Two employees of U.S Catholic bishops have been found expressing public support for gay marriage through social media, according to the latest report of the Lepanto Institute, a research and education organisation dedicated to the defence of the Catholic Church.
Kristyn Peck, an official of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB), and Michael Wynne, an IT professional at Catholic Relief Services (CRS), were found "publicly advocating activities that violate fundamental Catholic teaching," LifeSite News reports.
Michael Hichborn, Lepanto Institute president, said Peck's case was accidentally discovered through the employment networking social platform LinkedIn while the other was brought to his attention by an anonymous tipster from within CRS.
Hichborn came to notice Peck after the latter viewed his LinkedIn profile.
He also discovered that Peck had celebrated the US Supreme Court's June 2015 Obergefell ruling redefining marriage by using the homosexual movement's "Celebrate Pride" application 'to install its signature rainbow image on her Facebook profile. She also posted a rainbow image with the pro-homosexual #marriage #LoveWins hashtag celebrating the decision, says the report.
The second employee, Wynne was also found to have used the "Celebrate Pride" application to install the rainbow on his profile over a photo of him with his mother and male partner. His profile also showed numerous "likes" of pro-LGBT organisations, as well as his having been a member of a gay men's chorus.
On both his LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, Wynne reportedly identifies himself as a CRS staffer but have posts about homosexual movement's red and pink "equals" symbol in support of gay "marriage" and "marriage equality."
"And it should be noted and made abundantly clear that he is doing so while publicly identifying himself as an employee of CRS,'' said Hichborn. "In other words, his public support for same-sex 'marriage' is attached to his public identification with an agency of the Catholic Church."
The anonymous tip from the CRS allegedly claims that Wynne is "in a homosexual relationship'' and promoting same-sex marriage.
According to the report, the CRS has long been the focus of concern over its tie ups with organisations that advocate anti-Catholic issues, including abortion and homosexual behavior.
In its previous report this year, the Lepanto Institute discovered the then editor-in-chief of Catholic News Service (CNS), Tony Spence of publicly supporting the transgender agenda. Last year, the Institute reported on CRS Vice President of Overseas Finance Rick Estridge's use of social media to support views opposite from Church teachings while himself having entered into a homosexual "marriage." Both have stepped down from their posts.
Hichborn said the current problem of Catholic agencies contradicting the Church's moral teachings "represents the cultural war of our time."
"Today, the world is in a grave moral crisis. Western civilisation is on the brink of a moral implosion as pagan practices, beliefs and laws are seizing the reigns. Heresy and immorality have infested nearly every hall of the Church,'' he told LifeSite News.
In issuing the report, the Institute says its objective was the "salvation of souls and fidelity to the Church" in an age of rampant dissent from Church principles.
"The only goal of the Lepanto Institute is to help the clergy and the faithful recognise just how serious and pervasive the problem truly is.''
