As a busy fall for Catholic LGBT advocates winds down, its time for reflecting about what happened–and forecasting what might come. This post focuses in on World Meeting of Families (WMF) and Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. as they related to LGBT issues, looking both back at the past and what these actions might mean for the future.
Equally Blessed Pilgrims Reflect on Experiences
Several members of the families with LGBT members who participated in Equally Blessed’s pilgrimage to WMF (and to concurrent “outside the walls” LGBT-related events) have shared their experiences and reflections from the week-long even on video.
Ryan Hoffman of Call to Action wrote in the National Catholic Reporter about the exclusion pilgrims experienced having been “dismissed from giving workshops, rejected from having a presence in the exhibit hall, relegated to a Methodist church across the street, and nearly shut out of the one presentation on ‘same-sex attraction’.”
These acts impeded “authentic dialogue and genuine encounter,” but did not stop such moments. Hoffman observed:
Ryan Hoffman
“Francis has asked Catholics to work on the margins. Equally Blessed boldly occupies this space, on the periphery and in the field hospital of the Catholic church. Once again, we found ourselves on the front lines of compassion and justice. . .The pilgrims’ prophetic ministry was not in what they were able to say, but in who they were able to be — their whole and holy, complete and healthy selves — amidst a backdrop of hierarchical control tactics and fear.”
LGBT pilgrims and their families prophetically witnessed to their faith, despite Meeting organizers’ best attempts to shut them out. Catholics at the event, overall, noticed the pilgrims and many affirmed them. Indeed, WMF participants overwhelmingly agreed that openness, honesty, and safe spaces for dialogue were desired by WMF attendees, regardless of where their positions on gender or sexuality.
Absent, too, at WMF were discussions about institutional matters in the church. Fired lesbian educator Margie Winters identified a hoped-for conversation that was not included on the agenda. She told the National Catholic Reporter:
Margie Winters
“We ask the church to reflect on its own identity, an identity now associated with the discriminatory treatment of the LGBT community. We are your sisters and brothers in faith.”
The Philadelphia Inquirerreported on Winters reiterating this sentiment at an LGBT Family Papal Picnic held in Philadelphia, saying the exclusion of people “impacts the integrity of the church as a whole.”
Equally Blessed partners hosted events where more inclusive and honest conversations could happen. Writing at the Human Rights Campaign’s blog about New Ways Ministry’s workshop on gender identity, Lisbeth Melendez Rivera said:
Lisbeth Melendez Rivera
“Their stories were heartbreaking and hopeful. Contrary to the tone of sanctioned workshops, these messages were ones of inclusion and acceptance. They represented the success of our work.”
Stories shared included those of Nicole Santamaria, an intersex woman from El Salvador, and her mother, Vilma. Nicole noted that rather than condemn intersex people, the Catholic Church is entirely silent on this community, and silence is problem for intersex people in heavily-Catholic nations like hers. An asylum seeker to the U.S. after she suffered multiple physical attacks, Nicole told NewsWorks:
” ‘The point of having the Lord’s love in our life is to create the space for people to be [themselves]. . .If people believe that they have the Lord’s right to attack you, they are going to attack you and they are going to be celebrated.”
You can read more about Nicole’s story in an interview she offered to The Washington Post.
WMF pilgrims also shared their experiences on an installment of DignityUSA’s “Queer Catholic Faith” webinar series last month, which you can view here.
Lingering Questions About the World Meeting of Families
Those involved with Equally Blessed’s pilgrimage were not the only voices questioning and even critical of the World Meeting of Families.
Jake Kohlhaas, a theologian at Loras College, Dubuque, Iowa, who attended WMF, wrote at Daily Theology about an “exclusivist tone” which marked the Meeting’s programming that “works against even legitimate diversity and complexity within the accepted moral tradition of the church.”
In Kohlhaas’ estimation, WMF speakers appealed to inclusivity only in instances where it strengthened their position, while jettisoning it for rigid exclusivism when their perspective on church teaching was challenged, such as being faced with U.S. Catholics overwhelming support of marriage equality. He questioned whether the use of dubious social science findings by WMF presenters is analogous to intelligent design theorists’ discussing evolutionary biology:
Jake Kohlhaas
“That is, while the approach in general presents itself as receptive to the findings of non-theological disciplines, when the data challenges basic commitments it is glossed over with affirmations of Catholic teaching. . .Selective uses of observed data undermine this commitment by allowing a prevailing hermeneutic of fidelity to church teaching to obstruct legitimately challenging questions.”
More fundamentally, Kohlhaas expressed concern about WMF’s failure to acknowledge the realities of Catholic families in their diversity today, and he concluded with an important question:
“This is not simply a question about the possibility of certain strategic reforms, it is a question about how we balance a commitment to inclusivity with the specific moral teachings of the Church. If simply acknowledging legitimate diversities and challenging realities proves difficult for many Catholic leaders, how are we as Catholics to respond mercifully to the world’s needs?”
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, summarized the approach of WMF organizers and the U.S. bishops in this way, reports KEPRTV:
“They see LGBT issues as a problem to contain rather than to explore. . .The entire Catholic community in the U.S. is having a discussion on this now. Why can’t the World Meeting of Families?”
Papal Visit Generally Praised
Pope Francis’ visit, despite the Kim Davis controversy which erupted shortly afterwards, has generally been praised. Denise Hinds, a self-described “Catholic-nun-turned-lesbian-mom,” wrote in The Huffington Post about seeing the pontiff at the White House. Describing the scene as “electric,” she explained:
Denise Hinds
“[Pope Francis] spoke of family and marriage, and his comments were heard by some LGBT advocates as opposing my family and those like mine. But I heard them differently. In the context of the long hard walk to equality and justice for so many people, this pope chose not to defame me. He chose to honor family and marriage, not limit which families and which marriages. And for this church, in the context of this pope’s choices, that is progress. . .
“I felt happy and overwhelmingly proud of the pope, being Catholic and being gay all at the same time. I think his words and deeds will also give my daughter hope that she can have a place in a church that welcomes, accepts and respects her family.”
Victoria Brownworth, a Catholic lesbian as well, also wrote about the papal visit for The Huffington Post and said:
Victoria Brownworth
“If I have learned anything from watching Pope Francis up close and personal in Philadelphia over his two days here, it is that my Catholic faith and my lesbian identity are inextricable from each other. I have been reminded that I am uniquely blessed to be a Catholic lesbian and that my lesbianism and my faith are gifts. . .
“And so I come away from Pope Francis’s visit not embittered by his failure to speak to me, a lesbian Catholic, but assured by every action and speech of his that I witnessed, that he is more human than God, more conflicted than sure, more searching than settled.
