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Openly gay man gives first Bible reading at Pope Francis’ New York City mass
An openly gay man and supporter of same-sex marriage delivered the first Bible reading at Pope Francis’ New York City mass on Friday in a surprise move for the Catholic Church.
Former Daily Show correspondent and political satirist Mo Rocca was chosen to open the Pope’s mass at Madison Square Garden, delivering the first Bible reading of the evening as the event’s Lector.
Rocca read from the Book of Isaiah in Spanish, reciting the verses, ‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.’
‘You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing, as they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as people make merry when dividing spoils. For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
‘For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, from David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.’
Born to Colombian and Italian Catholics, Rocca attended a Jesuit boys’ school.
He came out publicly in 2011 in an interview with The Six Pack podcast at the age of 42 revealing that he had visited the site of the Stonewall Riots on the night same-sex marriage was legalized in the state of New York.
Following Pope Francis’ mass Rocca took to Twitter to express his thoughts, tweeting, ‘I am deeply grateful and humbled to have delivered a reading at a Mass celebrated by @Pontifex.’
Rocca worked on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 1998 to 2003 and more recently as a CBS Sunday Morning Correspondent, and as host of My Grandmother’s Ravioli on The Cooking Channel.
You can watch Rocca perform his role as Lector in the video below
The post Openly gay man gives first Bible reading at Pope Francis’ New York City mass appeared first on Gay Star News.
Andrew Potts
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