Student Composes Gregorian Chant on Catholic LGBTQ+ Experience; And More News

Students performing “Antiphon for Religious Trauma”

Here are some news items that may be of interest:

1. A queer student at the University of South Carolina wrote and produced an original Gregorian-chant style musical composition about their experiences in the Catholic Church. The piece, “Antiphon for Religious Trauma,” was composed by Gabriela McWethy as part of a university project recording medieval chants. McWethy explained about her piece, in part:

“It is an incredibly painful experience to find strength and meaning through one’s faith when that same faith is also the greatest source of one’s self-loathing. Eventually I grew close enough to God to realize that neither I nor my desire for love is disordered. . .Even though I consider myself more of a Universalist than a Catholic now, I still go to Mass every Sunday. I truly believe working through the Church’s backward teachings on sexuality has brought me to a place of greater self-love and resilience.

“[M]y composition ‘Antiphon for Religious Trauma’ is meant to preserve that intense pain with which I grappled, in solidarity with the generations of queers who did not have the fortune to live in times as open as mine, as well as those who still wrestle with the infuriating indecipherable Word of God.”

2. The Global Network of Rainbow Catholics’ magazine, The Corner, recently introduced a new section titled “The African Corner,” which is dedicated to highlighting queer voices from “a continent where being LGBT often means facing profound challenges and risks.” According to The Corner, “Our anonymous reporter, committed to bringing these stories to light, will offer insights into the challenges and triumphs of the African Catholic community, particularly in the context of inclusivity and diversity. We are excited to open this new chapter and welcome our readers to engage with these vital issues that shape the faith experience in Africa.” For the full September 2024 edition of The Corner, which also includes updates from Latin America and on same-gender blessings, is available here.

3. Controversy broke out in the Philippines after the handbook of a Catholic school, Assumption Iloilo, was published online. A section of “The Employee’s and Learner’s Handbook” for the school includes a definition of immorality as it applies to disciplinary issues, which includes homosexuality and same-gender unions alongside harms like incest, abuse, and rape. Separately, the handbook says that engaging in any such immoral activities “is considered a grave offense sanctionable by dropping from the rolls following due process.”

Preen.ph reported that students and alumni began protesting not only the policy, but other instances of anti-LGBTQ+ and gender-based discrimination at the school. Officials at Assumption Iloilo defended their policy as being about same-sex acts, not gay people, adding, “there is no intent nor was there ever an intent to discriminate against homosexuals as represented in social media.”

4. The Catholic Benefits Association amended and proceeded with a lawsuit against the Biden administration. The suit is over LGBTQ+ non-discrimination protections finalized by the federal Department of Health and Human Services this summer. The regulations seek to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in healthcare, restoring similar Obama-era rules. Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the Catholic Benefits Association’s board chair, charged that the lawsuit remains necessary because the regulations do not include sufficient religious exemptions. Officials with the Department of Health and Human Services dispute this claim, saying religious liberty provisions exist while ensuring LGBTQ+ patients do not face discrimination.

—Robert Shine (he/him), New Ways Ministry, September 14, 2024