“That reaffirmed for me what I have always known to be true: That I am no less a member of my Church than anyone else, that being a lesbian requires no imprimatur from the Church, because I am, according to the Church’s own theology, made in God’s image.”
Much has happened since the World Meeting of Families and Pope Francis’ visit: the Kim Davis controversy, news of the pope’s meeting with a gay couple, and the Synod on the Family. Yet the good news shared by Equally Blessed’s pilgrims and the encounters they experienced should not be forgotten in the near future. Indeed, their example of dialogue and witness, accompanied by Pope Francis’ vision for the church, constitute a path forward for U.S. Catholics when it comes to LGBT issues.
To read Bondings 2.0‘s full coverage of the Equally Blessed pilgrimage, the World Meeting of Families, and/or Pope Francis visit to the U.S., you can click here.
Sandwiched amid the Pope Francis-Kim Davis controversy and the Synod on the Family was news that the pope had met with a gay couple while visiting the U.S. — and that this meeting, unlike his encounter with Davis, was of Francis’ own initiative.
Yayo Grassi, the gay man and former student who met with Pope Francis, spoke to the Washington Blade and his interview is worth reading even several weeks later for its insights into the pope as a human being when it comes to LGBT issues.
The meeting, which included Grassi’s partner of 19 years, was considered private. Grassi, now 67, had Pope Francis as a high school teacher back in Argentina many years ago and the two have remained friends in the interceding decades. Grassi decided to make their meeting public after the Kim Davis controversy erupted, overshadowing the pope’s trip:
” ‘One of the things that upset me extremely and profoundly was that people who were so much in love with this Pope immediately turned against him. . .And I was telling my friends how can you forget everything this guy did? How can we forget these things for something that this woman said that we don’t even know is true or not?’ “
When a The New York Times reporter identified Grassi as the former student who had met with the pope, Grassi confirmed that identification, concluding that he had to defend a friend, the pope, now under attack because of the Davis incident. He explained to the Blade:
” ‘To me it was a meeting with a friend of mine. . .It was a meeting between two friends. . .who love each other and I admire him deeply. That would have been the end of the story and I wouldn’t have you here sitting in my kitchen if it wasn’t that this lady Kim Davis came out with this information saying she got a private audience with him.’ “
This was the second time Grassi met Francis since he was elected in 2013, the first time being in St. Peter’s Square during an audience. Grassi had let the pope know he and his partner would be in Italy for a friend’s wedding and were immediately invited to the audience. Pope Francis walked to them amid “hundreds of people. . .with his arms open” and said, “You made it. You make me so happy.” The pope was introduced to Grassi’s partner, hugging him, too.
Grassi is firm in his belief that the pope is trying to help all those who are marginalized and oppressed, including LGBT communities:
” ‘What I can say is we have to recognize the small steps that Pope Francis has taken and that considering the place where he comes from are actually giant steps. . .It’s not that the man does not want to do it. He has a timing for things. He has a way of saying things that are so extraordinary and making them with small steps.’ “
Grassi also shed light into one of the more controversial criticisms of the pope, his actions against marriage equality in Argentina. The student explained he wrote to his former teacher, then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, after seeing his harsh comments against same-sex marriages:
“So I fired an email to him explaining to him how much I owed him, what an important person he was in my life, how much he developed my most progressive thoughts in my life and that I was disappointed to hear that he was saying these negative things about gay people and about gay marriage. . .And I mentioned my boyfriend by name and told him at that time we were 14 years together.”
The reply was “beautiful” and “very loving” according to Grassi, who continued:
” ‘He started by apologizing because he had hurt me, because I was hurt. . .And immediately after that he said I have never said any of those things that the press is publishing about me. . .He said as a matter of fact he never expressed himself about this question. And he ended up by saying something that to me is so important. . .He said believe me, in my pastoral work there is no place for homophobia.’ “
Grassi’s account is further confirmation of what Pope Francis seemingly seeks for LGBT people in the church — an unhindered welcome, a loving embrace by pastoral ministers, and a focus on the person first while setting aside questions of doctrinal reform. This is insufficient for some LGBT advocates, but a pope who can apologize and say “there is no place for homophobia” in the church’s mission is a pope who is laying the groundwork for real changes to come.
Keeping up with Catholic LGBT news these last few weeks is not an easy feat. It seems that just a few moments after one story breaks, another is already in the making and now the Synod is underway.
Sampled below are some notable, thought-provoking, or just interesting commentaries related to the Kim Davis controversy and some lessons learned.
Initial criticism against Pope Francis over the Kim Davis affair has shifted to his handlers who apparently staged the encounter, specifically Apostolic Nuncio to the United States: Archbishop Carlo Vigano.
Charles Pierce’s piece for Esquire, which suggested early on that right wing activists had staged the meeting, was considered conspiratorial but now has been vindicated. If one wanted to undercut Pope Francis’ papal visit to the U.S. while scoring partisan points, Pierce laid out a plausible plan:
“Here’s what I’d do. I’d arrange for the pope to meet Davis, but not as an American culture war celebrity, but as a devout Christian whose faith is under vague assault. . .I’d shuffle her through the process and she gets some vague words of encouragement from the pope, who otherwise doesn’t know her from any other hick who gets sent his way. I’d sit on the news for the entire rest of the pope’s trip, even enlisting Davis’s publicity-hungry legal team in that effort. . .
“Vigano is a Benedict loyalist. Robert Moynihan, whose newsletter, Inside The Vatican, got the story first, is an actual lifelong Ratzinger protégé. And the Vatican press office acted just the way I’d want it to act, if I were the guy setting this up. First, it issues a silly non-denial denial, and then it merely confirms that the meeting occurred. At which point, the office clams up, leaving the story festering out there in the news cycle, and leaving the pope out there in the American culture war to twist in the wind. And, if this scenario is in any way accurate, it had its desired effect.”
Given the Vatican’s confirmation that Pope Francis neither knew who Kim Davis was nor meant to lend support for her cause and that Fr. Thomas Rosica, another Vatican spokesperson, confirmed that it was Vigano’s office who invited Davis, calls are mounting for sanctions against the nuncio. More than 35,000 people have signed Faithful America’s petition calling for Vigano to be replaced at the nunciature.
This seems particularly relevant because, as Tom Gallagher of the National Catholic Reporter pointed out, the Liberty Counsel backing Kim Davis and seemingly instrumental in this scheme has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The New York Times speculated:
“The question now is did Archbishop Viganò, left to linger in the United States as a new administration has taken power in Rome, keep Pope Francis in the dark or simply underestimate the off-message media storm that a meeting with Ms. Davis would provoke. Or, after executing orders from Rome, has he once again found himself being hung out to dry at the end of his career. In January, Archbishop Viganò will turn 75, the age at which bishops must submit a formal request to the Vatican for permission to resign. These requests are not automatically accepted, and bishops often stay in their appointments long after. It seems unlikely, church analysts say, that Archbishop Viganò will be one of them.”
