Brooklyn Catholic school rejects donation from politician who voted for homosexual ‘marriage’

by Peter Baklinski

Brooklyn, NY, July 11, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Catholic school in New York has rejected and returned a $50 donation from a Democrat politician who voted in favor of the state’s recent same-sex “marriage” legislation.

The school, Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy, decided to return the money after Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio issued a statement, asking each school and church in his diocese to “refuse any distinction or honors bestowed upon them this year by the governor or any member of the legislature who voted to support this [same-sex marriage] legislation.”

Assemblyman Joe Lentol (D-Brooklyn), who calls himself Catholic, said that he was “surprised and a little disappointed” by the school’s action, according to NBC. 

“What I have done in this particular piece of legislation is what I was taught as a Catholic.”

Lentol’s bishop, however, disagrees with the Assemblyman’s views of Catholic teaching on gay “marriage.” After the passage of the recent legislation, Dimarzio lambasted Governor Cuomo, also a Catholic, and the state legislature, accusing them of having “deconstructed the single most important institution in human history.”

This will “undermine our families and as a consequence, our society,” said the bishop.

A spokesman from the diocese said the diocese approved of the school’s decision to return the donation. “I appreciate that Assemblyman Lentol may be upset that his check was returned, but it’s kind of preposterous to say that we should be giving a platform to people whose views we fundamentally disagree with,” said spokesman Monsignor Kieran Harrington, according to the New York Daily News.

In its mission statement, Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy says it seeks to provide a Catholic-centered educational environment.

Messages left for Sr. Joan Losson, principal of Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy, were not returned by publishing time.