Johann Go says he was wrong to make assumptions about how his peers and teachers would react at St Patrick’s College Silverstream. It took two years for him to build up the courage to confide in his Catholic schoolmates that he was gay. When college rector Gerard Tully gave the green light to same-sex partners Read more
The Advocate, a leading lifestyle magazine which actively promotes gay rights, has named Pope Francis its person of the year. “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?” is the quote that earned the pontiff the title. The holy father’s made the statement during an interview with Read more
Pope Francis walked the walk last weekend, when he followed through on his promise to make the Vatican more gay-friendly – or at least less gay-nasty – by honoring a sixteen-year-old gay American. Jack Ankara is an all “A” student at a public high school in Crownsville, Maryland, where half the student body drops out Read more
Parliament’s sanctioning of same-sex marriage this year has prompted galloping expectations, not least where churches are involved. One has been tested in the Human Rights Review Tribunal by the Gay and Lesbian Clergy Anti-Discrimination Society on behalf of Eugene Sisneros, an events co-ordinator at St Matthew-in-the-City who claimed he was rejected for a priest training Read more
Despite Pope Francis’ earlier remarks about opening up the Church, the Vatican has firmly shut the door on artist Gonzalo Orquin’s latest exhibit, “Trialogo,” scheduled to open at the Galleria L’Opera on Wednesday evening. The exhibit consists of photographs of same-sex couples kissing in churches mainly located in Rome, but the pictures have been covered Read more
The Vatican has ordered the excommunication of Catholic priest Greg Reynolds over his support for women priests and gays. The Australian news site The Age reported that the excommunication document – written in Latin – was dated May 31. Reynolds, who resigned as a parish priest in 2011 and last year founded Inclusive Catholics, said Read more
The young priest preached on the sanctity of life at a Denver hospice. Afterward an older couple asked him if their son, who had died of AIDS, would be in hell forever. The priest said he couldn’t answer that. More than 20 years later Shawn Reynolds still remembers the anguish on the couple’s faces. “He Read more
Last week, Pope Francis loosed a media tsunami by dropping a pebble of sanity into an ocean of religious angst. “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” he told reporters on the flight back to Rome after his trip to Brazil. What did it Read more
Pope Francis comment this week that he would not judge priests for their sexual orientation has stirred discussion and debate around the world. “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” the pope was quoted by reporters. The pope’s remarks came up during an Read more
The Vatican has disputed a report that the prelate appointed by Pope Francis to supervise the reform of the Vatican Bank indulged in flagrant gay affairs while serving as a papal diplomat. The report by Vatican journalist Sandro Magister said Monsignor Battista Ricca, 57, had a live-in lover when he served as a papal diplomat Read more