Harvard professor Harvey Cox wrote approvingly of the papal visit in The Boston Globe, while critical of those influences like Vigano which almost ruined it:
“This pope has a highly developed grasp of the importance of symbolism. . .But despite the inspiring clarity of his gestures during his sojourn here, our inept media and his ham-handed American stage managers almost managed to blur the important message he so earnestly wants to convey.”
Still, some remained troubled by Pope Francis’ involvement. Fordham doctoral student Jason Steidl wonders in a piece for The Huffington Postwhether “just like that” the pope’s image should be rectified. He doubts that Francis’ outreach gestures “considered basic to human decency” really amount to change, even if the pope was a victim in the Kim Davis debacle:
“It’s time for progressive Catholics to recognize that, in spite of the pope’s gestures towards LGBT people, systematic sin and injustice runs much deeper that the pope’s pastoral style. Why do we keep fooling ourselves into believing that one pope can fix the deep-rooted problem of homophobia in the church? . . .
“It’s time we stop pretending that Pope Francis has fixed everything. He hasn’t. He can’t. The sooner we recognize how much work remains to be done addressing systematic sins of homophobia in the Catholic Church, the sooner we can begin the healing process.”
More incisively, Jamie Manson of the National Catholic Reporter asked when does hope become denial and whether Catholics are “truly listening to the full context” when Pope Francis speaks:
“I remain hopeful justice will come someday, but I think it is important to accept the reality that the residual effects of a patriarchal, homophobic, clerical formation can still dwell within a man who is otherwise committed to justice and deeply pastoral. . .
“How do we remain people of hope with a deep admiration for much of what the pope says and does while also not losing our prophetic edge in fighting for true justice for women, LGBT people, sexual abuse survivors and those suffering from lack of access to contraception?”
Having experienced Pope Francis’ charismatic draw in person twice now, I know that the path of least resistance is to believe change is coming from this man and cede to the frenzy around him. However, the path for LGBT advocates is the more challenging both/and model suggested by Manson. We must both celebrate Pope Francis’ goodness when appropriate and ensure we do not lose our voices as loving critics and critical lovers of a church still inflicting deep harm. What does a frenetic few weeks of Catholic LGBT news teach us moving forward? I identify three lessons, aware there are definitely more.
First, Pope Francis’ ministry requires a slower evaluation than the 24-hour news cycle might allow and we must get comfortable sitting with ambiguity rather than casting immediate judgement. This allows his words and actions to be read in the broader contexts of his papacy, his life, and larger ecclesial, cultural, political and/or social narratives at play. The highs may not be as high, but the lows will likely not be as low and it will help LGBT advocates keep a balanced appraisal of this pontiff. This is true also for the Synod studying family life that is now underway in Rome.
Two, repeating a point already made on this blog by Francis DeBernardo, the Vatican must be more transparent and forthright in explaining Pope Francis’ ministry. Dodging today’s media realities hurts everyone and as DeBernardo told The Advocate:
“The time for vagueness, ambiguity, and secret meetings is over. Pope Francis needs to state clearly where he stands in regard to the inclusion of LGBT people in the church and society.”
While I’m not often one to agree with Crux’s John Allen, Jr., I do agree with his assessment that part of the Kim Davis fiasco was also, in part, simply poor communications work by Vatican officials. Even adept analysis, like that of National Catholic Reporter‘s Joshua McElwee, is insufficient to clarify important points because information has not been forthcoming. News that Pope Francis met privately with a same-sex couple lessened the sting, but it need never have stung if Fr. Federico Lombardi immediately clarified the Kim Davis encounter.
Third, with enough time and clarity, Catholics concerned with LGBT justice must be honest in our appraisals about Pope Francis. He is certainly doing tremendous good, creating space for conversations and breaking ground for change, but he is also flawed. If he is, for instance, becoming more welcoming of LGBT Catholics, we cannot forget those Francis marginalized during his U.S. visit – women, victims of clergy sexual abuse, indigenous people. Intersectionality demands that when we say we want a church that is “home for all,” to use the pope’s expression, we really mean for all.
A tangential footnote for those interested: Many conversations have popped up about conscientious objection. This tenet of Christian life has been promoted by anti-militarism/pacifist Catholics in the U.S. years before religious liberty became a right wing cause célèbre. You can read Ellen Boegel’s write up in Americaabout whether Kim Davis is a conscientious objector (spoiler: she is not).
Just as Pope Francis began his schedule in Philadelphia, Catholics gathered in a church hall in downtown to explore ideas and personal experiences about gender identity. The New Ways Ministry-sponsored workshop, titled “Transforming Love,” featured four speakers sharing their stories of being trans*, of being intersex, of being an LGBTQI person’s family member–and doing all of this as Catholics.
Julie Chovanes
After an opening communal prayer service, Julie Chovanes, a transexual Catholic woman from Philadelphia, began the morning’s presentations. Steve Ahlquist of RIFuture.org reported:
“Chovanes was raised in the Byzantine Catholic tradition. . .Coming out and transitioning has been a challenge, but she feels she has ‘been accepted in the city, I feel that Philadelphia is the best city in the world for [trans persons].”
“I don’t consider myself a man or a girl. . .I am a trans. My brain and my soul are a woman’s, but my body is a man’s. . .My life is a testament to God’s glory.’ “
Later in the workshop, having claimed “I am very proud of who I am,” Chovanes highlighted her privileged experience compared to many other trans persons. She is a successful lawyer whose marriage and family remained intact while she transitioned. Chovanes lifted up trans people of color who suffer most in the U.S. due to economic hardships and physical and emotional violence.
delfin bautista, who identifies as trans* and specifically two-spirit or genderqueer, spoke next. [delfin does not use male or female singular personal pronouns for self-reference. Instead delfin prefers the non-gendered plural “they, them, their” pronoun set for self-identification. Also, delfin’s name is correctly spelled with lower-case initial letters.] delfin began listing their many personal identities that “sometimes clash and sometimes coexist.” These include being Catholic and being the LGBT Center director at Ohio University.
delfin bautista
bautista detailed their Latino/a Catholic upbringing as they came to know themselves more authentically in an ongoing journey to know “what means to be both/and rather than either/or.” RIFuture quoted bautista:
“Being different is not an option. . .I wore dresses and played princess. I prayed every night to wake up in a new body, but was greeted with silence.’
” ‘When I came out I came out as gay because that’s all I knew, but even then I knew it didn’t fit me. . .My mom wanted to help me and sent me to therapy to be cured. I don’t hate my mother, she was trying to help me.’ “
bautista gently explained the concept of transitioning, saying it was not a matter of changing one’s identity but rather of affirming one’s identity and sharing it with others. The journey is a communal one, involving a person’s partner, friends, and family members.
