A parish in the San Jose diocese in California is openly employing a gay married man, who is an active member of the parish council.

Saint Clare parish in Santa Clara has posted on its parish website brief biographies of their parish council members. On a page titled “Meet the St. Clare Parish Council,” the biography of parishioner John Sullivan ends with the following: “John and his husband Willie are the parents of twin third graders at St. Clare School.”

Even though Sullivan and his same-sex husband are in custody of two children, he nevertheless works for Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County as the director of training for psychology doctoral interns, providing “assessment and psychotherapy services for individuals, couples and families in Spanish and English.”

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois issued guidelines last month, which bar from ministry individuals involved in a public, same-sex marriages. “Persons who are publicly living in a same-sex marriage are not to serve in a public liturgical ministry, including but not limited to reader and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion,” wrote Bp. Paprocki.

He also refused to admit same-sex couples to the sacraments or grant them a Catholic funeral “unless they give some signs of repentance [of having lived a homosexual lifestyle] before their death.”

This was rejected two weeks later by Bp. Patrick McGrath of San Jose, who wrote, “We will not refuse the sacraments or Christian burial to anyone who requests them in good faith,” referring explicitly to the LGBT community.

Full story at Church Militant.