Review: New Book AIDS & Catholicism Offers LGBTQ Catholics “Hope for a New Future”
"Hidden Mercy" is a timely work, and its stories call us to action. Michael O’Loughlin’s work provides hope for a new future. Read More
Bondings 2.0
a daily blog of Catholic LGBTQ news, opinion, and spirituality
On World AIDS Day, The Story of a Gay Catholic Couple’s Ministry to the Disease’s Victims
As we commemorate World AIDS Day today, we remember those who have lost their lives and honor all who courageously and lovingly open their arms to the suffering. Since the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1990s, a gay couple in upstate New York have opened their home to people with the disease. Read More
Pope Francis Writes Letter to Gay Catholic In Support Of Catholics Who Ministered During AIDS Crisis
Pope Francis has commended the ministry of Catholics who cared for victims of HIV/AIDS, doing so in a letter to the author of a new book on the subject. Read More
For Third Time, Austrian Cardinal Welcomes AIDS Charity to Hold Fundraiser at Cathedral
Vienna's cardinal again welcomed an AIDS charity to the city's cathedral for an arts fundraiser, one of his many LGBTQ-positive acts in recent years. Read More
“Plague,” A New Podcast, Remembers Complex Story of AIDS and the Catholic Church
A new podcast on AIDS and the Catholic Church is being lauded for its honest, challenging engagement with a harrowing period for lesbian and gay Catholics in the 1980s and 1990s. Read More
For World AIDS Day, How Will We Make a Difference?
Back in September of this year, I visited the National AIDS Memorial Grove for the first time. The Grove is in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, and its mission is to provide a place of remembrance so that the lives of people who died from AIDS are not forgotten by future generations. Read More
Learning from Catholic Caregivers’ Response to the Early AIDS Epidemic
At this time of great uncertainty for LGBTQ Catholics, with every instance of progress being matched by one of regression, the living saints who cared for the early victims of the AIDS crisis call each of us to deeper communion. Read More
Gay Reporter Tells Stories of Catholic AIDS Activists, U.S. Church’s Complicated Record in the 1980s
"The story of the AIDS crisis in America is inextricably linked to the Catholic Church," wrote Michael O'Loughlin as he began to tell the story of Sr. Carol Baltosiewich, her HIV/AIDS ministry in the 1980s, and the stories of other U.S. Catholics at the time. Read More
Austrian Cardinal Leads World AIDS Day Memorial, Provides Example to Follow
A cardinal in Austria led a memorial service for World AIDS Day at his archdiocesan cathedral, the first such event there which will hopefully be replicated elsewhere in future years. Read More
New Catholic Resource Looks at AIDS Through ‘Positive Faith’
Today is World AIDS Day, an annual remembrance to raise awareness of this disease, as well as to remember those who have passed on because of it and those who persevere as they live with HIV/AIDS. In the United Kingdom, one Catholic group has recently stepped up their work in regards to HIV/AIDS by releasing a series of videos and resources on their website. Read More