Responding to participants’ questions, the speakers zeroed in on trans* oppression by the lesbian and gay communities. Chovanes alluded to the historic Stonewall riots in 1969, reminding those at the worksthop that it was trans* people who kicked off the LGBT movement.
bautista said, “We’ve been coming out. We’ve been here for centuries.” They added that sexism and misogyny still silence trans feminine voices even within LGBT circles, bautista’s expanded this critique to the Black Lives Matter movement which has prioritized black men who are killed even though trans women of color face the highest rates of violence.
Both turned to Scripture to further their points, Chovanes highlighting the Apostle Philip’s merciful treatment of the Ethiopian eunuch (see Acts of the Apostles 8) who is as he is not because of sin but “for the greater glory of God” and noting that from Genesis to Galatians, gender is presented as a spectrum.
Vilma Santamaria
The workshop’s second panel featured two speakers from El Salvador. Nicole Santamaria is an intersex Catholic woman and activist, now residing in the U.S. She was joined by Vilma Santamaria, her mother and a teacher involved with feminist advocacy.
Assigned male at birth, Nicole identified as a girl by the age of three and thought of running away as early as age five. When she finally came out to her mother, Vilma responded, “I love you, whoever you are. I will always have you in my heart.” Vilma had known her daughter was different from a young age. Less understanding was Nicole’s father at whose hands she suffered greatly in adolescence, which she described for RIFuture.org:
” ‘[I was told,] don’t talk like that, don’t move your hands like that! Oh my God, don’t breathe like that! . . .My father mentally and physically tortured me. He’d heat up coins and burn my nipples.”
Nicole Santamaria
Her father’s damage destroyed her natural breasts and early medical help was equally problematic, but eventually through reconstructive surgery Nicole is now able to present as she identifies. Though she is “passing” [meaning: being visibly recognized as a woman], a term she said she only recently learned in the U.S., Nicole refuses to remain silent and rest in that privilege. As she stated:
“God gave me the opportunity to survive. I’m going to continue to speak out for those who didn’t.”
Citing that faith for the “strength to continue,” she told RIFuture.org:
“I came here to the World Meeting of Families with Pope Francis, to speak for the voices that were silenced by those who will torture them, by those who will kill them. And the voices that were silenced already by people who feel they have permission and they have the obligation to murder us, to exterminate us, to persecute us, because their religion told them that it is okay to kill a person that is different. When every religious leader spoke out against sexual diversity, or even against abortion, a transgender woman is killed. Every time those kind of things are heard, that means death. Whenever this is reported in the media, you can read the comments from the people, and the comments are, They deserve it, they are abominations, God doesn’t love them, it is okay.”
Violence against LGBTQI people in El Salvador is extensive and often involves sexual violence and torture as well as physical assault. Nicole is currently seeking asylum in the U.S. because, as she told her mother, “I left my country because I won’t let you recognize my body in pieces.” She left El Salvador after several physical attacks and more than several authentic death threats.
The speakers’ words showed the power and grace present at the workshop yesterday morning. Their words were filled in by many smaller interpersonal conversations by participants who shared their faith, their identities, and their hopes as well as pains. You can get a glimpse of the atmosphere in this video from Religion News Service.
It is worth noting, finally, that this workshop almost did not happen after Archbishop Charles Chaput ejected it and other LGBT-related events coinciding with last week’s World Meeting of Families from a local Catholic parish. Thankfully, a Arch Street United Methodist Church, a nearby congregation at opened its doors and its arms to the New Ways Ministry program, as well as to Equally Blessed’s World Meeting of Families pilgrims, thus allowing LGBT and Ally Catholics to witness to the power of faith, hope, and love, in their lives, relationships, and families.
To read Bondings 2.0‘s full coverage of the Equally Blessed pilgrimage, the World Meeting of Families, and/or Pope Francis visit to the U.S., you can click here.
Pope Francis preaching during Mass at Madison Square Garden
Yesterday, Bondings 2.0 surveyed Pope Francis treatment of LGBT issues during his visit to Washington, D.C. Today, as the pope begins his schedule in Philadelphia, here are some LGBT Catholic takeaways from New York City.
Address to the United Nations
Pope Francis’ address to the UN General Assembly, the fifth such occasion for a pope, avoided any direct condemnation of LGBT rights even though the UN is increasingly active in defending all sexual and gender identities.
His most direct statement was a resurfacing of the “ideological colonization” term spoken about during his visit to the Philippines earlier this year:
“Without the recognition of certain incontestable natural ethical limits and without the immediate implementation of those pillars of integral human development. . .[social progress] risks becoming an unattainable illusion, or, even worse, idle chatter which serves as a cover for all kinds of abuse and corruption, or for carrying out an ideological colonization by the imposition of anomalous models and lifestyles which are alien to people’s identity and, in the end, irresponsible.”
At least one critic, writing in The Advocate, has questioned whether those “anomalous models and lifestyles” are a reference to homosexuality. At one point, Pope Francis criticized the still undefined term “gender theory: during his appeal for natural law reasoning, saying “natural difference between man and woman” must be respected.
More positively, Francis’ repeatedly attacked exclusion as the bedfellow of degrading creation and said “social exclusion is a complete denial of human fraternity and a grave offense against human rights and the environment.” Again, though not directly citing LGBT people, his words are readily applicable to those sexual and gender diverse minorities globally who suffer profound social exclusion.
Mo Rocca reading at Mass
Mass at Madison Square Garden
Rather than Pope Francis’ words or acts, it was comedian and journalist Mo Rocca’s scriptural reading during Mass at Madison Square Garden which is most striking for LGBT advocates.
Rocca is not only Catholic, but is openly gay after coming out publicly in 2011. He said on Twitter that he was “deeply grateful and humbled to have delivered a reading at a Mass” celebrated by Pope Francis.
Many people on the social media channel quickly noted Rocca’s sexual orientation, reported NBC News.It is indeed significant that in a time when LGBT Catholics find themselves unwelcome in many U.S. parishes and more than fifty church workers have lost their jobs in LGBT-related disputes since 2008.
Pope Francis’ homily may explain, in part, the welcome Rocca received. The pontiff heartily affirmed diversity and said cities contain the “hidden riches” of “cultures, traditions, historical experiences. . .all the different ways which we human beings have discovered to express the meaning of life.” He repeated his condemnation of social exclusion.
Vespers at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Finally, though out of order in the chronological style of this post, Pope Francis’ spiritual reflection during Vespers in New York is worth briefly highlighting. He said nothing about LGBT issues, but the pope praised U.S. women religious when he asked: “What would the Church be without you?”
