Anti-2SLGBTQ+ flyer passed out at Oshawa church

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

A priest at an Oshawa Catholic church allowed an insert containing anti-2SLGBTQ+ messaging to be distributed in a weekly bulletin.

A flyer was passed around at St. Gertrude’s Parish church on Sunday, the same day as many annual Pride events took place in the GTA and Durham region.

A Reddit user posted in the r/Oshawa forum photos of the flyer titled “On Pride Month and Flying the Rainbow Flag over our Catholic Schools”.

The letter writes inaccuracies about the 2SLGBTQ+ community, including commenting on the colours of the flag as different “agendas” of the community.

Further, under a section headlined “here are some Catholic facts to keep in mind,” the author writes that the green stripe of the flag “normalizes demonic behaviour” and finishes with “this insanity has gone too far.”

At the end of the letter the author writes, “remove the ungodly Pride flags from our schools.”

While Father Michael Hughes, the Pastor at St. Gertrude’s Parish, did not write the letter, he allowed for its distribution, a representative from the Archdiocese of Toronto told CityNews.

“I recognize that much of the content was inappropriate and offensive and caused hurt and distress starting in our own parish family and reverberating out into the wider community. I should not have allowed it to have been circulated. I sincerely apologize for my actions,” said Fr. Hughes in a statement released Thursday.

A Durham Catholic District School Board educator was the one to write the handout according to Hughes.

The Reddit user also posted that the bulletin had reportedly been handed out to over 400 churchgoers.

“While the insert in question was not created by the parish, the pastor had allowed for it to be distributed. We have reached out to the pastor and he highly regrets permitting this to be circulated and is preparing to apologize unequivocally to the congregation at all Masses on Sunday,” said a statement made by the Archdiocese of Toronto.

“Please know that the Archdiocese was not made aware of this material in advance, had not given permission for it to be created, printed or distributed as it is clearly unacceptable and offensive and has no place in the church bulletin or elsewhere for that matter.”