LGBT
Learn
Martin, Fr. James, “What Does a Church Open to LGBT Catholics Look Like?” America, August 3, 2019. Learn what some Catholic clergy and laity are doing to affirm that those in the LGBT community are are “equally redeemed by Christ and radically loved by God.”
New Ways Ministry “In 1976, Bishop Francis J. Mugavero of Brooklyn, New York, wrote a pastoral letter, ‘Sexuality: God’s Gift,’ which was one of the first Roman Catholic statements to contain a compassionate and encouraging message to gay and lesbian people. Gay and lesbian people deserved to be treated equally in society and the Christian community, he noted, and then he addressed them directly, stating, ‘. . . we pledge our willingness. . . to try to find new ways to communicate the truth of Christ because we believe it will make you free.’
That passage and that term, ‘new ways,’ caught the attention and the hearts of a priest and nun team who were doing ministry with the gay and lesbian community…Like its name and its co-founders, the vision and philosophy of this group was solidly Catholic.”
Help
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Catholic Conference, 1997. “There seems to be no single cause of a homosexual orientation. A common opinion of experts is that there are multiple factors—genetic, hormonal, psychological—that may give rise to it. Generally, homosexual orientation is experienced as a given, not as something freely chosen. By itself, therefore, a homosexual orientation cannot be considered sinful, for morality presumes the freedom to choose.” The bishops advise parents how to love their children with same sex attraction as Jesus does.