His gratitude for the sisters comes just months after the Vatican’s investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) concluded. Pope Francis continued praising the sisters for being on “the front lines in the proclamation of the Gospel. . .the front lines in meeting the challenges of adapting to an evolving pastoral landscape,” seemingly the very reasons LCWR was investigated in the first place–which included their support of LGBT issues, generally, and New Ways Ministry, specifically.
Onward to Philadelphia
As I noted yesterday, Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S. has been quite ambiguous when it comes to LGBT topics, a sharp contrast to many American bishops’ culture war mentalities. Foremost among such bishops is Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, where Pope Francis now concludes his visit over the weekend.
Will Francis will speak more clearly and at length about marriage and family life in the city where the World Meeting of Families has just concluded. Already, the pope is drawing criticism from LGBT advocates but I am sticking to a “wait and see” approach.
Check back in the coming days for Bondings 2.0‘s ongoing coverage from Philadelphia and analysis about LGBT Catholic outcomes, reactions, and next steps after Pope Francis’ U.S. visit concludes on Sunday.
To read Bondings 2.0‘s full coverage of Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S., click here.
Ron Belgau and his mother, Beverly Belgau, at the World Meeting of Families.
The World Meeting of Families’ (WMF) only session on homosexuality was held Thursday afternoon, drawing more than 750 people to the talk featuring a Catholic celibate gay man, Ron Belgau, and his mother, Beverley.
Their aim, according to an interview in Slate, was to “help Catholic families to be better at loving LGBT people.” In the session, the Belgaus shared their personal stories, this being the first time since WMF began two decades ago that an openly gay person has spoken. Beverley Belgau called Ron’s coming out “the worst day of my life.” They also reiterated current teachings on homosexuality which mandates celibacy, though they admitted church leaders’ response to LGB Catholics could be improved.
The Belgaus’ session was standing room only, due in part to a last minute room change that left hundreds of would-be attendees standing outside, reportedReligion News Service. World Meeting of Families officials did not comment on why a session concerning homosexuality was shifted from a plenary hall capable of holding 10,000 to a much smaller room with the capacity for only 1,000. Call To Action’s Ryan Hoffman commented:
” ‘We are just trying to understand and give [World Meeting of Families officials] the benefit of the doubt. . .This just speaks to the fact that people want to talk about LGBT Catholics and their relationship with the Catholic Church.”
Following the lecture, a question and answer period lasted two hours, at which point those still present were asked to leave the room, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer. Some questions were concrete, like whether a Catholic could attend a family member’s same-sex marriage to which Beverley Belgau suggested that whatever the questioner decides to “do it with love.” Others challenged Ron Belgau’s underlying assertions, like Fortunate Families board member Ed Buechel’s criticism of mandatory celibacy:
” ‘That’s fine for somebody who has been given the gift from God of chastity and celibacy. . .I’m the father of a gay son. . .He’s 34 years old. He loves his church and he loves his God. But because of the conflict between the teachings of the church and his wanting to stay a good Catholic, he had a nervous breakdown 12 years ago.’ “
Titled “Always Consider the Person: Homosexuality in the Family,” critics claim it failed to consider the person and focused primarily on enforcing rigid understandings of sexuality. Marianne Duddy-Burke of DignityUSA wrote on Facebook:
“[T]he problems started for me when they spoke of Ron as having ‘same-sex attraction.’ This immediately takes it/us to a place of disorder, illness, defect. That leads to dehumanization, a sense of moral inferiority, and assumption of sinfulness. From there we get to discrimination, exclusion and violence. That whole chain was never addressed. There was no sense of identity as intrinsic to personhood, or of our sexual orientation as blessed gift. The view of ‘Church’ presented was also disempowered and hierarchical.”
delfín bautista, another Equally Blessed pilgrim, said in the session that LGBT Catholics are not struggling with who they are, but “with the rejection and marginalization that exists within society and also within the church.”
The lack of LGBT Catholic perspectives, except for Ron Belgau’s celibate life, was striking. Ronnie Polaneczky, columnist for the Daily News, called it a “wasted opportunity,” writing further:
“Really? This is the best that the church has for LGBT Catholics – the expectation that they be celibate? At this extraordinary meeting of Catholics from around the globe, why is this celibate gay man the only representation of the church’s LGBT members?”
Equally Blessed pilgrims and others debrief about the World Meeting of Families on Friday afternoon.
LGBT Catholics Respond
The opportunity was not entirely wasted because LGBT Catholics and their families associated with the Equally Blessed pilgrimage kept the conversation going during a Thursday evening panel.
Featuring Claire Dente, John Freml of Equally Blessed, and Marianne Duddy-Burke of DignityUSA, the conversation became an honest and at times heated dialogue on not only Ron Belgau’s talk but broader questions in the Catholic LGBT movement.
One theme panelists picked up on was the need to positively appraise and present diverse sexual and gender identities.
Freml said homosexuality is “not a disorder, a curse, a birth defect. It’s a gift. It’s cause to celebrate.” Duddy-Burke spoke about coming out as a Resurrection experience, adding LGBT folks need to be more outspoken in celebrating their fabulousness. Dente pointed out that though God’s voice is speaking through same-gender relationships, when LGBT people are excluded from the table that part of God’s voice is stifled.
Those in attendance added to the conversation for more than an hour, respectfully, though honestly, dialoguing about sensitive topics. These included the need to diversify the LGBT movement, incorporating global perspectives as well as centering communities of color in the U.S. Greater solidarity by LGBT communities with those movements for racial, economic, or migration justice was requested by several attendees.
Others highlighted the pain Catholics feel when their priests and religious remain silent in the face of injustice. Sr. Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, spoke movingly about the fear that keeps many from taking prophetic action and emphasized the need to educate church leaders.
Having attended this response period, I witnessed in the church hall an embodiment of precisely the loving dialogue called for repeatedly by Pope Francis during his U.S. visit. As they have for a long time, LGBT Catholics and their families are fostering encounters in the church–a very hope-filled witness. I was also aware of the deep pain all too present for LGBT Catholics and their family members–a pain church leaders are not only inattentive to, but too often inflict. It cannot be forgotten even for those of us who find hope in what has happened this week.
Mustard Seeds Planted
The Eighth World Meeting of Families with all its LGBT-related controversies and failure to welcome all families has concluded at last. Equally Blessed pilgrims generally reported respect from WMF participants in the many one-on-one conversations held, but there were also moments of hostility. Fortunate Families board member Tony Garascia told NBC 10that some at the WMF asked why Catholic parents of LGBT children even bothered attending and claimed gay children were perverted.
