News
What does it mean to be an LGBTQ Catholic?
3+ hour ago (212+ words) Editor's note: The following is the text of a homily given during Mass on June 19, 2026, in Dahlgren Chapel at Georgetown University, during the Outreach 2026 conference. What does it mean to be an LGBTQ Catholic? As Thomas Merton wrote, "For me…...
Outreach conference offers "sources of hope" for LGBTQ Catholics
4+ day, 2+ hour ago (548+ words) Delivering the final reflection at the closing prayer service of this year's Outreach conference, again hosted by Georgetown University, Valentina Marquez described how the ministry provides "sources of hope" for its diverse, international community. "You give me hope," said Marquez,…...
What I've learned at past Outreach Conferences
1+ week, 5+ day ago (1132+ words) There was a lingering sense of disconnection'not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. Something essential about community life had been lost. A consistent message we heard throughout the weekend'from speakers from GLAAD, PFLAG and the Ali Forney Center'was that LGBTQ…...
Archbishop Erio Castellucci to LGBTQ Catholics: Today we are here to ask for forgiveness
3+ week, 3+ day ago (471+ words) Below are the Reflections on John 20: 1923 by Archbishop Erio Castellucci of Modena-Nonantola and Bishop of Carpi, during the Prayer Vigil for the Overcoming of Homotransphobia held at the Parish of Jesus the Redeemer in Modena, presided over by Archbishop Erio…...
Archbishop John C. Wester on Eli, Samuel and LGBTQ people in the church
3+ week, 4+ day ago (553+ words) As bishops, we sometimes assume we are the only teachers, but as the Synod on Synodality has reminded us, we are co-responsible with the laity for the life of the church. Pope Francis said as much on the 50th anniversary of…...
Elizabeth A. Johnson on Study Group 9: God gave them the same gift
4+ week, 2+ day ago (466+ words) This is part of Outreach's series of articles on the Study Group 9 report. Baptized LGBTQ persons are members of the body of Christ, are other Christs. The Spirit working in them bestows the same gifts as in other baptized persons....
Antonio Autiero on Study Group 9: Allowing ourselves to be challenged
4+ week, 2+ day ago (438+ words) This is part of Outreach's'series of articles'on the Study Group 9 report. With the report submitted to the General Secretariat of the Synod, Study Group No. 9 has offered for shared reflection a text that is significant for its theoretical framework and…...
Kevin Glauber Ahern on Study Group 9s paradigm shift in theology
4+ week, 2+ day ago (622+ words) This is part of Outreach's'series of articles'on the Study Group 9 report. As a lay Catholic theologian, parenthood has taught me a lot about what it means to do theology, what Saint Anselm of Canterbury (d. 1109) famously defined as "faith seeking understanding....
Lucas Sharma, SJ, on Study Group 9: Listening and the church
4+ week, 2+ day ago (209+ words) This is part of Outreach's'series of articles'on the Study Group 9 report. The starting point is not the church's teachings that homosexual activity is sinful; rather, it is from the stories of these two men themselves in a spirit of understanding…...
What happens when Bishops listen to trans Catholics
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (514+ words) Transgender people are often spoken about, debated, analyzed and politicized. Far more rarely are we simply listened to." In Catholic spaces, many of us know what it feels like to be rejected or invisible. Even within LGBTQ spaces, transgender concerns…...