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At Five Years, U.S. Catholics Give Pope Francis Mixed Reviews on LGBT Issues

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The fifth anniversary of Pope Francis' election has been a moment of reflection for Catholics and for the world on the impact this revolutionary pope has had, and that includes on LGBT issues. Today's post highlights a few commentaries published around the anniversary. Read More

What’s Troubling About a Male Escort’s Revelations About Italian Priests

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Last week, a news story reported that the Archbishop of Naples, Italy, was sending the Vatican a 1,200-page dossier that had been assembled by a male escort. It purportedly identified 36 priests and 4 seminarians from throughout Italy as “actively gay” and who had communicated with the escort.  This story was troublesome in several ways, but not because of alleged sexual improprieties. Read More

The Many Faces of Pope Francis: A Five-Year Timeline of His LGBT Record

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Five years ago today, Cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio of Argentina was elected to the papacy, becoming Pope Francis.  Since that time, this new pope, the first non-European, broke all sorts of barriers in regard to LGBT issues, yet in some areas, he has remained as traditional as his predecessors had been. Read More

Read Today’s Gospel–And This Blog Post–All the Way to the End

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Perhaps it isn’t prudent to begin a scripture reflection by noting that the Gospel passage about which one is to write includes one’s least favorite bible verse. You know the one: it’s not uncommon to see it flash by on a sports broadcast where a fan – or an athlete - has it scrawled on a sign, or on their face, a la Tim Tebow.  Read More

Homophobic Church “Not the Church of the Future,” Says Former Irish President Mary McAleese

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To mark International Women's Day earlier this week, the group Voices of Faith held an event in Rome about women in the Catholic Church. Titled "Why Women Matter," the event featured two LGBT advocates, former Irish President Mary McAleese and lesbian Catholic Ssenfuka Joanita Warry. The event also prompted a civil exchange between McAleese and an Irish bishop. Read More

LGBT Group Banned from St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Staten Island

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Organizers of Staten Island's St. Patrick's Day parade barred an LGBT group from participating in the event last weekend because, the parade's president said, it was not a "sexual identification parade." Read More

By Dropping Appeal, Belize Catholic Church Allows Decriminalization Decision to Stand

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The Catholic Church hierarchy in the Central American nation of Belize has withdrawn its appeal of a 2016 judicial decision which struck down the former British colony's anti-sodomy law.  Read More

What’s So Shocking About Gender Neutral Language?

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Throughout February, conservative religious and secular websites have been fuming mad about a very commonsense development at the University of Dayton, an Ohio Catholic school run by the Marianist Brothers. Read More

Bishop Censored for Acknowledging the Reality That LGBT Families Exist

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A bishop's recognition of lesbian and gay relationships have been removed from a video produced in anticipation of the 2018 World Meeting of Families scheduled for this August.  Read More

Have Catholic Theologians Been Too Quiet About Fr. James Martin’s “Building a Bridge”?

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The blog Daily Theology had an interesting back-and-forth about Fr. James Martin, SJ's new book, Building a Bridge. The conversation centered on whether academic theologians were sufficiently engaged a book that has made sizeable waves in the Church, and what it means to do public theology. Read More