Openly Gay ABC News Anchor Confirmed at Catholic Church in NYC
Gio Benitez, an ABC News anchor, was recently received into full communion with the Catholic Church with his “husband” at his side. This highly unorthodox confirmation Mass was conducted at the notoriously pro-gay Church of Saint Paul the Apostle, an historic landmark in Manhattan serving as the mother church of the Paulist Fathers, a liberal order of priests which is rapidly dying out. There were 85 Paulist priests in 2004; only 50 remained as of 2024.
Benitez reportedly received three sacraments of the Catholic Church in this service: baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist. His “husband” – who was also Benitez’s sponsor for reception into the Catholic Church – received the Eucharist too. Several pastoral staff members, apparently priests and deacons, took part in the service.
On his Facebook page, the day after this service, Benitez proclaimed to the world, “I found the Ark of the Covenant in my heart, stored there by the one who created me… exactly as I am.” Benitez has long used his platform at ABC News to strongly advocate against orthodox, biblical Christian teaching on marriage and human sexuality.
Church of Saint Paul the Apostle is in the archdiocese of New York City and therefore under the oversight of Timothy Cardinal Dolan, a typically faithful prelate.
The Daily Citizen asked the archdiocese if the pastoral staff of St. Paul the Apostle was acting outside or with the blessing of Cardinal Dolan and the archdiocese. There was no response by deadline.
This is an important question as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) is eminently clear on the biblical nature of sexuality and marriage in relation to the sacraments of the Catholic Church. It states,
Sexuality is ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman. In marriage the physical intimacy of the spouses becomes a sign and pledge of spiritual communion. Marriage bonds between baptized persons are sanctified by the sacrament (CCC 2360).
The Catholic Church also esteems the procreative nature of natural marriage, which of course, same-sex relationships can never fulfill.
The spouses’ union achieves the twofold end of marriage: the good of the spouses themselves and the transmission of life. These two meanings or values of marriage cannot be separated without altering the couple’s spiritual life and compromising the goods of marriage and the future of the family. The conjugal love of man and woman thus stands under the twofold obligation of fidelity and fecundity (CCC 2363).
This is why the Catechism and biblical teaching reject redefinitions of marriage as opposite-sex monogamy. It is also why “same-sex marriage” and homosexual activity are “acts of grave depravity” because they “do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementary” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catechism clearly states, “Under no circumstances can they be approved” (CCC 2357).
The pastoral task of leaders in the body of Christ is to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight” (1 Peter 5:1-2). Pastors are also called to equip the saints in biblical teaching, “building up the body of Christ,” not lead it into or turning a blind eye to clear heresy (Ephesians 4:11-12).
Let us pray for and call all pastors in Christ to faithfully teach and require an allegiance of all believers to the full, biblical instruction on human sexuality and marriage which represents His Bride.
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