Birds of a Rainbow Feather

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ChurchMilitant.com) – An openly homosexual man in a so-called same-sex marriage is now in charge of worship for a diocese in the Bluegrass State. 

Bp. John Stowe and Aaron Bianco

Lexington’s Bp. John Stowe — an adamant supporter of sodomy — recently named Aaron Bianco the diocese’s new director of the Office of Worship.

Faithful Catholics from the diocese are alarmed.

In 2018, Bianco resigned from his position as pastoral associate at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church (SJE) in San Diego — a church with a so-called LGBTQ ministry, which, according to its web page, has a “weekly vibrant liturgical celebration for the LGBBT community and their allies.”

In an email regarding his resignation, Bianco wrote:

As most of you know, I have endured physical and emotional violence from groups like Church Militant and LifeSite News for the past year and a half. As I wrote earlier in the week, they have slashed my tires, left me death threats, physically attacked me outside of mass and sent hundreds of letters, phone calls and emails. This past week they took it to another level. They broke into the office/rectory and spray painted “no fags” on the conference room wall. Then, on Wednesday, LifeSite News and the Lepanto Institute published an article about me. This was the final straw.

But the chronology of events shows the harassment began before Church Militant and other outlets reported anything on Bianco. 

Although Church Militant has never condoned violence against him, Bianco made claims of alleged hate crimes to the Michigan attorney general. This led to an unconstitutional investigation into Church Militant that ultimately found no wrong-doing and the investigation was closed.

Parishioners Tell a Different Story

Before Bianco resigned from SJE in October of 2018, Catholics at the parish spoke to Church Militant in August of that year, telling a different story.

“Everyone in the diocese is scared of Bianco,” said one parishioner. “They all know that whatever he says, goes, due to his closeness to [then-San Diego Bishop Robert] McElroy and [San Diego Aux. Bp. John] Dolan.”

“People sarcastically call him Bp. Aaron,” he added.

Parishioners, including members of the parish chapter of the Legion of Mary approached Dolan, who was the pastor of SJE at the time, regarding his heterodox pastoral associate. 

One parishioner even expressed her concerns to Abp. José Gomez over the pro-homosexual direction Dolan and Bianco were pushing the parish. 

“I have talked to three local priests and they informed me that this is the new thrust of our Diocese,” she explained in the letter.

Gomez never responded to her, but it seems he informed the other parties involved.

Bianco approached this parishioner, saying, “I got that letter you sent to Abp. Gomez! He sent it to me! He’s my friend!” 

Dolan then ousted the Legion of Mary from the parish, claiming the group’s half-dozen members were insufficient to justify meeting at SJE. But Bianco’s “LGBT Bible study group” had even fewer members but was permitted to stay.

Under the protection and vocal support of Bp. McElroy, faithful Catholics were suppressed at SJE while the push to normalize and bless homosexual behavior thrived. 

Bishop John Stowe

Lexington’s Bp. John Stowe — a Franciscan — has been a devout promoter of same-sex sexual activity. He is building a legacy of bombarding social media and other venues with pro-homosexual messages. 

In a 2019 tweet, Stowe wrote: “With Lexington Pride underway, I am grateful for the presence of people of faith reaching out to those who have been turned away or felt rejected by the Church.”

Pro-homosexual Jesuit Fr. James Martin even tweeted about a prayer Stowe wrote for Pride Month that year: “Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, @BpStowe has written this new prayer to be distributed this weekend at #PrideMonth events by the Catholic LGBTQ Ministry and Fortunate Families in Lexington.”

In a 2020 video message, Stowe addressed what he called “LGBTQ Catholics,” saying, “I admire your perseverance to remain faithful to your Catholic identity and to be faithful to who you are.”

In 2021, he posted another video message in which he apologized to homosexuals on behalf of the Catholic Church. 

In a 2021 tweet, he wrote: “‘Pray that the dignity of all people will be respected in our country’ (@USCCB). Including the dignity of LGBT persons.” 

Stowe is also one of the bishops behind the 2021 “Statement from Catholic Bishops on Protecting LGBT Youth” titled “God is on Your Side.”

In 2022, Stowe gave the keynote address for “The Church and the LGBTQ Person,” hosted by Fr. James Martin’s website, Outreach: An LGBTQ Catholic Resource.

Church Militant reached out to the Lexington diocese for comment but received no response as of press time. 

A Likely Pairing

Given the track records of Bp. John Stowe and Aaron Bianco, it’s unsurprising these birds of a rainbow feather have flocked together.

New Ways Ministry — a dissident group describing itself as “a Catholic outreach that educates and advocates for equity, inclusion, and justice for LGBTQ+ persons” — has a two-page archive dedicated to Bianco. 

One of the entries in that archive is a guest column written by Bianco in 2021 titled, “Jesus to LGBTQ Catholics: ‘Go And Preach the Gospel.'” In that column, Bianco claims Our Lord’s directive to preach the gospel has a special meaning for “the LGBTQ community.”

“It means we must proclaim that we have found a God who loves us unconditionally, a God who is choosing to give us the blessing of being LGBTQ,” he wrote.

At the time the column was written, the biography for Bianco included the following: “Aaron has spoken at national and international meetings on LGBTQ and Young Adult issues within the Catholic Church. He lives with his husband and dog in California.”