Gympie’s Catholic community is mostly “deeply offended and embarrassed” that Christmas mass was used as a forum to lobby against gay marriage.

In a move that caused arguments to erupt between parishioners and a gay couple to walk out during mass, St Patrick’s Church leaders used the celebration of the birth of Christ to push a petition opposing same sex marriages.

The direction was given by Archbishop John Bathersby to all Australian Catholic parishes on December 10 in response to a Federal Parliament motion asking members to gauge voters’ views on how to achieve equal treatment for same sex couples.

It was believed most parishes approached the controversial subject with care, mentioning it briefly in the lead-up to Christmas, but St Patrick’s Parish Council chose to canvass the issue at a time when the church would be full of families.

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