The term “LGBT” was recently used for the first time in a Vatican document. The working document setting the agenda for the Synod on the Youth taking place next Fall notes, “Some LGBT youth…wish to benefit from greater closeness and experience greater care by the Church.” Sister Monica Astorga, an Argentinian Discalced Carmelite Nun, has Read more
Fifty years ago this year, the church restored the permanent diaconate, opening the doors to married clergy who brought and continue to bring with them all the joys, sorrows, and complexities of family life to ordained ministry. In the case of my family, that included first-hand experience with LGBT people. In the fall of 2013, Read more
The earliest written record from the town of Hamelin in Lower Saxony is from 1384. It states simply, “It is 100 years since our children left.” Historical accounts indicate that sometime in the 13th century, a large number of the town’s children disappeared or perished, though the details of the event remain a mystery. “The Read more
Transgender people are being urged in two British counties to become vicars. The move is based on Church of England fears that the church’s reputation for tacitly discriminating against them is alienating young people. Read more
It should never be illegal to be who you are. Yet lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people continue to face high levels of violence and discrimination across the world. 72 countries criminalise male homosexuality, with 45 also criminalising female homosexuality. In the Commonwealth, 36 of its 53 countries maintain laws that make same-sex intimacy between men Read more
Five years ago, Professor Miroslav Djordjevic, the world-leading genital reconstructive surgeon, received a patient at his Belgrade clinic. It was a transgender patient who had surgery at a different clinic to remove male genitalia – and had since changed their mind. That was the first time Professor Djordjevic had ever been contacted to perform a Read more
A kids television show with a transgender story-line is annoying UK parents. Just A Girl is about an 11-year-old schoolgirl’s struggle to get hormone drugs. She needs them to have sex-change surgery. The show’s timing has annoyed parents more than the subject matter. It features on the British CBBC website. This site is aimed at children Read more
In the last few years, a new sexual liberation movement, transgenderism, has arisen. It is complete with an ideology: A person can be born into the “wrong” sex and can correct that problem by amputations, hormones, change of name, pronouns and dress, demand for full public recognition as a member of the other sex, and Read more
The Archbishop of Suva, Peter Loy Chong says Catholics in Fiji treats various gender communities with equal value. “For us, everyone is the same and this has also been addressed by the Pope, who made special reference to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and intersex (LGBTI) community,” he said. The archbishop is one Read more
At least three formal complaints have been lodged with the Ombudsman’s office over the Samoa Observer newspaper’s front page treatment of a young transgender victim of suicide. There have been mixed reactions to the paper’s more personal apology published in the Samoa Observer on Tuesdayover the signature of the editor in chief Gatoaitele Savea Sano Malifa. Read more