Catholic group spend millions to track gay priests using apps

Catholic groups spent millions to track gay priests using apps. (Photo by Rahul Chakraborty from Unsplash)

A Catholic group in Colorado paid millions to acquire data identifying priests who used homosexual hookups and dating apps. They then distributed the information to bishops across the country.

Tracking Gay Priests

According to The Guardian, the Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, a conservative non-profit organization, was responsible for carrying out the initiative.

The organization has spent at least $4 million on the initiative. It has sent the details to dozens of bishops located throughout the country.

The initiative's objective is to "empower the church to carry out its mission" and to equip bishops with "evidence-based resources" to identify further areas of weakness in the current training.

It is currently unknown what effect the data will have on priests. The material obtained through the Renewal project may cause Catholic members to be prevented from receiving promotions or being forced into early retirement.

It has been suggested that individuals who took part in the Renewal initiative were also complicit in the exposure of a renowned Catholic preacher.

Jayd Henricks, the president of Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, will reportedly discuss the initiative in an upcoming interview, according to a statement released by a spokesperson for the organization. 

Henricks stated that he had "been proud to be a part of the group" in an essay written in the first person and published on the blog First Things on Wednesday.

Henricks also mentioned that the team had gathered research and information from the app.

However, some members of the Catholic Church voiced their opposition to using surveillance to investigate priests based on their sexual orientation.

A member of the USCCB who knows Burrill highlighted the "severe emotional suffering" he faced when his Grindr online activity was revealed. 

He stated that it is a sin to tell damaging information about a person without an objectively justifiable reason, even if the information is factual.

Apps Used to Track Gay Priests

Gizmodo reported that Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal claims to have purchased location and usage data from 2018 to 2021 from apps including Grindr, Growlr, Scruff, Jack'da, and even OkCupid.

The information was cross-referenced with church residence housing priests to identify the project's goals.

As reported, it was not the first revelation to claim that Grindr user data has been exposed. Msgr. Jeffrey Burrill, a Catholic priest who allegedly frequented gay pubs, was outed in 2021 using Grindr-obtained location information. Burrill quit his position.

Patrick Lenihan, a representative for Grindr, stated that Catholic Laity's accusations about the app's data are unsubstantiated and that, due to changes made to the company's systems in 2020, the app's location data can't leak in the manners indicated. 

Lenihan added that they are outraged by the conduct of those anti-LGBTQ vigilantes. Grindr has and will continue to exert pressure on the industry to keep bad actors out of the ad tech ecosystem, especially on behalf of the LGBTQ community. The organization reportedly harms people.

Additionally, no laws in the United States protect you from firms that wish to buy and sell location or sexuality data. In reality, consumer of sale data on virtually any topic is entirely lawful, given there are almost no national privacy rules.


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