Posts

At Synod on Youth, French Bishop Says, “We mustn’t be afraid of sexuality!”

A French bishop participating at the Synod on Youth has called on the church to not be afraid of sexuality, but to instead begin an honest conversation about it and engage LGBT youth and their allies with a new pastoral model. Read More

Who’s Who? A Look at the LGBT Records of Global Bishops at the Synod on Youth

With the Synod on Youth now underway in Rome, Bondings 2.0 explores the LGBT records of a sampling of delegates from outside the U.S. The following bishops are just some of the 300-plus delegates participating in the Synod (a full list available here). It is unclear if and how LGBT issues will be addressed, who might be the key bishops involved in any discussion, and whether there will be positive outcomes.  Read More

Are Voices of Young U.S. Catholics Being Represented at Synod on Youth?

With the Synod on Youth set to begin today, will the views of young Catholics in the United States on LGBT issues be fairly represented by the nation's bishop-delegates and other participants? Read More

Catholics Reject Bishops’ Claim that Gay Priests a Cause of Sexual Abuse

Yesterday, Bondings 2.0 covered recent comments by several U.S. bishops that strove to link homosexuality with clergy sexual abuse. Today's post offers commentaries from Catholics who either pushed back against such bishops or who have offered a more positive assessment about gay priests and the abuse crisis. Read More

Bishop: Gay Priests “Wreaking Great Devastation” in Church and Cause of Sexual Abuse

Right wing Church leaders are again trying to blame sexual abuse by clergy on gay priests and religious. One bishop has even suggested a 'homosexual subculture" is "wreaking great devastation in the vineyard of the Lord." But many Catholics have pushed back, rightfully acknowledging the positive role gay priests and religious have played in the Church while identifying real causes of abuse as crimes of power not sex. Today's post reports on the bishops' gay-negative statements while tomorrow's post shares several analyses. Read More

Cardinal Cupich: On Sexual Abuse, Clerical Culture, Not Gay Priests, at Fault

A top U.S. cardinal has expressed skepticism that gay priests are the cause of clerical sexual abuse, saying instead the problem is clericalism in the Church. Read More

50 Years Later, Lessons from “Humanae Vitae” Debate Readily Applicable to LGBT Issues

Theologians Michael Lawler and Todd Salzman have written a commentary on "Humanae Vitae's" 50th anniversary which while not explicitly addressing LGBT issues is quite relevant and insightful. Today's post highlights a few key features of their overall argument that Pope Francis has changed the calculus on contraception and invited new conversations that more deeply incorporate human experience in theological ethics. Read More

Equality in the Church Only Comes When LGBT Communities and Catholic Women Act Together

Unless LGBT equality and gender equality in the Catholic Church occur together, there will be no justice at all, said Jamie Manson in her latest column for the "National Catholic Reporter." Read More

QUOTE TO NOTE: Gay Catholic Says Church’s Language on Homosexuality is “Vile”

Earlier this week, Bondings 2.0 reported on Irish Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh's admission that the institutional Church "struggles to find a language" through which it can relate to LGBT people. In response, political journalist and gay Catholic Ursula Halligan wrote a sharp response in The Irish Times.  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