First Openly Gay Gov. Jim McGreevey Wants to Become a Priest

May 2, 2007 — -- Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey wants to be an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church, ABC News has confirmed.

The process, which could take several years, would begin at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, where McGreevey was received last Sunday, the Newark Star-Ledger first reported.

McGreevey, who stepped down as governor amid a homosexual sex scandal, has also been accepted at the General Theological Seminary in Manhattan into the master of divinity program, school spokesman Bruce Parker said.

News of his aspirations to enter the church came as his estranged wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, appeared in two highly anticipated network television interviews in which she described her ordeal after learning he was gay.

"I thought I had it all, I thought it was the American dream, and it turned out to be a nightmare," she told ABC's Diane Sawyer Wednesday.

Matos McGreevey is beginning a national book tour about her life as the wife of a gay man. The memoir comes eight months after McGreevey shared his own story about coming out of the closet in a book called "The Confession."

McGreevey announced to the nation that he was a "gay American" in 2004, the same day he resigned from office and admitted to having an affair with a male staffer.

While in office, McGreevey described himself as a devout Roman Catholic. Some of his positions, however, including his abortion rights stance, came into conflict with tenets of Catholicism.

Becoming a priest in the Episcopal Church will require backing from the Episcopal Church of New York, his specific parish and the bishop in New York.

At the parish level, a committee will be formed to decide whether he is qualified and whether he "has shown the gifts and talents needed for priesthood in this diocese," according to a description provided by the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

Homosexuality is far more tolerated in the Episcopal Church than in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2003 the church's House of Bishops confirmed the Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire as the first openly gay bishop in the history of the church. Still, some have derided the church position and left because of the relaxed policy toward homosexuality.

One issue reportedly at stake in ongoing divorce proceedings is whether the couple's 5-year-old daughter, whose custody the McGreeveys are fighting over, should be able to receive Communion while at Episcopal services during visitations with her father.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.