Pro-LGBTQ+ Priests Group Denied Space at Eucharistic Congress; And More News

Here are some items that may be of interest:

1. The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP) was denied space at the National Eucharistic Congress that occurred in Indianapolis this week. AUSCP is a church reform-minded organization that has expressed solidarity with LGBTQ+ people, particularly with gay priests, on several occasions. Regarding the Eucharistic Congress, AUSCP’s executive director, Fr. Steve Newton, said the group requested exhibitor space more than a year ago, but was told there was no space. A cancellation this spring meant AUSCP was invited to exhibit in May, yet a month later was told once again there was no space.

Newton commented to Crux, “I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I can read between the lines. . .The USCCB looked at our website, saw who we were, and intuited that our understanding of the Eucharist goes beyond monstrances and processions. We don’t disparage adoration and worship, but narrow theologies and pieties do not limit our understanding of the Eucharist.” AUSCP’s own assembly in June had a eucharistic theme, which emphasized how receiving the Eucharist transforms Catholics to do justice in the world.

Lexington’s Bishop John Stowe, OFM, Conv., told Crux, “The emphasis of the AUSCP reflections would have provided some balance to the eucharistic piety and the content of the talks being presented by various Eucharistic preachers. Full, conscious, and active participation in the eucharistic liturgy was contrasted with eucharistic processions and benediction which invites a more passive experience of the real presence.”

2. Gemelli Hospital, the largest healthcare site in Rome, known for treating popes, opened a new clinic for youth experiencing gender dysphoria. The interdisciplinary clinic, which will offer therapy, psychiatric care, and other supports, was launched in response to increased requests for such care. Leaders at the hospital who are involved with the clinic affirmed both that early care for young people wrestling with gender identity is critical and that gender identity is not simple. According to Zenit, one doctor, Federico Tonioni, “stressed the need to understand these phenomena without prejudices, in a world that is increasingly complex for young people.” Gemelli Hospital has cared for Pope Francis on several occasions, and was where Pope John Paul II was treated after an assassination attempt in 1981.

3. Fr. Alexander Santora, pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, Hoboken, asked, in a NorthJersey.com column, whether Pride parades should be exchanged for different celebrations. Santora opens by noting that, ahead of New York City’s parade, he saw two men celebrating with minimal clothing. The flair of Pride is “what makes [it] so distinctive,” the priest notes, before continuing:

“But it’s also what turns so many people off about the LGBTQ movement. Is it time for the parade to take a detour in order to bring in more non-LGBTQ partners so they can work together to craft a new movement so their concerns can appeal to more Main Street instead of Christopher Street [near the Stonewall Inn]? . . .

“And that over-the-top-quality can be as off putting to so much of Middle America including those who live on the East coast. Their takeaways from the parade are debauchery, sensuality and just plain ole’ sin. And as much as I do not object to the parades, I wonder if they have become passé and maybe the gay community has to shift its image to bring more people on board for promoting inclusion and diversity.”

Santora suggests that faith communities could hold Pride events, like the Pride Mass held each year at Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, which is a welcoming parish, or other opportunities “that invite the wider community to see [LGBTQ people] in a different light.” He concludes, “The LGBTQ Pride parade needs a detour from flamboyance to fraternity in ways that welcome all people to celebrate the diversity in community. Less in your face and more talking face-to-face.”

4. Church officials in Albania criticized a same-gender couple who married unofficially at the the city hall of Tirana, the nation’s capital, in May, Balkan Insight reported. Mark Pashkia, a spokesperson for the church, said the ceremony was “categorically prohibited” and the officiant at the ceremony, who identified as a Catholic priest, was not affiliated with the church. The couple, Edlira Mara and Alba Ahmetaj, applied for a marriage declaration under the country’s constitution, which states “everyone has the right to marry and have a family,” though Albania’s Family Code law only allows marriages for opposite-gender couples.

Ahmetaj acknowledged their union would not be civilly recognized, yet called it “the crowning of our love” and “the realisation of an early dream.” Meanwhile, political leaders joined church officials in their opposition. Albania’s former president, Ilir Meta, said the wedding was part of a “perverted agenda.” The couple is also advocating to have their children registered with both of their names as parents.

5. The editors of U.S. Catholic included a book on a same-gender romance in their July edition of “What We’re Reading This Month.” The book, All the World Beside by Garrard Conley, tells the story of two men, one a minister, in Puritan-era New England who fall in love and “search for a path out of an impossible situation, imagining a future for themselves which has no name.” Conley is author of Boy Erased, an award-winning memoir about growing up among fundamentalist Christians and enduring conversion therapy.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, July 20, 2024