'Coming Out and Coming Home' - Gay Catholic minister head pens memoir
In his new memoir, Coming Out and Coming Home, Stan JR Zerkowski writes about how he never intended to be a national spokesperson for LGBTQ Roman Catholics.But Zerkowski said that for us all, "There is a plan in the end" we can't necessarily control.Zerkowski, the executive director of the LGBTQ Catholic-affinity group Fortunate Families and director of Catholic LGBT ministry for the Diocese of Lexington, told the Bay Area Reporter that he wrote his memoir so that people might see "There is hope, there is light at the end of the tunnel."Yes, you read that correctly.
Zerkowski is openly gay and not only a church employee, but the head of ministry to queer people in the diocesan structure.His boss, the Most Rev.
John Stowe, the bishop of Lexington, wrote the forward."JR has been very instrumental in helping the local church minister to the LGBT community — he's really challenged me to be more open to the LGBT community, so I was happy to write that," Stowe told the B.A.R.Stowe said he hasn't had any pushback for writing the forward to the book, but has been criticized for his relatively more liberal approach to LGBTQ people. "I've gotten all kinds of pushback before," Stowe said.The Catholic Church officially teaches that homosexual actions are sinful and that, therefore, LGBTQ people should remain celibate.Zerkowski said that the book covers his journey "from marginalization to ministry." "The story I share shows that even though one can be terribly marginalized and treated poorly — even having to hide part of who they are for a long time — those things can lead to coming out and coming home," Zerkowski said.
