A group of students at the University of Portland, a Catholic institution, confronted a resident priest on Tuesday over his social media activity and comments he made critical of the gay pride flag.
The Rev. Dan Parrish, a member of the religious order the Congregation of the Holy Cross and a business professor at the university, had made comments in an October email to staffers that the gay pride flag was a “political symbol” misaligned with Catholic teaching and should not be displayed publicly at the university.
On Tuesday, students at a university dormitory where Parrish serves as a “pastoral resident” confronted the priest during what was supposed to be mediated discussion with the priest, according to the Beacon, the campus student newspaper.
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Numerous students criticized Parrish for opposing the public display of the gay pride flag, as well as liking tweets they characterized as sexist, transphobic, and homophobic.
A community conversation was held in light of students discovering liked tweets (in addition to a leaked email) by Lund Pastoral resident and tenured professor, Fr. Dan Parrish — leading them to believe he is not supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. https://t.co/52QRzdmcXD
— The Beacon (@UPBeacon) April 7, 2022
“Our hopes for this conversation are for Fr. Dan to understand the extent of how he’s hurt the [dorm] and UP community, and to apologize authentically,” a student resident reportedly said at the discussion with Parrish.
The Beacon reported that tissue boxes had to be passed out among the crowd of over 150 students, as “emotions were high.” For his part, Parrish was reportedly apologetic for liking the tweets, which he said were not meant to be expressions of agreement.
“I apologize for liking things that send a message to people that I agree with these positions or that I align with any of these things because I don’t,” Parrish said.
But the priest defended his criticism of the pride flag.
“In my opinion, the pride flag is used not only for inclusive purposes but in a variety of different ways to support causes that do not align with Catholic teaching,” Parrish said. “If you disagree with me, that’s fine … The way that I think about Christian community is every person is welcomed and loved here.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the primary compendium of Catholic teaching, says that “inclinations” to homosexuality are “objectively disordered,” but “homosexual persons are called to chastity” and should be treated with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”
A former assistant hall director shot back, arguing the priest’s comments were “not how you start a conversation in a loving and caring and healing way.”
Another student suggested that Parrish should consider taking a leave of absence to “educate himself.”
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“One of the things that I was most upset about is the fact that a lot of us do have religious trauma,” the student said. “He didn’t address that at all … I think that Fr. Dan needs to be held accountable for his actions and if that means taking a leave of absence to further educate himself, then so be it.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Parrish and his religious community for comment but did not receive a response.
