A Lexington Catholic Church ministry to be featured on CBS Evening News
About three weeks ago, Stan “JR” Zerkowski got a call from a CBS Evening News producer.
It was shortly after the death of Pope Francis, and they were looking for people to talk about his legacy — mainly Francis’ role on LGBTQ acceptance in the Catholic Church.
Zerkowski had plenty to say because Francis’ writing and teaching had allowed him to start an LGBTQ ministry at Historic St. Paul Catholic Church in downtown Lexington in 2016.
A television crew arrived in Lexington on April 27 and proceeded to interview Zerkowski, members of his ministry, and Lexington Bishop John Stowe. The piece is set to air on Wednesday, May 7.
“It would have been incredibly difficult to begin this kind of a ministry without Francis,” Zerkowski said. “The papacy of Francis gave us that space to acknowledge that LGBTQ people have been on the periphery.”
In 2013, when Francis was asked about gay priests, he answered: “If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them?”
In 2023, he issued a “Fiducia Supplicans” which allowed Catholic priests to bless couples in irregular situations, including same-sex couples, but without implying church approval of their unions. That year, he also sent Zerkowski a handwritten note praising his ministry.
The CBS team, including Miami-based reporter Manuel Bojorquez, interviewed two people from the St. Paul ministry, including J.T. Hulan, a gay Catholic who had been told to stay away from the church many years before.
Zerkowski said Bishop Stowe has always been supportive of the ministry “because the very basis of human dignity is at the core of our ministry.”
He hopes the segment will air Tuesday night because “any time we can have the conversations nationally, we show people the possibilities that might exist.”
This story was originally published May 5, 2025 at 3:00 PM.
