Church opens its arms in first blessing of a same-sex Chicago couple: 'There's a place for you'
When Michael Thiry was diagnosed with Stage 3 lymphoma in early 2016 he knew the uncertain health journey ahead would be arduous, not only for himself but for Nathaniel Washington, his partner of about a year.
Thiry gave Washington permission to leave his side if he ever became overwhelmed. "I remember saying you can go, this is a lot, I understand," Thiry said.
Washington at first doubted he had the strength to stand by his partner, but he overcame those doubts with the help of his mother. "She said are you in love with him? I said I am," Washington said. "She said well, baby, you got a job to do."
Washington was by Thiry's side throughout his chemotherapy sessions through March 2017. Thiry was eventually declared cancer free. The two got married in Hawaii in September of that year. They say their love for God and for each other pulled them through many challenges.
On Sunday, the couple's seventh wedding anniversary, Thiry and Washington celebrated that love by receiving a blessing from the Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church. It was Pfleger's first time blessing a same-sex couple since Pope Francis approved such blessings last December.
"What was important to me was that they feel the love of God when for so many years people in the name of God have shown them hate," Pfleger said of his first time blessing a same-sex couple. "I wanted them to know that God loves them like he loves everybody."
The intimate ceremony was held at the couple's apartment building on the Near West Side. Washington decorated the space with verdant plants hanging from the ceiling and exotic-colored flowers as an homage to their Hawaii nuptials.
About a dozen of their loved ones enjoyed barbecue ribs, blueberry coconut margaritas and other tropical-themed food and drink.
Thiry and Washington both read pieces of Scripture that they identified with, each choosing verses that spoke about the tribulations they've endured together. Emotion was evident in their voices, and in the moist eyes of their loved ones.
The church has emphasized that blessings must not resemble marriage ceremonies or be confused with them. The Catholic Church still opposes same-sex unions.
But Thiry hopes that the church allowing the blessing of same-sex couples for the first time leads to other shifts in the coming years.
"It doesn't feel like it's enough, but it's opening a door," Thiry said. "We appreciate the door being opened a crack, and we're hoping to push it open and walk through it."
For Washington, the blessing was more than just a celebration of their love. It felt like a repudiation of the hate they've experienced. Not only homophobia but racism as well because they are an interracial couple.
"Gay people have been torn from God, they have been told they are not loved or they are not this or that," Washington said. "It's so many things, the same way Black people have been treated. So for me, that lie has to be defeated."
The couple have been attending St. Sabina for about two years. They say they were drawn to the church because of Pfleger, who they say demonstrates what it means to be a man of God: unconditional love.
Pfleger, an activist priest who's led the Auburn Gresham church since 1981, said he's been asked to bless another same-sex couple.
"I thank God that in my priesthood that things have changed so I can," he said.
Thiry hopes their blessing ceremony is the first of many and that eventually such ceremonies can be held inside a church.
For now, he wants people in the LGBTQ+ community to know that although they may have have felt rejected by the church in the past, times are changing and doors are increasingly being opened.
"We want gay people to know you have a place at the table," Thiry said. "God loves you. There's a place for you."
