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Gay Irish 'bishop' Pat Buckley stood up on wedding day

DONAL THORNTON,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 8:20 AM

Updated Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 10:54 AM

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Bishop Pat Buckley

Outspoken gay Catholic bishop Pat Buckley was due to marry his Filipino boyfriend Eduardo Yango in Larne, Co Antrim, but his partner got cold feet and decided to postpone the civil marriage.

Buckley, 57, said the extensive media coverage of the marriage forced Yango to have "a little postponement" yesterday.

Buckley would have been the first Catholic cleric to enter a same-sex marriage and continue to practice as a member of the clergy.

"We have had 10 days of intense media interest and, while I have been used to dealing with the media for 25 years, Eduardo has no experience of the media and has found the intrusion very stressful. He is also a very private person and comes from a culture in the Philippines where family and personal issues are handled very discreetly and privately,” said Buckley.

Buckley said that Yango had to "de-stress and to resolve some family issues," and he was confident that they would marry when these issues were resolved.

Yango’s parents were unaware of his plans to marry Buckley, but they eventually found out when word of the gay marriage spread around the world.

"Who would have thought that a little tinpot civil partnership would be reported worldwide?” continued Buckley, adding that, when it came to matters of sexuality, the Philippines “is extremely conservative and socially is where Ireland was 30 or 40 years ago.”

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murphy666 | Mar 03, 2010, 11:41 PM EST

Is this what they mean when they say "bishoprick"?

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Sungold | Feb 12, 2010, 04:17 AM EST

In other words, the Philippines Catholics are "more Catholic" than the present day Irish Catholics. To the non-Catholic theologian, in what branch of Catholicism are male bishops allowed to marry men, and keep their posts?

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kickstar | Feb 11, 2010, 09:16 PM EST

I support Pat 100% in all that he does in his parish, He really puts on a great show there.I was wondering if he is still living in the parish house or if he has moved, I hope he managed to keep his original parish house as it is his parish...The Roman church sometimes forgets that this property belongs to the parishioners and not to Rome...So I hope Pat can keep his Church and House...oh and the collection plates as well...lololol..Well Done Pat keep sticking it to them..

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barneyjo | Feb 11, 2010, 07:25 PM EST

Well said, and I broadly concur with your analysis.

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2BorNot2B | Feb 10, 2010, 05:22 PM EST

Whoever made DRDECELLESSMITH a Catholic Canon Law Expert and Theologian obviously missed reading the complete manuals. Patrick the ex-Catholic Bishop, by the simple fact of not following the teachings of the Catholic Church on the matters of marriage and homosexuality and, further, publicly flaunting his disobedience and being a source of public scandal, automatically EX COMMUNICATES himself. He does not need a formal decree by the Pope, though that will be issued in time. -- Being ex-communicated then, the 'apostolic succession' he claimed before ends. He may have and use the title of 'bishop' and use it in any church willing to accept his lack of temperance and propensity for flipping off authority, but he can no longer ordain others nor claim 'Apostolic Succession in the Catholic Church. -- Frankly it's all common sense. Can anyone claim to be law abiding, democracy loving American citizen while disobeying the laws of the land and actively working to contradict and overturn them?

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malhiggins | Feb 10, 2010, 12:30 PM EST

Good on you, Pat. Still have your principles after all these years. Regards malachy

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kickstar | Feb 10, 2010, 11:24 AM EST

I guess Pats prospective partner just got fed up with Clerical Abuse.

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Tippman | Feb 10, 2010, 10:31 AM EST

The same "bishop" had no problem stoking the publicity fires by appearing on "The Late Late" last week.

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FatherVol | Feb 10, 2010, 10:28 AM EST

Please stop referring to this man as a Catholic bishop. He is no longer affiliated with the Catholic church and has chosen to live a life outside of the Church's structure and discipline by allowing himself to be "ordained" a bishop by someone without the autority to do so. If he wants to live with his boyfriend, let him, but let him do it under another guise of "Catholic bishop" because that he is not. But then those that don't expect immigrants to follow the laws for entry into a country and prefer international anarchy can hardly be expected to understand "authority" in any sense of the word.

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BishopSean | Feb 09, 2010, 08:55 AM EST

Bishop Pat Buckley's problem is not only with what Irish society's attitudes were 30 or 40 years ago, or for that matter, what Rome's attitudes on homosexuality are: his problem is also with the inspired Word of God in the Scriptures, that could not be clearer on the topic of homosexuality. Bishop Buckley should be respectfully invited to study the Word of God (as it really is; not how it is interpreted by wishful thinkers), with attention of the heart and repent.

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CitizenWhy | Feb 09, 2010, 08:34 AM EST

For accuracy, you should have pointed out that the Bishop is no longer in communion with Rome. Just to be fair. Rome is wrong on gay issues but your article should not imply that the bishop is approved by Rome.

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