be supporting those who support this scandalous behavior.
How is it possible for “an openly homosexual man” to ever become a deacon? Someone who openly shows complete disregard for and hostility to Church’s teachings should NEVER be allowed to be a deacon. Period. I was very happy and grateful when our dear Archbishop was made the Shephard in our Archdiocese and I thank God for him constantly, but am reconsidering my financial support for the Annual Appeal-this is simply and clearly wrong.
Seems like our Archdiocese supports this “catholic deacon who is openly homosexual” (this is an oxymoron).
Seems as a faithful Catholic I cannot and must not support this Archdiocese. I revoke my pledge for the Archdiocesan Annual Appeal effective immediately.
There is only one movie review by the deacon on the Bay Area Reporter website and it has nothing to do with gays.
For more information, here is a previous story we ran on CalCatholic about Deacon Brian Bromberger: https://cal-catholic.com/jesuits-in-sf/
The problem of this aforementioned person acting as a Deacon reflects his own personal problem, but also the consequences caused by those in chanceries, bishop’s confernces, seminaries and the Religious Ed Conferenece in Los Angeles every year where ideas to change the church are promulgated.
For this individual written about, and for many deacons serving in parishes who are single, not widowed or not retired men, you have to wonder why they did not pursue the priesthood. We have several in the Archdiocese of San Francisco like this. One deacon told me that he prefers to have his private life, which seemed to mean that he want to continue in a relationship, unlike a priest who dedicates himself to a parish and lives in the parish as…
The problems described in this article pertain to the individual himself, but also point to the larger picture of lay and clerical leaders who have been trying to change the church in stages since Vatican II, the diaconate being one vessel, but others parts seen in the liturgy, most clearly seen in how Communion in the Hand became widely practiced after beginning as an experiment, then mandated through sacramental prep programs and promoted at places like the Religious Ed Conference in Los Angeles, then becoming local custom, then adapted by the Bishop’s Conference to be in the General Instruction, such as the most recent adaption in 2002. Other examples are extraordinary eucharistic ministers, to be used rarely according to the…
Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers are to be used rarely and only in response to having large crowds, according to the General Instruction to the Roman Missal, but now and abundance are utilized in most parishes, surrounding the priest at the altar, showing “active participation in the liturgy” (a misunderstanding of Vat II documents), acting as deacons and deaconesses, lay run an deacon run parishes with the priest’s role diminished to going here and there at the beckon of a leader to dispense sacraments or say a prayer, bowing instead of genuflecting, and the latest fad, a violation of the General Instruction, communion vessels brought to the sacristy and purified after mass rather than brought to the altar for the priest or deacon…
This is the “new church coming to birth” as one long time member, now retired, of our Archdiocesan priest council said recently at a priest gathering, one who is a good friend of several current bishops who were once on the Archdiocesan priest council.
Yes, scripture tells us of the role of deacons in the early church, but problems arose and around 500 AD it was suppressed because the deacon with their wives and families had personal and family interests, especially over property and roles in the church, conflict with those of the parish. A parish priest, dedicated to and living in the parish being available to the people, under the local bishop, became the enduring model.
After Vatican II, the diaconate was revived for retired…
In the mid 1990’s, younger men still with small children, were encouraged to enter deacon programs, with an emphasis on the wives being a part of the formation. Also, unmarried men began to be allowed to become deacons. You have to wonder why an unmarried man would not go on to priesthood? Because, as one told me, he wanted to live his private life and not be under the scrutiny of living in a parish as a priest does (yet also not having the total dedication to the parish people also). Such is the case in the article stated abiove.
In 2002 we had priest study days where priests were to learn how to incorporate deacons more in the parish (because of the manufactured “priest shortage”). The head deacon leading the conference told…
there would be no priest shortage if priests who want to be priests would be allowed to do what a priest does, and priests who do not want to be priests, like those on our current priest council who recently implemented a Convocation Plan to combine parishes and have them led by lay and deacon leaders, and have priests sent around as sacrament dispensers…this council has been a vessels o this “new church coming to birth” would resign, or be replaced, as we did at St Patrick’s Seminary.
These adaptions every ten years weaken the church, especially now from confronting the evils of the secular culture. Letting priests be priests, stable in a parish over a period of time where they get to know the people and young people can…
continuing point on the revival of the diaconate after Vatican II, the idea was to have retired men who have raised their children, who have been shown to be a good husband and father, as scripture says, and now the children are grown, and he has a pension to live on, now can contribute to serving the parish. In the mid ’90s, young men and their wives, sill with small children to care for and the stress of taking care of a family, were encouraged to enter the deacon program, and an emphasis on the role of the wife. The subtle point was that these deacons and wives, virtual deaconeses, would eventually be administrators of parishes, on paid salaries with benefits. Eventually, this would make way for the married priesthood, and possibly…
After Vatican II, retired men, after having raised their children, being good fathers and good husbands, having served as a volunteer in the parish after a long period, free now to serve the church because they live on a good pension, were encouraged to become deacons. As stated above, in the mid 90’s young married men and their wives, still with small children were encouraged to become deacons and their wives. Also, single men were encouraged to do the same, many living private lives not in conformity with what the church teaches. As the head deacon for the Archdiocese said when leading a priest study days in 2002 on how deacons can be incorporated more into the parish, deacons and their wives will replace priests, bringing in…
yet, why does the problem of the person in this article occur? because deacons do not receive enough formation, nor can they if they have obligations to their familes. A once a week seminar and writing a short paoer each week is not sufficient formation for a spiritual father. For older married men who are faithful servants of the church, this can be sufficient for the traditional deacon role of helping at mass, visiting the sick, and having a specific charitable ministry, but not for being a spiritual father, a “sentinel awaiting the dawn” , dedicated to the people of a parish.
Thus, today the deacon and lay run parishes, priests relegated to silent gulags, abundance of “eucharistic ministers” surrounding the altar acting as…
Thus today the deacon and lay run combined parishes, priests relegated to silent gulags, the constant need to raise money for the high cost of salaries, abundance of “eucharistic ministers” surrounding the altar acting as deacons and deaconesses (meanwhile the lack of volunteers for apostolates of the mission of the Misa, going out from mass to the world), Communion in the hand, bowing instead of genuflecting and recognize His lordship, the ego driven theatre of liturgy, and now not even purifying vessels after communion…the new church coming to birth, ineffectual in combatting the evils of secular culture.
We need to stand and bear witness to the Truth like Jesus on trial, live and teach what the Catechism of the Church…
the abundance of grace of the sacraments, to help us in the service of the Victory of the Lamb, the victory of innocence and fidelity
Are deacons required to follow any code of conduct or rules of the Catholic Church in order to be deacons? It would seem that someone who openly flouts the teachings of the Church would not be a candidate for becoming or remaining a deacon.
Let’s see. There are rules for politicians and laymen but exceptions for deacons, priests and especiallly for bishops and above. Cannon law protects the ordained from having to move to the tenderloin regardless of whatever they do to children and adults in subordinate positions. Oh I understand. Hollywood people and folks in the Haight Ashbury caused church leaders and seminarians, etc to go astray. There was and is nothing that the geniuses running the Church could do. You’ve put Bill Donahue and his Catholic League in charge of the mop up. The devil is in them and they have no control. Sorry, I don’t believe you guys can be trusted at all.