Catholic Relief Services 'in deliberations' after VP revealed to be in gay marriage

(Photo: Reuters / Cliff Despeaux)

Catholic Relief Services is reportedly considering its response to one of its vice presidents being in a gay marriage.

A spokesperson for CRS, the US Catholic Church's humanitarian arm, said it was aware of Rick Estridge's marriage to another man and that the organization was "in deliberations" about it,  the Washington Times reported.

CRS was forced to respond after the Lepanto Institute, a Catholic organization, published public records from the Clerk of Circuit Court for the City of Baltimore, Maryland, showing that Estridge entered into a civil same-sex marriage with William Gorestas on April 4, 2013.

The institute further alleges that Estridge  actively promotes acceptance of homosexuality.

Estridge is CRS's Vice President of Overseas Finance and has worked with the organization for 14 years. 

LifeSiteNews reports that he was elevated to a VP position in the same month as he married his partner. 

The website also claimed that Estridge was using his .social media accounts to promote views that are in opposition to official Catholic teaching  His LinkedIn and Facebook pages have been offline since the website published its April 20 report. 

According to LifeSiteNews, pages liked by Estridge on Facebook included several run by pro-gay groups.

CRS is now facing a backlash from conservative critics who are putting pressure on the organization to hire those who adhere to traditional Catholic teaching.

Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, told LifeSiteNews: "An organization that touts itself as being Catholic should - of course - hire practicing Catholics in good standing.  This CRS steadfastly refuses to consistently do. And we see the results here."

He said, "Catholic donors may wish to reconsider whether they would like their donations to go to an organization whose employees, by their actions, make a mockery out of the sacraments of the Church." 

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