NEWS NOTES: February 4, 2018
International news and some first-person accounts are spotlighted in this round-up of Catholic LGBT news. Read More
Catholic Women’s Group Stands Up to Vatican Censorship of Lesbian Catholic, LGBT Advocate
A Catholic women's group has opposed Vatican efforts at censorship by relocating an event where a lesbian Catholic and the Catholic mother of a gay son were scheduled to appear. Read More
Canadian Bishops Reject New Government Policy on Funding for Religious Groups
Religious leaders. including Catholic bishops, have criticized a new Canadian government policy that bars funding for organizations which actively seek to undermine LGBT equality and abortion rights. Read More
Another German Bishop, Theologian Support Blessings for Same-Gender Couples
Two German bishops and a theologian have joined the conversation on how the Church can bless same-gender couples, even while still denying them sacramental marriage equality. Read More
Bishop Urges Church to Find “New Language” and “New Ways” on LGBT Issues, Listen to Young People’s Questions
An auxiliary bishop in Boston has said that the Church must find new language on LGBT issues to address the concerns of Catholics, especially youth and young adults, and that bishops must do more listening. Read More
Will Transgender People Become Collateral Damage in the Fight for LGBT Equality?
Transgender rights are the latest major issue when it comes to LGBT equality in the U.S., and sadly this could mean trans people become collateral damage, says one advocate. Read More
Reviving the Role of Conscience in Catholic LGBT Discussions
"Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths." Read More
On Bishops’ Decrees Against Gay Catholics’ Funerals, the Real Scandal Is Discrimination
Two U.S. bishops' decrees that would deny funerals to Catholics in same-gender marriages were worried such celebrations would cause public scandal. But theologians Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler argued in the National Catholic Reporter that the real scandal is the decrees themselves. Read More
Cardinal Reverses Predecessor’s Decision, Resumes Ties with Quest in UK
A cardinal in England has reversed a predecessor's decision and recommended that his priests make use of the LGBT Catholic group Quest as a resource in their ministry. Read More
Leader of German Bishops Calls for Marriage Equality Debate in the Church
Bishop Franz-Josef Bode has said: "I'm concerned with fundamental questions of how we deal with each other; although 'marriage for all' differs clearly from the church's concept of marriage, it's now a political reality." Read More