Still, from my perspective, we must focus on the seeds of love and faith planted all over the Philadelphia by Equally Blessed’s pilgrims. Their deep sharing in conversation, challenging questions, and rainbow witness are the mustard seeds by which God’s inclusive grace will expand narrow-minded areas of our church increasingly into a Catholic Church that is, to quote Pope Francis, “home for all.”
To read Bondings 2.0‘s full coverage of and from the World Meeting of Families, click the appropriate category to the right or you can find it here.
Pope Francis’ visit to the United States is well underway, as he finished up in Washington, D.C. and headed to the United Nations in New York City. Before he addresses the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this weekend, Bondings 2.0 is taking stock of what he has said thus far as it relates to LGBT issues.
Welcomed at the White House
Francis began with remarks at the White House, affirming in the first paragraph of his public statements that this visit was to be “days of encounter and dialogue” but also nodding to the fact that his visit revolves around the Eighth World Meeting of Families, which has been meeting in Philadelphia all week. However, the comment drawing many observers’ attention was the pope’s use of the phrase “unjust discrimination” in his address to President Obama and the crowd at the executive mansion:
“American Catholics are committed to building a society which is truly tolerant and inclusive, to safeguarding the rights of individuals and communities, and to rejecting every form of unjust discrimination.”
This term, found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in its section on homosexuality, has a dubious history. Buzzfeedcontacted Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Way Ministry, who commented:
” ‘We haven’t heard that term in a long time — in the three years since Francis has been in — and it is disturbing to hear him resurrect it. I think the record shows that sometimes he speaks out of both sides of his mouth’ . . .
” ‘I would be fearful that right now the U.S. bishops think that just discrimination would be being able to discriminate against gay and lesbian people who choose to marry.’ “
In the same article, Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA said the phrase has “dangerous ramifications for LGBT people” and “sets off warning bells” because:
” ‘. . .it is support for a position many U.S. Catholic bishops have taken — which is against same-sex marriage, the right to fire married gay employees or transgender employees, the right to exclude LGBT people from adoption, and to deny LGBT people foster-care services.’ “
Pope Francis’ statements are, at times, famously unclear, DeBernardo noted. He said the White House remark could either mean that “the pope rejects unjustifiable discrimination against LGBT people, or he rejects unjustifiable discrimination against religious people who oppose LGBT rights.”
The Vatican, via spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi, is refusing to clarify what “unjust discrimination” would constitute or what the pope was referencing. Interestingly, an editorial from L’Osservatore Romano quoted Pope Francis as using the phrase “every form of discrimination,” not “unjust discrimination, which is included in the official text of his speech and how many major news organizations reported it.
Meeting with U.S. Bishops
Later on Wednesday, Pope Francis addressed a gathering of U.S. bishops at Washington’s Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and gave, as is becoming customary when he holds episcopal meetings, a rather lengthy reflection. While not directly addressing LGBT issues, several statements challenged the often caustic and condemnatory tone used by U.S. bishops when addressing “culture war” issues.
Pope Francis spoke “as a brother among brothers,” emphasizing that bishops are foremost pastors concerned with caring for people. Noting bishops’ tendencies to be defensive, the pope said:
” ‘And yet we are promoters of the culture of encounter. . .Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the One who never wears of visiting the marketplace, even at the eleventh hour, to propose his offer of love (Mt 20:1-16)’. . .
” ‘The path ahead, then, is dialogue among yourselves, dialogue in your presbyterates, dialogue with lay persons, dialogue with families, dialogue with society. I cannot ever tire of encouraging you to dialogue fearlessly. . .
” ‘Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor, it has no place in his heart; although it may momentarily seem to win the day, only the enduring allure of goodness and love remains truly convincing.’ “
Whether intentional or not, Pope Francis’ suggestion to use pastoral dialogue instead of harsh language could rebut the manner in which many U.S. church officials have dealt with LGBT issues. Michael Sean Winters of the National Catholic Reporter called the speech a “masterpiece” and wrote:
“The man [Francis] just radiates the joy that comes from trust in the Lord. . .I did not hear him blame secularism or anything else for what ails the Church. Quite the contrary. . .How many culture warriors in the U.S. can say the same? The pope challenged the culture warrior model today, and it did it with extraordinary gentleness, reminding me of the biblical injunction that we shall reap what we have sown.”
Further analysis from the National Catholic Reporter‘s Joshua McElwee is available here.
Address to U.S. Congress
Yesterday, Pope Francis addressed a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in a historic first for a pontiff. It was one of the most anticipated events of his visit. His speech is winning broad praise across the political spectrum. He touched only briefly on marriage and family issues towards the end of his talk:
“How essential the family has been to the building of this country! And how worthy it remains of our support and encouragement! Yet I cannot hide my concern for the family, which is threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without. Fundamental relationships are being called into question, as is the very basis of marriage and the family. I can only reiterate the importance and, above all, the richness and the beauty of family life.”
The pope then pivoted to speak about the struggles young people face, described as “the most vulnerable” of all people, and he acknowledged the competing pressures they face today.
Were Francis’ remarks on threats to the family an allusion to marriage equality? It’s hard to say. Families do, in fact, face enormous pressures today from many quarters: economic, psychological, cultural, and political. Is his language choice a way of not wanting to be offensive, or is it a way to use coded language to get his message across?
Also worth noting is Pope Francis’ citation of two U.S. Catholics who faced criticism, even censure, for their views: Dorothy Day tried to integrate socialist and anarchist ideas into a church which was fiercely anti-leftist; Thomas Merton was silenced by religious superiors for his prophetic writings on peace and eastern spirituality. Both figures are now being rehabilitated in the church, and McElwee wrote in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) that “both citations are certainly extraordinary.” NCR Publisher Thomas Fox provided brief profiles on these saintly models, which you can find here.
Going Forward?
Lest I seem naive, I acknowledge Pope Francis still holds to views which fail to acknowledge the goodness of LGBT people and their relationships. He is opposed to marriage equality and we cannot obfuscate these realities even when his words about dialogue and encounter are good and true. LGBT people and their families still face exclusion and spiritual and psychological violence inflicted by church officials in many parts of the world.
Pope Francis also glaringly avoids paying any attention specifically to women, whose oppression within the church is tied to similar views on gender and sexuality so often employed against LGBT people. New York Magazine rightly wrote, “Pope Francis’ Revolution Has Left Out Women.”
I also know that Pope Francis’ new way of being church will be tenuous at first and, in some places, won’t take root. Also noteworthy is that, despite repeated requests, Francis has chosen so far to not intentionally encounter LGBT Catholics during his U.S. visit.
What remains an open question is how Pope Francis will approach LGBT issues when he directly speaks about marriage and family life this weekend at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. If only he would actually act on his reported desire to meet with gay and lesbian people, perhaps his insights would be more grounded in reality. If Francis’ remarks at the World Meeting of Families are negative about LGBT people, that would be a major challenge to his reputation as a more merciful and inclusive pontiff.
