Jeanin Greamik’s sister goes with the people in Prague for faith and inclusion, holding a banner that proclaims “LGBTQ Věící” (“LGBTQ”).
(New ways of ministries)
Sitting on the border of Maryland and Washington, the District of Columbia, on the suburban street, shaded with lush green trees, lies a small two -storey ministry. Both physical and digital sanctuaries, the Ministry of New Ways of Teaching Catholics of all identities on LGBTQ+ propaganda. From religious leaders who seek to expand their knowledge of LGBTQ+ people, to LGBTK+ people seeking safety within their faith, the ministry is one of the insufficient religious groups aimed at training, propaganda and equipment for the construction of bridges between the church and civil society. Quir -Tapes and their allies redo the church from within, releasing values as Francis Debernard from new ways, as the ministry says: “At the heart of the Gospel message.”
Religion has been armed against LGBTK+ people in the United States for many years, this is a trend that continues today with figures such as JD Vance. Vice -President used theological concepts as the order of loveEither the idea of ”properly orderly love” to justify the anti -immigration policy, claiming that Americans owe moral duty their own families to “outsiders”. Such thinking led to criticism from both Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, who insisted that Christian love should be universal and should spread to all people, especially in marginalized communities.
But what does it mean, when queer -talks and their allies in the church begin to use the same institute to fight without leaving it, but rebuilding it from the inside? At a time when our policy is openly hostile to the rights of LGBTK+, religious communities offer something calmly radical: offering the vision of religion not as a court, but as a shrine.
The new ways of the ministry have existed since 1977, when it was founded by Sister Jeanin Grumk and Father Robert Nugent, nun, and priest who learned to play for LGBTK+ people in the Catholic Church through conversation and community. Based on Harry Rainier, Maryland, where he is primarily engaged in his propaganda work, new ways were one of the earliest groups trying to expand the ways that Catholics are dealing with LGBTQ+problems. His mission lies in both the training of church executives and to advocate LGBTK+ individuals because of the pastoral work.
Although founded in Merilend, the state with the second largest population per capita, new ways of the Ministry sponsor regular meetings with priests and ministers working in the parishes outside the region, including Boston, Chicago, Denver, Tennessee and Florida. This work consists of educational, spiritual and pastoral programming: from communication to retreat. Thanks to this mission, these regions were able to see progress with parishes, Catholic schools and other institutions that became more friendly to LGBTK+ people. Talk and expansion is a success.
In January 2024, the Ministry of New Ways gathered a group of more than a dozen US bishops for a private meeting at Saint Louis. Participants listened to Trans -people and their families, theologians, healthcare professionals and those who are in the service of the church. “Мы ўсе сутыкнуліся з пастырскімі сітуацыямі, звязанымі з трансгендернымі асобамі, і па большай частцы адчувалі сябе недастаткова падрыхтаванымі да барацьбы з імі”, – сказаў адзін з удзельнікаў, біскуп Джон Стоу з Лексінгтона, штат Кентукі, заявіў The The The The The The The National Catholic Reporter. “And if we all stopped and heard the struggle that people survived, we would realize that it was not just a matter of gender theory; it is a living experience of people.”
Current Issue
Francis Debernard was the executive director of the Ministry of New Ways for more than 30 years since the volunteer in 1992. His work includes promoting community training programs on LGBTK+ both Catholicism in religions and non -religious spaces. “I have always been aware of Catholic social justice groups,” Debernard said. “I grew up in a very progressive Catholic setting, so I always knew about a new ministry,” he said. Catholicism did not always prevail conservative political demographic. Debernard reached the age in the Diocese of Brooklyn in the early 1970s, where there were many progressive ideas in the Catholic Church. “And only in the early 1990s I began to admit how much the influence of the Catholic Church was harming LGBTK.”
