Yet again, a sex deviant in England has tricked a Christian minister, in this case a Catholic priest, into answering a question about homosexual behavior, and yet again, giving the right answer has ended in trouble.
In this case, the target was Father Patrick Pullicino, 73. The National Health Service hospital at which Pullicino counseled patients and gave the sacraments, South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, fired him because he offended a homosexual patient by answering a question with Church teaching.
Equality and tolerance, a hospital executive said, trump the Christian faith. Pullicino has sued.
Pullicino isn’t alone. Last year, a street preacher was convicted of “threatening behavior” for answering a “trans woman’s” question, although a court recently overturned the ridiculous decision.
The Conversation
Pullicino’s case is almost three years old, and began about the same time he was ordained a priest in 2019. He was a neurologist for the NHS until he retired, but returned to counsel patients.
The anti-Catholic attack began on August 20, 2019, when he visited a man in a mental-health ward at the hospital. The patient “specifically requested to see a Catholic chaplain,” the Christian Concern website reported.
When they went for a walk outside, the patient sprung his trap:
During the 20-minute conversation, the patient said that he was in a same-sex relationship and that he wanted to marry his partner which he said he could now do legally. He asked Rev. Pullicino what his opinion was as a Catholic priest.
Rev. Pullicino responded saying: “What do you think God would say to you about this?”
The patient complained that his father was none too happy about the fake marriage to another man, and then asked for Pullicino’s advice.
“Rev. Pullicino said that in the same situation he might be upset too and that it was important to have the support of his family and encouraged him to see the situation from his father’s point of view,” the website explained.
And so, of course, the patient complained to the hospital.
You’re Fired
The next day, a hospital staffer stopped Pullicino from entering the building. The priest then landed in a meeting with the hospital’s head chaplain.
Though “not properly informed about the nature of the complaint,” the website reported, “throughout the meeting it was impressed upon him that he had to adhere to the Trust’s Equality and Diversity policy to avoid future complaints and that he would have to retake his diversity training.”
There followed an email from the Powers That Be: “NHS policy on Equality and Diversity in relation to the complaint supersedes religious standing whilst working and representing the trust.”
When Pullicino asked whether anyone had filed such complaint, the head chaplain wrote this to him:
The complaint we discussed in our meeting on Tuesday is a formal complaint and as a matter of Trust policy this will be retained and kept on a central record for complaints. The meeting between us to discuss the complaint is a sufficient outcome provided the actions and discussion we had is carried out. As a result there is no right of appeal as there is no “decision” to appeal.
Two days later, the website reported, the chief executive of the facility, Vanessa Ford, told the patient that a formal investigation was underway.
She “repeatedly apologised” and said Pullicino would get the thumbscrew, figuratively speaking, to “ensure that he understands the Trust policy on Equality and Diversity and that this takes precedence over religious beliefs.”
Short version: Heresy will not be tolerated.
The trust ordered the priest to an “equality and diversity” brainwashing session. It also required him to “record in writing that you accept that your comments went against Trust values and behaviours and have reflected on this in your supervision along with assurance that you have learnt from this incident,” as the trust put it. Only then could he return to work.
“Rev. Pullicino agreed that out of goodwill he would take the course under the condition that it was recognised that he had not been ‘homophobic’ to the patient,” the website continued.
The trust then fired him for “budgetary” reasons. When he offered to work for nothing, the trust refused. That belied the “budgetary” excuse for the pink slip.
“No Rights”
Pullicino, who became a priest after his wife died of cancer and he retired from medicine, is “determined to seek justice.”
“To see in black and white that my Christian beliefs in marriage, that have been taught for thousands of years, are not on a par with equality and diversity, was shocking,” he said:
I was bullied, forced into a corner and told that I had no rights and therefore could be thrown out following one complaint.
I believe NHS hierarchy capitulated and were not prepared to tolerate having a chaplain on site who would not affirm what the Catholic church teaches to be sin.
There does not appear to be a place for Christian teaching or belief in the NHS. In a truly democratic society where all faiths and beliefs are respected, I would not have been treated as I was.
Pullicino observed that his case isn’t isolated, noting that NHS is silencing or firing other Christian chaplains, too.
A court recently overturned last year’s conviction of Christian street preacher David McConnell for “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.” He had “misgendered” a “trans woman.” Authorities even reported him to England’s Prevent terror squad.
In 2021, a court overturned a conviction of McConnell from 2019, and awarded him a $4,500 settlement. He had been arrested “for preaching on gay rights and abortion.”