Stay tuned to Bondings 2.0 through the weekend (and in the weeks to come for the Synod on the Family) for ongoing Catholic LGBT news and analysis. To receive regular updates, subscribe to the blog (for free) by typing your email address in the “Follow” box in the upper right-hand corner of this page, and then click the “Follow” button.
With Pope Francis now in the United States, keeping up with news can be a challenge. Below, Bondings 2.0 provides a “Papal Digest” of sorts on Catholic LGBT-related events and analyses, along with notes on the World Meeting of Families (WMF) in Philadelphia. You can read more on a particular story by clicking the provided links.
From Washington, DC
Francis DeBernardo and Sister Jeannine Gramick at the White House’s welcome event for Pope Francis.
LGBT Catholics and allies joined President Barack Obama in welcoming Pope Francis to the White House yesterday. Among those attending the welcome event were New Ways Ministry’s Sister Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo. On Tuesday, Bondings 2.0listed other prominent LGBT supporters–Catholic and otherwise–who attended the event. In addition to those on yesterday’s list were former directors of NETWORK: Sister Carol Coston, OP, and Sister Nancy Sylvester, IHM. Other Dignity/Washington members also attended: Lauren Carpenter, Robert Miailovich, and Ray Panas.
The presence of LGBT supporters drew criticism from Catholic conservatives in the U.S., though the Vatican denied being upset or even reviewing the guest list. Mateo Williamson, a trans Catholic, drew particularly brutal attacks, but Nathan Schneiders rightly writes at America: “So what if Pope Francis meets a transgender Catholic at the White House?”
Many others are commenting about Pope Francis’ message and the broader speculations on what his U.S. visit will mean. James Carroll wrote for The New Yorker:
“. . . [A]s Francis demonstrated earlier this month. . .his starting point is affirmation, not condemnation. A large-hearted feel for moral complexity trumps the narrow-minded moral rigidity that has mostly been the mark of Church responses.”
In his commentary for America, Gerard O’Connell makes a similar point about mercy overcoming legalism:
“. . . [S]ince every papal visit is first and foremost a visit to the local church, one can expect him to challenge the American church to be more missionary, to be a church that includes, not excludes people, to be a church that puts the poor at the center of its attention and knows how to show mercy, to be a church in which faith trumps ideology.”
Pope Francis greeting crowds in Washington, D.c.
So far, during his time in Washington, D.C., Pope Francis has spoken of many timely issues. At the White House, he called for defense of religious freedom, a cause dear to the heart of the U.S. bishops. He used the phrase “unjust discrimination,” which The Wall Street Journal described as “a veiled reference to the fact that the church regards sexuality as legitimate grounds for discrimination.” The WSJ’s report also noted, though, that at the next stop on the pope’s Wednesday itinerary was a prayer service for U.S. bishops at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, where he warned them to avoid the
“temptation to give in to fear, to lick one’s wounds, to think back on bygone times and to devise harsh responses to fierce opposition. . . .
“Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a pastor, it has no place in his heart.Although it may momentarily seem to win the day, only the enduring allure of goodness and love remains truly convincing.”
The National Catholic Reporter noted that Francis encouraged the bishops to promote “encounter” with those with whom they disagree:
“. . . [W]e are promoters of the culture of encounter. We are living sacraments of the embrace between God’s riches and our poverty. We are witnesses of the abasement and the condescension of God who anticipates in love our every response.
“Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the One who never wearies of visiting the marketplace, even at the eleventh hour, to propose his offer of love.”
While he briefly mentioned family issues, his most prominent statements on family will likely come in Philadelphia this weekend.
From Philadelphia
The family of Rosa Manriquez was featured in a Los Angeles Daily Newsreport on LGBT families’ hopes for the papal visit. Rosa is one of Equally Blessed’s pilgrims who is attending the World Meeting of Families (WMF) this week to witness to the holiness of LGBT families.
One of Manriquez’s daughters, Cecilia Arvizu, recalled one priest’s rejection when he found out Arvizu was partnered to a woman. They have since found welcome at another Catholic parish, but Manriquez’s other daughter, Rocio Contreras, who is also a lesbian Catholic, reiterates just how much work remains:
“As gay Catholics. . .They know we’re part of the church, but they don’t want to recognize us. Now, it’s clear that we are people. We are part of the church. We have families. We’re not intrinsically evil. We’re just like everyone else.”
That message of humanizing LGBT people is central to why Manriquez is attending the WMF:
“I have two daughters who are lesbian and I have two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren who are their children. . .I want to be able to show that their families are just as blessed as any other family in the Roman Catholic Church.”
In the same article, Jesuit Fr. Allan Figueroa Deck of Loyola Marymount University commented on the pope’s “rather dramatic way” of shifting how ministers respond to lesbian and gay people:
“It really is reminding us or encouraging us to take on the attitude that we think Jesus Christ would have, an attitude that reflects the Gospel that we teach. . .We don’t start condemning. We don’t start judging. We start respecting and loving because in the Gospel, we are called to love all people.”
Other Equally Blessed pilgrims,, as well as fired lesbian educator Margie Winters and her wife, spoke at a press conference on Tuesday, sharing their stories, reported GLAAD. Winters stated:
“My firing, and too many others like it, has touched at the core of who we are as Church. Some bishops question the Catholic identity of institutions who have LGBT members serving them. We ask the Church to reflect on its own identity: an identity now associated with the discriminatory treatment of the LGBT community.”
Let us hope he speaks about inclusion and mercy, themes which have won him the warmth of crowds worldwide, rather than the condemn story and restrictive message of the U.S bishops.
Fr. Gil Martinez, CSP, the pastor of the parish whose members organized the video, “Owning Our Faith,” revealed that he personally handed Pope Francis a copy of the DVD in which LGBT Catholics discuss their identities and relationship with the church. The pope’s reaction was amazingly positive.
Martinez spoke with The Huffington Post, telling about his visit to the Vatican where he had the chance to briefly meet the pontiff:
“I gave [the DVD] to him and I said, ‘This is from the gays and lesbians of the United States. . .He thanked me very much and he said, ‘I would love to visit and talk to gay and lesbian people and please tell the gays to pray for me and I shall pray for them. . .It was a really great, great moment.”
Martinez, the pastor of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City, did so following morning Mass celebrated by the pope in his residence, Domus Sanctae Marthae. The priest described encountering Francis as “very exciting.”
The Huffington Post gave further details of the encounter:
” ‘I gave [the DVD] to him and I said, “This is from the gays and lesbians of the United States,” ‘ Father Martinez remembered, and recalled that the two had a brief conversation in Spanish about the Pope’s upcoming trip to the United States.