Conflicts in the Catholic Church around LGBTK+ rights stem not only from theological discussions, but also from an increasing break between the institutional hierarchy and live experiences. “The leadership of the Catholic Church and the Catholic bishops in the US, at least in the mid-1990s, was very conservative,” Debernard said. What we try to do is, in our work, we try to become a reliable Catholic voice to support pro-lgbtq initiatives. “
Because LGBTK+ people came out in more in the 1980s and 90s, Catholic communities, as new ways, how the ministry has increasingly recognized their common humanity, challenging increased stereotypes and changing perceptions. The era was a time when the media covered around AIDS and HIV offered negative and defamatory images of gays in society and led to an increase in homophobic rhetoric associated with the AIDS crisis. The lack of scientific understanding of AIDS caused an increase in hatred of the LGBTQ+community. Despite the hostile public climate, the ministry’s personal relations and grassroots have become more important than if you move their hearts in Catholic communities.
The new ways of the ministry were very involved in the debate on early marriage, publishing a booklet called Equality of marriage: a positive Catholic approach This explained why Catholic thinking urged them to support same -sex marriage. This booklet was distributed by legislators and Catholics across the country. The booklet also claimed that the Catholic tradition provides secular and theologians, many of whom support same -sex marriage, equal authorities as bishops to act on this. “Catholic people who live in a real world meeting with Gay and Lesbain and were aware of their struggle … They ignored what the bishops said,” Debernard recalls. This shift was not a break from Catholic values; It was an expression of them.
The booklet directed the key state of the fight, Maryland, where the Catholic identity had politically influenced. At the time, new ways of the ministry referred to polls showing that 49 percent of Maryland’s Catholics maintained marriage equality compared to 47 percent of all voters. The booklet shutter helped to start Maryland’s companies around SB 116 (Freedom Law and Civic Marriage). Catholic legislators, including a lesbian Catholic delegate heading the bill, and the Catholic governor promised to sign it when it passed.
In 2021 the ministry released House for all: Catholic call for non -discrimination LGBTQThe statement, approved by more than 250 known Catholic theologians, clergy, scientists and writers. He claimed that Catholic social training requires support for civil non -discrimination laws that protect people in peoples such as housing and employment, making equality as moral and faith.
Today, as anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric in politics and religious life, many Catholics continue to rely on the same values to advocate for inclusion in the church. Groups such as Tignityusa, which supports LGBTQ+ Catholics since the early 1970s, and the Information and Educational Initiative, the Jesuit initiative, founded by Father James Martin, is working to promote dialogue, build a community and promote a church vision where LGBTK is fully welcomed.
However, since this tension between the church and civil society remains unresolved, it pushed the movement, pushing the church to something more inclusive. New ways of the ministry “described (them) as the Ministry of Justice and Reconciliation and as the Ministry of Education as a ministry of the bridge,” Debernard said. “The way we try to withstand discriminatory traditions and positions in the Church is the teaching of Catholics, Catholic leaders and Catholic people in the benches about why the Catholic teaching supports what we would call a liberal or point of view.”
Popular
“Spend on the left below to view more authors”Spend →
Instead of being an exception instrument, religion in these cases becomes the force of protection of rights and offering the shrine to these groups. It is necessary to support the communities and institutions based on the faith that do this work from the inside. “Religion helps people to realize their responsibility to other people on this planet,” Debernard said. The purpose of the faith here is not to impose a doctrine, but to promote the connections and to unite people around common values such as compassion, justice and, above all, love.
“We have heard from LGBTQ+ persons frightened, frightened and disappointed,” said Francis Debernard. “While Trump’s LGBTC policy was odious, we do not find our work in new ways that have changed significantly.” Debernard says that faith can be an ally of the liberation of the weirdo: “Not despite the Catholic but the Catholic.”
More than Nation
Cardinal Dolan’s latest remarks about Fox News played in the most reactionary elements of the Catholic Church.
In a small speech, the Supreme Court of Justice explained how he believes that the court should repeal the rulings of the conservatives who do not like.
His family says he went to college happy and healthy. Shortly thereafter, it was found from a tree on campus. However, local officials deny calls for further investigation.
In light of the new data showing that more than 400 people were prosecuted for pregnancy crimes, we must be wary of how Trump’s directives can be used.
