Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey has been denied in his bid to become a priest in the Episcopal Church.

McGreevey, 53, resigned from his post in 2004 after acknowledging that he's a “gay American” and admitting to an extramarital affair with Golan Cipel, a McGreevey appointee.

McGreevey's bitter divorce from Dina Matos was finalized in 2008. They share joint custody of one child, Jacqueline.

According to the New York Post, church leaders have denied his bid to join the priesthood not because he's gay, but because of his divorce.

“It was not [for] being gay but for being a jackass – [McGreevey] didn't come out of the whole divorce looking good,” a source with the Episcopal Diocese of Newark told the paper.

After leaving politics, McGreevey converted from Catholicism and earned a master's degree in divinity from the General Theological Seminary.

The Post reports that it is not uncommon for first-time bids for priesthood to fail.

McGreevey lives in Plainfield, New Jersey with Australian real estate executive Mark O'Donnell, his partner of six years.