Good Friday: All Who See Me Mock Me
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Francis DeBernardo has ministered at New Ways Ministry since 1992, first as a volunteer, and then as a staff member since 1994. He has served as Executive Director since 1996. He has conducted programs on LGBT issues and Catholicism in parishes, dioceses, retreat houses, colleges, and religious communities throughout the United States. He authored Marriage Equality: A Positive Catholic Approach. He is the editor and a contributor to Bondings 2.0, a daily blog of news and opinion covering Catholic LGBT topics. His articles have appeared in The National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal, The Advocate, and The American Catholic. He was the keynote speaker at the conference on religion and LGBT issues at the first World Pride event in Rome, Italy, in 2000, and a featured speaker at the interfaith conference at World Pride in London, England in 2012.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ new document on transgender healthcare states its intention as continuing Jesus’ healing ministry. Yet, in neglecting the experiences of trans people and in not attending to contemporary science, it harms people instead of healing them.
The following is a statement from Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry’s Executive Director, on today’s historic vote about transgender and nonbinary inclusion in the German church.
The following is a statement from Francis DeBernardo, New Ways Ministry’s Executive Director, on today’s historic vote in Germany seeking to bless LGBTQ+ couples.
We are asking that you simply answer one question on our response form: What kind of grade would you give Pope Francis on LGBTQ+ topics?
As more dioceses begin to implement gender policies, it is important that Catholic LGBTQ+ activists band together in order to call for dialogue and transparency.
While he did a number of great things for the LGBTQ+ community, I think he will be remembered most for his willingness to be a listener and a learner.
So much in society and the church continually seems to drive LGBTQ+ people into discouragement.How do we make sure that we don’t lose our flavor and our light in our lives?
“We think it will change the perception of all the religious people in our countries who think that when you are homosexual, you are to be slaughtered, to be dehumanised, you are devils.”
“It is problematic – if not contradictory – to stand up for the dignity of a gay person of either sex while deploring what it is about them that defines them as gay, namely their desire for intimate personal relationships with others of the same sex.”
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