Chestnut Hill College, Gay Priest Reach Secret Settlement Over Firing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Chestnut Hill College and the former adjunct professor with whom it severed ties have reached an amicable resolution to end the controversy over the openly gay priest.
A news briefing including Father Jim St. George and officials from Chestnut Hill College was scheduled for this morning but it was abruptly cancelled. A few hours later, St. George sent out a written statement about resolving their conflict.
The Roman Catholic school wrote him in mid-February that it would not be renewing his contract. After getting that notice, Father St. George, a priest in a Catholic denomination with no ties to the Vatican, said that he was let go because of his sexual orientation.
"They felt comfortable enough to put in writing that they were firing me because I was gay," St. George noted (see previous story).
Now, St. George writes in a statement neither party was "interested in rehashing what has occurred," and they request that the media respect the privacy of the resolution and allow both parties to return to their respective missions.
Reported by Steve Tawa, KYW Newsradio 1060.
