The vice-president of Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the overseas charity of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is living in a same-sex marriage, reports Catholic World News.
According to the Lepanto Institute, a research and education organization dedicated to the defense of the Catholic Church, Rick Estridge, vice-president for overseas finance at CRS, married his partner, William Goretsas Jr. in Maryland on April 4, 2013, a marriage record indicates.
The Lepanto Institute also indicates Estridge’s Facebook and Linkedin postings reveal he publicly supports same-sex marriage and organizations promoting gay causes.
Estridge, who has served CRS in various capacities since 2001, assumed his current role at the same time as his marriage.
Michael Hichborn, president of Lepanto Institute – which has in the past exposed CRS policy of programs supporting contraception – said, “This vice president is flouting Catholic moral teaching by living in a homosexual union and engaging in homosexual activism online. Personnel is policy, so it’s a fair question to ask how his lifestyle and activism have influenced policy at CRS.”
Catholic News Agency (CNA) reports that CRS is now in deliberations about the matter concerning Estridge, and that both his Facebook and Linkedin accounts have been disabled.
CRS states on its website that the charity “upholds Catholic teaching and values.”
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