GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) -- Leah Vader and Lynne Huskinson, a lesbian couple who got married in Canada last August, say that when they went public about their relationship, they received a notice from their Wyoming parish telling them they can no longer receive Communion.

The parish priest said that after the couple put their engagement and marriage announcements in the local paper, he ran reminders of the church’s teachings in the parish bulletin as a warning.

Cheyenne Bishop David Ricken says the couple’s relationship constitutes a grave sin, “and the fact that it became so public, that was their choice.”