Former Vocation Director of Syracuse Discloses He's Gay

I have a good friend who is a priest in this diocese, Fred Daley was his vocation director-I've met him a few times and I doubt anyone is surprised by this announcement.



From Rev. Daley discloses he's gay:



"The Rev. Fred Daley, longtime pastor at St. Francis DeSales Church on Eagle Street, trusts the community will continue to accept him after his acknowledgment that he is gay.



He made the disclosure during an interview with the Observer-Dispatch Thursday. The interview was in advance of Daley's 'Real Hero' award, which he accepted from the United Way of the Greater Utica Area Thursday evening. The award was in recognition of his social ministry on Hospitality Row, where many of Utica's poor are served.



'I'm the same person today as I was yesterday,' he said. 'My expectation and prayer is that people will continue to love and respect me.'

Daley said he shared this information with the bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse as well as a few close friends and family members.

Celibacy is a 'charism,' or a gift for some people, he said.



'I myself am gay, and I am committed to living a celibate life,' he said.



Despite a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety about coming out publicly, Daley said he feels called by God to do so and is ready to accept whatever 'rejection or misunderstanding surrounding this.' "