Diocese Stalls Church Property Sale Over Nonprofit’s Care for Transgender Youth
A Michigan diocese’s property covenant prohibits buyers from supporting transgender youth, so the proposed sale of a shuttered Catholic church is at a standstill.
Entries by Beth Mueller Stewart
In Argentina, Catholic Ministers Expand Pastoral Outreach to Transgender Community
In Argentina, the Catholic Church has been expanding its pastoral outreach to the transgender community by opening shelters to provide living space for those who have been excluded from family and from society.
Allentown Catholic Pushing for LGBTQ Ministry Says “I’m Not Going Anywhere”
A gay Catholic man in Pennsylvania has begun a lay-led ministry to reach out to LGBTQ people who, in his words “have been judged harshly and walked away.”
Sacred Heart University Hosts LGBTQ Celebration In Wake of Vatican Blessings Ban
Two Catholic colleges have taken positive steps to being more inclusive campuses for their LGBTQ students, including one school hosting a celebration of LGBTQ people in the wake of the Vatican’s ban on blessing same-gender couples.
In Recent Book on Lesbian Nuns, Women Religious Continue to Break New Ground
The discussion of sexuality in the Church should not be taboo, according to New Jersey priest Fr. Alexander Santora. In response to Love Tenderly, a compilation of 23 lesbian and queer nuns’ stories about coming to terms with their sexualities, Santora wrote that these stories reflect the current times and that religious women “continue to break new ground and lead the church by example.”
Parramatta Bishop Issues Pastoral Letter Against Proposed Anti-Transgender Law
A bishop in New South Wales, Australia, has issued a pastoral letter opposing a proposed law that would ban discussions of gender diversity in school classrooms. The letter splits from that state’s main Catholic education body, which has expressed its support of the bill.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh Signs Petition to Launch LGBTQ Center at Boston College
U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh has signed a petition by Boston College students calling for their university to establish an LGBTQ resource center and add gender identity to the university non-discrimination policy. In a related story, students from the same school have organized a petition opposing the Vatican’s ban on blessing same-gender couples.