Lay ‘Catholic Allies’ Group Reaches Out to LGBTQ+ People in Indianapolis

A group of Catholic lay people in Indianapolis are promoting love and respect for LGBTQ+ individuals through events centered on listening, building bridges, and finding common ground.

Kate Berry

Danielle Noel Wiese

Kate Berry and Danielle Noel Wiese created the nonprofit organization Catholic Allies in 2023, building upon the simple desire to raise kids who treat everyone with kindness and respect. According to Berry, it was clear that in order to increase attitudes of respect and compassion towards LGBTQ+ people, there was a great need for folks who were willing to “prayerfully promote a Catholic culture of love and support for LGBTQ+ people.” The National Catholic Reporter recently profiled their work. 

For Berry and Wiese, the best way to meet that need was to start at home, with their own families and friends:

” ‘[Danielle] and I were in a book club together with a bunch of our high school girlfriends,’  said Berry in an interview with NCR. ‘We had all attended Catholic schools and had loved it. But as we all became parents, we discussed how we wanted to raise our children as loving and respectful. We wanted them to show love and compassion towards everyone — including members of the LGBTQ+ community. We felt that we needed to show our kids at home how to do that.’” 

What began as a small organization centered around Berry and Wiese’s friend group and their respective parishes soon grew as Catholic Allies began reaching out to other Catholic parents, teachers, principals, and pastors in the Indianapolis area. At the heart of the work, the main goal is simple: “to help provide real opportunities for Catholics of all ages to gather and learn to be more loving and accepting of LGBTQ+ friends, family members or neighbors.”  Denise McGonigal, Catholic Allies’ director of communications, explained:

“Changing church doctrine about homosexuality or challenging others’ personal beliefs is not our mission.t’s to form within our community — and especially within our youth — attitudes of respect, compassion and sensitivity for LGBTQ+ persons.” 

To accomplish their goal,, Catholic Allies holds three to four  events per year, connecting the community by word of mouth and through their mailing list, which has quickly grown to over 500 members. Their most recent event, titled “Promoting Love, Respect, Sensitivity & Compassion for Our LGBTQ+ Family, Friends, Community,” was held last month and consisted of prayer, a guided meditation facilitated by a retired priest, and roundtable discussions. 

According to McGonigal, the purpose of events such as this one is to provide the space for community members to listen uncritically, discover common ground, and build bridges rather than walls. 

Such goals are supported by Catholic social teaching, McGonigal says. She often points to Pope Francis’ comments at World Youth Day in 2023 when he proclaimed, “In the church, there is room for everyone! Everyone … no one is left out or left over. There is room for everyone, just the way we are.” Additionally, she refers folks to paragraph 2358 of the Catechism, which instructs that gay people “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”

While Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis has not yet responded to any invitation or correspondence from Catholic Allies, the group hopes that one day they may be able to initiate a dialogue with him. Additionally, the group–which has grown to include parents, grandparents, and college students– is focusing on inviting more teachers and educators to join.

Through their events, invitations, and family-to-family conversations, Catholic Allies continues to educate and encourage a Catholic culture of respect and compassion for LGBTQ+ people. This, says McGonigal, is their way of moving towards wholeness as a Church:

“Pope Francis said that it’s only when we come together and sit together can we have respectful dialogue and only when we really listen — not with the intention of responding but with the intention of seeing the other person’s point of view — will we ever be able to move toward unity and harmony.”

–Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, March 13, 2026