Gay former priest: The Catholic church 'is a sick institution'

Nashville Tennessean
·1 min read

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Good morning, friends, this is Tennessean columnist Brad Schmitt, with a compelling story from our talented new religion writer, Liam Adams.

Former Catholic priest Steve Wolf is gay. He told most of his seminary classmates he's gay. He told several Nashville parishioners he's gay. In 2008, he told the Nashville bishop he's gay.

Steve Wolf is surrounded by religious artwork in his Nashville home. Wolf, who is gay, is a former Catholic priest who resigned amid furor over his sexual orientation. He and his partner plan to soon enter into a civil union.
Steve Wolf is surrounded by religious artwork in his Nashville home. Wolf, who is gay, is a former Catholic priest who resigned amid furor over his sexual orientation. He and his partner plan to soon enter into a civil union.

But Wolf never had any problems leading Nashville area churches until he was quoted in a 2019 New York Times article about gay priests.

After considerable blowback, Wolf resigned and retired a few months after that story published.

“I love the Catholic Church, I do. I’m not going to be anything else," he said. "But she is a sick institution."

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Gay former priest: Catholic church 'is a sick institution'