” ‘I said, ‘If you could watch it, it would be great,’ Martinez said, to which the Pope (amusingly) inquired as to whether it was a proper ‘european DVD.’ “
Michael Tomae
The “Owning Our Faith” video has received wide attention in the media. The main purpose of producing it, explained Michael Tomae, the project organizer, was exactly what happened at Martinez’ Vatican meeting: they wanted church leaders to hear the stories of LGBT Catholics. In an interview published on The Huffington Post, Tomae explained:
“We hope to shed light on this issue and foster a dialogue on greater acceptance of LGBT people within the Catholic Church.”
The “Owning Our Faith” project is now developing a new phase of its campaign. The organizers are inviting any and all LGBT Catholics and allies to share their own personal stories of faith and identity by submitting a video to Own YOUR Faith. They ask that the videos provide refelctions upon some of the following questions:
“Have you struggled accepting the Church’s teaching on homosexuality? Explain.
Why do you think LGBT people are gifts to the Catholic Church?
Have you reconciled being LGBT & Catholic?
Why is faith important to you?”
“Owning Our Faith” will be screened at Keystone Catholics‘ “Papal Family Picnic” in Philadelphia this Saturday, part of a whole line-up of Catholic LGBT events scheduled to coincide with the World Meeting of Families and the papal visit to that city.
“On Wednesday at the White House, the pope may be able to deliver that message in person — if he can find them in the crowd.”
Indeed, Michael Tomae and Margie Winters will be among the list of Catholic LGBT people attending this White House event.
Though no encounters with LGBT people are scheduled for Pope Francis’ U.S. trip, but that doesn’t mean some might not happen. With this pontiff, texts and schedules and protocols are subject to the Holy Spirit. Like so many of his trips and events in past years, this trip could turn out to be quite surprising!
For Bondings 2.0‘s full coverage of Pope Francis’ visit to the U.S, click here. To receive regular updates in the coming days about ALL Catholic LGBT issues, subscribe to the blog (for free) by typing your email address in the “Follow” box in the upper right-hand corner of this page, and then click the “Follow” button.
–Bob Shine and Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry
President Obama and Pope Francis at a Vatican meeting.
When President Obama welcomes Pope Francis to the White House this Wednesday, the chief executive will be accompanied by a number of LGBT Catholics, their allies, and other LGBT and social justice advocates. While the presence of these guests is a cause for celebration for many who have waited decades for this kind of recognition and affirmation, not everybody is pleased with this situation.
LGBT Catholics, allies and other advocates who will be present include:
Daniel Barutta, President, Dignity/Washignton
Sr. Simone Campbell , Executive Director, NETWORK, and founder of the “Nuns on the Bus” campaign
Nicholas Coppola, a gay Catholic from New York who was ejected from parish ministries
Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, New Ways Ministry
Mary Ellen and Casey Lopata, Founders, Fortunate Families
Lisbeth Melendez-Rivera, Director of Catholic and Latino/a Initiatives, Human Rights Campaign
Allen Rose, former President, Dignity/Washington
Michael Tomae, founder of OwningOurFaith
Mateo Williamson of DignityUSA’s Transgender Caucus
Margie Winters, lesbian teacher fired by a Catholic school, and her wife, Andrea Vettori
Deb Word, former President, Fortunate Families
According to The Washington Blade, DeBernardo commented on the significance of this event:
“The presence of a number of LGBT Catholics and advocates at the White House reception sends a strong message that LGBT people are a great concern of this administration. . .It also shows that the White House thinks Pope Francis is concerned about this community too. . .
“President Obama and the White House are doing what Catholic bishops should be doing and should have been doing for a long time [building bridges].”
The Washington Blade also reported on other advocates for LGBT equality who will be present, including Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson, Ross Murray, Director of Programs, GLAAD, Frank Bua of the Family Equality Council, Mayor Bao Nguyen of Garden Grove, California, and Ben de Guzman of the Diverse Elders Coalition who said:
“The pope and the president appear to be kindred spirits, visionary leaders playing the long game, working incrementally to move the needle with otherwise recalcitrant institutions. . .It will be humbling to be in the presence of two men whom history will undoubtedly view as transcendent reformers.”
LGBT/Ally people’s presence at the White House has outraged conservative Catholics and, supposedly disturbed Vatican officials, too. Former senator Rick Santorum claimed the invitation shows President Obama’s “contempt for faith,” reported The New Civil Rights Movement. A Wall Street Journal story, as quoted at The New Civil Rights Movement, further claimed:
“According to a senior Vatican official, the Holy See worries that any photos of the pope with these guests at the White House welcoming ceremony next Wednesday could be interpreted as an endorsement of their activities. . .the Vatican has taken offense.”
However, Fr. Thomas Rosica of the Vatican Press Office denied this claim, reported Crux, and said the Vatican never comments on guest lists and has released no statement. Zac Davis, an editorial assistant at America, compared concern of Pope Francis potentially meeting LGBT Catholics to Jesus and his disciples:
“According to a senior Apostle, Jesus’ followers are worried that being seen with the tax collectors and prostitutes would greatly harm his P.R. image.”
Veteran Catholic observer David Gibson analyzed the development of how the idea that the Vatican was upset about the White House guest list snowballed. In a Religion News Service article, Gibson noted that the supposed Vatican criticism was mentioned in a Breitbart article, and it grew from there:
“The Breitbart story was given further momentum when The Wall Street Journalon Thursday(Sept. 17) ran an article saying ‘the Vatican has taken offense’ at the guest list. The story cited an unnamed “senior Vatican official” as the source of the offense.
“That really got the ball rolling, and in a cascade of tweets and blog posts, conservative Catholics and their allies voiced outrage at the ‘childish dig at the pope’ and the ‘juvenile’ and ‘deliberate insult’ to American Catholics.”
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest noted that with 15,000 people welcoming Pope Francis from the South Lawn, diversity is expected and reveals just how powerfully Pope Francis is impacting the United States. Sr. Jeannine Gramick offered a similar observation about this welcome:
“[It] won’t be different from what you find in an average Catholic parish in the sense that you find people with all different points of view. . .Some people would agree with the bishops on these issues, but most … will disagree.”
While anything involving the White House necessarily involves politics, critics seem to forget that Pope Francis himself has requested diversity and welcome in the church, a place he desires to be “home for all.” On LGBT people in particular, Francis held a meeting with, and embraced, a transgender man from Spain earlier this year.
Any fears over potential photos or encounters are misguided and are just further evidence of the deep and growing rift between Pope Francis and conservative U.S. Catholics that this trip may blow wide open. In the meantime, Pope Francis will receive warm hospitality from LGBT Catholics and their allies as his U.S. visit begins.
New Ways Ministry's Bondings 2.0 Blog 