BEAL CITY, Mich. — The priest who penned an open letter apologizing for a Catholic pre-school hosting an openly gay author as a guest reader has now resigned.
The Catholic Diocese of Saginaw announced Tuesday, April 16 that Father Thomas Held tendered his resignation.
Held wrote a now-deleted Facebook post about author Dominic Thrasher being a guest reader during a March is Reading Month event at St. Joseph the Worker School in Beal City.
In response to Held's resignation, Thrasher told FOX 17, "a battle has been won, but the war is not over."
Trasher, who says he's been openly gay since the age of 21, was invited by a teacher, who is also his friend, to read his book titled The Adventures of Cece and the Sheriff.
Days later the message from Father Held appeared on the St. Joseph the Worker School Facebook page.
Since then, many parishioners have called for the priest to apologize and resign. They organized a peaceful protest in Beal City, and created a "Remove Father Tom Held" Facebook page.
Others told FOX 17 the statement was the latest in a series of questionable actions by Father Held.
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In the statement on Held's resignation, Bishop Robert Gruss cited the disunity in the St. Joseph the Worker Parish as the driving factor behind Held's decision.
"The division, lack of charity and the wounds caused by the division in the St. Joseph the Worker Parish community has brought deep sadness to the Lord Jesus," Bishop Gruss wrote. "Jesus weeps when he sees division and disunity in the Body of Christ, his Church. It is not his desire nor his will. The Gospel of Jesus calls all of us to be a healing presence in the community in which we live and worship."
Following Held's resignation St. Joseph the Worker Parish will be staffed by a rotation of visiting priests for weekend Mass.
Because of the unfortunate situation at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Beal City, Fr. Thomas Held has come to the decision that it would be impossible for him to bring unity to the parish, and therefore, he has tendered his resignation as the pastor, effective immediately. Until a new pastor is assigned, the weekend Masses will be covered by a visiting priest.
The division, lack of charity and the wounds caused by the division in the St. Joseph the Worker Parish community has brought deep sadness to the Lord Jesus, especially when we are living in the Light of the Resurrection we celebrated on Easter Sunday. Jesus weeps when he sees division and disunity in the Body of Christ, his Church. It is not his desire nor his will. The Gospel of Jesus calls all of us to be a healing presence in the community in which we live and worship. “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.” Matthew 18:35
My prayers and concern go out to all the members of St. Joseph the Worker Catholic community, that Christ’s peace may be a uniting force for a greater good.
While they are pleased with the result, Thrasher and several parishioners expressed their frustrated over the Diocese's statement.
“They basically gaslight and blame the parishioners for the reason why he's not going to be there anymore, which is still a shame," Thrasher said.
Krista Gross, a member at the church for all 47 years of her life, said, “This is about so much more than that one event and I don’t feel like the diocese is recognizing that. There’s no accountability for it.”
FOX 17 has made multiple attempts to speak with members of the parish who support Father Held, along with Father Held himself, without success.
However, when in Beal City Wednesday, FOX 17 did meet Matt Hatcher, a Catholic man familiar with the story who came to Father Held's defense.
“I would not have apologized," Hatcher said. "I would’ve stood my ground and I would’ve called in the Arch Diocese and if they didn’t back me, I would’ve done the same thing too. I wish him the best and I hope (Fr. Held) finds some place better.”
Thrasher said he never expecting for things to unfold the way they have, but feels his fight was worth it.
“Oh yeah," he said. "Definitely."
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