Catholic Church
The senseless murders at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, startled many because they raised the ongoing issues of racial prejudice, gun violence, and how people from all walks of life become innocent victims of terror, hate, and discrimination. How many tragedies and how many deaths will it take to open our hearts and minds to…
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With marriage equality now legal across the United States, but yet with so many debates and controversies, particularly Catholic ones, still raging about the issue, it might be good to step back a second and reflect on the question “What makes a family?” New Ways Ministry’s Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder, did exactly just that recently…
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It seems as if every few months, and sometimes weeks, Bondings 2.0 covers the story of a Catholic church worker who lost a job in an LGBT-related dispute made public. There are more than fifty such cases since 2008, but there are signs of hope as ecclesial forces increasingly resist these firings. Augustinian Father Paul Morrissey…
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In the spring of 2014, I found myself in the last place I’d ever expected—the dark, close-set box of an old confessional. The wood muffled all other sounds as the priest slid open a little screen before me. I knelt down and said I couldn’t remember the last time I was there, and I began…
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As Cardinals stay mum, youth move on Ireland’s historic vote approving gay marriage is a major blow to the Roman Catholic Church. With American Cardinals like Timothy Dolan and Sean O’Malley, and Archbishop Charles Chaput staying mum on the issue, failing to give interviews; the Church’s youth move on. Catholic youth want a different Church…
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Today, headlines around the world announced Catholic news from two different parts of the globe. While seemingly disparate, these headlines share an important theme. In Ireland, one of the most Catholic nations on earth, hundreds of thousands voted overwhelmingly in a general referendum to enact marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples. In El Salvador,…
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In just a few days, Irish voters will decide on approving marriage equality in one of the world’s most historically Catholic nations. If approved, this will be the first popular vote to legalize same-gender marriages in the world. But what is also remarkable about Ireland’s story, regardless of the outcome, is how many Catholics are publicly…
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The National Catholic Reporter’s Tom Fox greatly helped the burgeoning movement of gay-friendly Catholic parishes in the U.S. by publishing a five-part series examining the life of one such parish, Most Holy Redeemer (MHR), San Francisco, which he notes is often referred to as “the gayest Catholic parish in the nation.” Fox’s series on this parish should be read by…
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Walking into my parish church August 13, 2014, I took notice of the sun streaming through the skylight in our church commons, gleaming on the water of the baptismal font. It was a bright and warm summer afternoon, typical for August in Indiana. On this afternoon, I had been summoned to a meeting with my…
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In what is surely the most official welcome from Church officials that New Ways Ministry has received in its 38-year history, and one of the warmest welcomes the LGBT community has received, a pilgrimage group of 48 LGBT Catholics and supporters led by our co-founder, Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL, received VIP seating at the papal…
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