Fr. Godfrey Out as Executive Director of Ministry at USF?

It looks that way.

According to (Jesuit) University of San Francisco's "University Ministry" webpage, Father Donal Godfrey is no longer the organization's Executive Director. As recently as August 30, 2010, Fr. Godfrey was listed as Executive Director of the school’s University Ministry on the Ministry’s cached webpage. Sometime between August 30 and September 15, 2010 Fr. Godfrey was demoted to the position of Associate Director. The Executive Director of University Ministry at the Jesuit school is now Ms. Julia Dowd, a layperson.

The 2007 appointment of Fr. Godfrey, one of the most visible homoactivist priests in the world was a slap in the face to any Catholic who believes that students at a “Catholic” university have a right to expect Catholic teaching from their priests. Godfrey’s appointment should never have happened. His public dissent from Church teaching—dissent is far too weak a word—his public teaching that the Church is simply wrong about the sinfulness of homosexuality has been tolerated, and with his appointment, actually encouraged by his Jesuit superiors for many years. What, after all of Fr. Godfrey’s ongoing and public activities, could finally cause the Jesuits to rethink having him in this important position?

On September 3, 2010, the California Catholic Daily reported that Mr. Patrick Mulcahey, a past parish council vice-president and current Eucharistic Minister at San Francisco’s notorious Most Holy Redeemer parish was presenting workshops at the “Master/slave Conference 2010” which was held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Silver Springs, Maryland on September 3-6. From the article:

“The workshop presenters biographical page has this to say about Mr. Mulcahey: 'Patrick has been tying men up and doing unspeakable things to them for 35 years. He has presented on M/s, leather and BDSM [bondage discipline sado-masochism] topics in the Bay Area and currently serves as vice chairman and special events chair of the 15 Association, a men’s leather/BDSM club celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. He lives in San Francisco with his slave Patrick where he earns his living as a writer….'”

The article further revealed a long standing relationship between Mr. Mulcahey and Fr. Godfrey, dating back at least to 2001:

“In 2002, at USF’s New Jewish and Christians Approaches to Homosexuality symposium, Father Godfrey cited Most Holy Redeemer as an example, and quoted Mr. Mulcahey at length. In April 2003, at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Father Godfrey offered a preliminary version of his 2007 history of Most Holy Redeemer as partial fulfillment of the requirements for a degree of Doctor of Ministry. When the history was published in 2007, under the title Gays and Grays: The Story of the Gay Community at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, the first person Father Godfrey chose to acknowledge and thank for his support was Patrick Mulcahey. Gays and Grays quotes Mulcahey numerous times."

The direct quote from the very first page of Gays and Grays in which Fr. Godfrey’s acknowledges and thanks Mr. Mulcahey reads:

"Three others gave special support. They are Patrick Mulcahey, Dr. Patti Jung, and Robert Garrett . Patrick Mulcahey is a friend, three time Emmy-winning writer, and parishioner at Most Holy Redeemer."

The California Catholic Daily article continues to describe the ongoing relationship between the two men. Fr. Godfrey obviously considers Mr. Mulcahey to be an authoritative voice:

“On March 3, 2008, in the Australian online Jesuit publication EurekaStreet.com.au, Godfrey quoted Mulcahey again. On December 2, 2008, Books, Inc., located in San Francisco’s Castro District, hosted a discussion of Gays and Grays with Father Godfrey. The homosexualist publication, the Bay Area Reporter, published a blurb for the event: “Executive director of University Ministry at the University of San Francisco, and author of Gays and Grays: The Story of the Gay Community at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church discusses his book and the gay-inclusive parish; writer Patrick Mulcahey joins the discussion.”

Of course it is possible that the California Catholic Daily article had nothing to do with the demotion of Fr. Godfrey—although the timing is certainly suggestive. But if it did not, the questions should be: why not? Why is he still even an Associate Director of University Ministry? The revelation that a Catholic priest has a long-standing friendship and alliance with a man who publicly boasts of keeping a “slave” and who gives workshops on the Master/slave lifestyle (on more than one occasion) should be enough to cause his superiors to send him on an extended period of discernment and reflection. Under no circumstances should such a priest have been appointed to a position overseeing the spiritual welfare and development of young people.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney