Fr Guy Blair states he was *not* forced out of Diocese of Green Bay

Tuesday marks the last day that the Rev. Guy Blair will serve as pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Green Bay.  Blair, whose work with the homeless and the hearing impaired has garnered respect from his parishioners and the greater Green Bay community, had been tapped to move to St. Paul Parish in Combined Locks before recently being called by his order to be pastor of St. James Parish in Chamberlain, S.D., beginning next summer.

On Wednesday, Blair shared some of his thoughts about his time in the Diocese of Green Bay, where he was the only priest ministering to the deaf.

Q: Some people have said that you were forced out by the Diocese of Green Bay. Do you think that's true?

A: No, I don't think that's true. I think I may have been a little more forthright about things, but not forced out. It was my (religious) community (the Priests of the Sacred Heart) that decided to move me at the end of a six-year contract, and that would have been in 2011. The bishop here had already named a new pastor for this church. It really didn't make sense for me to be transferred down to Combined Locks for one year. So my new pastorage doesn't begin until July of 2011. In the meantime I've got a wonderful sabbatical program and time to visit with my family on the East Coast.

Read the whole thing at Post Crescent