In Praying for the Pope, a Bishop Remembers Pontiff’s LGBTQ+ Outreach; And More News

Here are some items you may find of interest:

Bishop Stowe greets Pope Francis at the Vatican.

1. Across the nation and around the globe this past week have been scores of news stories about how local Catholics are praying for Pope Francis’ health.  WKYT, a news station in Lexington, Kentucky, quoted Bishop John Stowe, OFM, Conv., the head of the local diocese, who highlighted the pope’s impact on LGBTQ+ people:

“What Pope Francis has done with the LGBTQ community is, first of all, recognize their existence and then emphasize what our own catechism teaches: every person is made in the image and likeness of God, and someone’s sexual orientation does not change that.”

2. John Grosso, a writer for the National Catholic Reporter, recently wrote a column chastising Bishop Robert Barron, a popular social media and communications personality, who often shares his opinions on news stories that he feels are detrimental to the church, for not speaking up against President Donald Trump’s executive orders affecting immigrants, the poor and the marginalized.  Grosso highlighted two LGBTQ+ examples to make his case against Barron:

“During the outcry around the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’s rescinded and then reinstated appearance at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Pride Night in 2023, Barron wasted no time in jumping into the fray about the comedy troupe that parodies the church. Less than 10 days after the event, Barron published his tirade on Facebook (3 million followers) saying that it was hard to imagine ‘anything more offensive than some of the behavior of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which I think can only be described as an anti-Catholic hate group.’

“I guess a charity group that parodies religious women by dressing in drag is more offensive to the bishop than children dying of hunger.

“When the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics featured a controversial drag-queen portrayal reminiscent of the Last Supper, Barron responded immediately with a video slamming the event: ‘Would they ever dare to mock Islam in the same way. … I think we all know the answer to that.” He concludes: “We should resist. We should make our voices heard.’

“Just not about immigrants and refugees.”

3. Outlaw, the LGBTQ+ student organization at Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC, recently condemned the Federalist Society, a politically conservative think tank, for hosting a forum at the law school about overturning the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bostock decision, which prohibits workplace discrimination of LGBTQ+ people.  A petition that the student group distributed stated that the event was “inviting harm to a marginalized community on our campus,” according to The Georgetown Voice. The petition went on to state:

“Free speech is an important right that should be protected. However, hosting an on-campus debate on the merits of this well-settled case may signal to others, on this campus and throughout the broader community, that denying legal protections to LGBTQ+ individuals is legally and socially permissible.”

In addition the petition, Outlaw hosted their own forum, held at the same time as the Federalist Society program, on the same court ruling.

—Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry, March 1, 2025