From Roman Catholic to Quaker
Joseph Izzo first connected with Quakers as a priest in the Catholic peace movement during the Vietnam War. “Everywhere I went, every conference I attended . . . there were Quakers,” they recall. “As I listened, I kept thinking [that] this is the only other religious denomination I could consider belonging to.”
In the years that followed, Joseph’s support for women’s ordination and for ministering to gay and lesbian Catholics met with disfavor from church authorities, including the future Pope Benedict XVI, culminating in their excommunication. That eventually led them to the Religious Society of Friends. “The whole thing was a blessing,” they reflect. “It didn’t feel that way at the time, but I look back on it and see this is where I needed to be.”
Transcript and Discussion Questions Available Here
Produced by Layla Cuthrell
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