Gay couple losing their religion

A Roman Catholic Halifax couple say they’re being driven from the church over the archbishop’s opposition to their same-sex union.

Daniel Poirier and Jack Murphy got married in May, the two 69-year-olds placed an announcement and photograph in The Chronicle Herald. After the announcement they were told they could no longer receive communion or assume any leadership position in the church. Mr. Poirier can no longer serve as a director of the choir. Mr. Poirier said Wednesday. "When we went to church there, it was like going into a warehouse; it was cold, because when everybody got up to receive communion, we had to sit down. The men said they were told there would have been no problem with their living situation if they had kept it quiet but that Archbishop Prendergast took exception to the publicity. Everyone in the church knew they were gay and there was never a problem. They were accepted for 7 years until they put the announcement in the paper. The church says they established their relationship as a public scandal.’ "We were born this way," he said. "God has created us this way and the way that we live is blessed by God." They now attend another church but still once in awhile go back to that church because to them their faith is still Roman Catholic.