One of the more recent challenges for Catholic parishes is how to welcome L.G.B.T. parishioners, as well as families with L.G.B.T. members. But that challenge is also where grace abounds because L.G.B.T. Catholics have felt excluded from the church for so long that any experience of welcome can be life-changing—a healing moment that can inspire Read more
“We humbly acknowledge our shortcomings, especially with regards to particular groups in society such as the LGBT community who have felt a very real sense of rejection through the Church,” says Cardinal John Dew. And he says the church has also probably fallen short in fully meeting the needs of recent migrant communities. Dew said Read more
In his new book, Jesuit priest James Martin proposes the Church forge “a relationship of respect, compassion and sensitivity” with LGBT Catholics. Read more
The Vatican and Catholic clergy have backed a gay-friendly publication that looks at what the Catholic Church’s relationship with the “LGBT community” should be like. “Building A Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity”, was written by James Martin. Martin is a Jesuit Read more
The Glitter Ash project, created by New York nonprofit Parity, encouraged clergy to mix glitter into the ashes this year, to represent the inclusion of LGBT people in Christian life. Glitter in the ashes, Rev. Marian Edmonds-Allen wrote on a whiteboard, is “a symbol of the gritty, glittery, scandalous hope that exists within all of Read more
Cardinal Vincent Nichols would like to see wider use of an initiative to extend a special welcome to lesbian and gay Catholics at a regular Mass. Twice a month, LGBT Catholics join the congregation at a regular Sunday evening Mass at the Jesuit Farm Street Church in central London. A social gathering is held afterwards Read more