Answering the call...

I could not make this up if I tried...

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEWARK, May 2 (AP) — James E. McGreevey, who resigned as New Jersey governor in 2004 after saying that he had had an extramarital affair with a man, has become an Episcopalian and wants to be ordained as a priest in that faith, according to a published report.

The former governor, who was raised as a Roman Catholic, was officially received into the Episcopal faith on Sunday at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Manhattan, said the Rev. Kevin D. Bean, the church’s vicar.

Mr. McGreevey has entered the church’s “discernment” phase, which usually precedes any seminary work, Father Bean told The Star-Ledger of Newark in a report posted Wednesday on its Web site.

A St. Bartholomew’s spokesman, Bob Johnson, said he could confirm that Mr. McGreevey was received into the faith because the former governor’s name was listed on a program for the service. The step is for those who have already been baptized and confirmed in another Christian denomination, but wish to become Episcopalians, he said.

Mr. Johnson declined to say whether Mr. McGreevey was considering the priesthood, since that involved an individual parishioner.

But a spokesman for the Chelsea section of the General Theological Seminary in Manhattan said Mr. McGreevey had been accepted as a student. The spokesman, Bruce Parker, added that he did not know if the former governor wanted to become a priest.

“Mr. McGreevey has been admitted to the master of divinity program, and he will be starting in the fall,” Mr. Parker said. “Where Mr. McGreevey goes with this is up to him. We have a lot of people studying here who are not interested in ordination at all.”

Mr. McGreevey did not return a call or an e-mail message for comment Wednesday night.

Mr. McGreevey, 49, shocked his state in August 2004 by proclaiming himself “a gay American” who had had an extramarital affair with a man, and that he would resign that November. Aides to the governor identified the man as a former aide. The former aide, however, has always denied that there was an affair, and claimed that he was sexually harassed by the governor.

Growing up in Middlesex County, Mr. McGreevey served as an altar boy and attended Catholic schools. While in office, he continued to practice the religion, but differed from church teachings in several areas, including his support of abortion rights.

The issue of gays in the clergy has caused divisions in the worldwide Anglican Communion, which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States. This year, Anglican leaders demanded that the American denomination step back from its support of gays or risk losing its full membership in the Anglican fellowship.

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