After getting married to his partner, Minnesotan church music director Jamie Manzi-Moore [top right] was forced to resign from his congregation in St. Victoria, MN. He’s on his honeymoon, and hasn’t commented on the firing — until now.

Speaking with CBS Minnesota, Manzi-Moore is unequivocal that “Archbishop Nienstedt was the person requesting [his] resignation.”

The Archbishop has claimed that the church reached out to him for advice, but Manzi-Moore tells another story. He says that after coming out to his community, his church’s Father White reached out to the Archbishop, telling him the church wanted to keep Manzi-Moore on staff, regardless of his sexuality. Manzi-Moore says Archbishop Nienstedt never responded to this request.

While Manzi-Moore says he felt “heartbroken” when he heard the news of his firing from the church, and he does not have another job lined up, he was not exactly surprised by the news — his comments sound more resigned than angry:

I have known ever since going to work for the Catholic Church that this could be a possibility at some point in time […] It might take me a while to quote unquote, ‘come back.’ But I was born and raised Catholic and I love the Catholic faith.

Watch a CBS Minnesota report on the story, AFTER THE JUMP…

It bears repeating that Archbishop Nienstedt has a history of anti-gay remarks and recently refused to leave his post despite allegations of sexual misconduct and covering up the sexual abuse of children.