As of March of 2006, in his presentation “Alienated Catholics,” given at San Francisco’s St. Agnes parish, Father Vincent Pizzuto of the University of San Francisco was still using the term “we” to describe same-sex attracted Catholics.

While the “we” indicates Pizzuto considered himself a Catholic at that time, it is questionable how deeply that identification was felt: four months later, in July of 2006, Pizzuto was ordained a priest in the Celtic Christian Church, a church not in communion with the Rome.  At the time the “Alienated Catholics” presentation was given, the pastor of St. Agnes parish was Father Cameron Ayers, SJ.  Ayers, like Pizzuto, has since left the Church, and is now an assisting priest at San Francisco’s Holy Innocents Episcopal Church.

At the time of his ordination, Father Pizzuto was serving as an assistant professor in the department of theology and religious studies  at the (Jesuit) University of San Francisco, a nominally Catholic university. Sometime between February 2011 and October 2012 (according to the department webpage), despite his public alienation from the Catholic Church, Pizzuto has been promoted and he now serves as the chair of the theology department.

Pizzuto’s faculty webpage at USF links directly to the webpage of the New Skellig Community  Church, where he is the presider. New Skellig is a member community of the Celtic Christian Church, the body into which Pizzuto was ordained. The Church Statements listed on the Celtic Christian Church’s webpage are only three: Homosexuality and Same-Sex Relationship; Supporting Document on the Question of Homosexuality and Same-Sex Relationships; and Church Statement Concerning Abortion. From the Homosexuality and Same-Sex Relationships  page: “If a homosexual couple wishes to make a public commitment to each other, the Church blesses such a desire and celebrates it by means of a marriage ceremony presided over by one of its clergypersons.”

Pizzuto himself writes on the New Skellig Community Weddings page: “Because the Celtic Christian Church is a canonically independent catholic church whose governing principles prioritize the ‘Law of Love’ above rules and regulations, we are especially sensitive to couples who have been alienated from their church of origin, or who find that their marriage is unjustly prohibited in some Christian institutions. This is often the case, for example, among couples who are: Previously divorced; Same-gendered;  Inter-religious… In all cases, Father Vincent works personally with each couple to guide them in creating a dignified ceremony that genuinely expresses the couple’s relationship, commitment and spirituality.”