Out and About – Autumn 2014

With the winter solstice just days away, it seems appropriate to pause and look back on some of the events of my life this autumn. I periodically do this type of looking back in The Wild Reed's "Out and About" series. I began this series in April 2007 as a way of documenting my life as an “out” gay Catholic man, seeking to be all “about” the Spirit-inspired work of embodying God’s justice and compassion in the Church and the world. I've continued the series in one form or another every year since – in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. So let's get started with the latest installment . . .

Above: On Sunday, October 12, 2014 I attended Dignity Twin Cities' 40th anniversary celebration. Standing with me (from right) are friends Jim Smith, who serves as DignityUSA's associate director, Tim, and Greg.

Above: On October 9, 2014 a vigil took place across from the Cathedral of St. Paul. Organized by the Human Rights Campaign and Dignity Twin Cities the event was part of a series of vigils called "Pray, Listen, Discern — Raising the Voices of LGBT Catholics."

Prior to the October 9 event in St. Paul, local journalist Andy Birkey wrote the following about HRC's series of vigils:

The vigils come as Extraordinary General Assembly Synod of Bishops is underway in Rome. The assembly is only the third of its kind in history and “will thoroughly examine and analyze the information, testimonies and recommendations received from the particular Churches in order to respond to the new challenges of the family.” Many commentators believe issues like the ordination of women and LGBT inclusion in the church will be discussed.

The assembly began meeting on Sunday, October 5 and runs through October 19. During that time, HRC has organized vigils in seven cities whose dioceses are led by anti-LGBT bishops.

“On behalf of all of those who have been excluded from the church — from the LGBT faithful and divorced families, to those who have been fired for simply being who they are — we offer them Holy Mary’s wisdom and God’s clarity,” Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera, director of HRC’s Latino/a and Catholic Initiatives, said in a statement. “The church laity is not misguided; it is not unknowing of the word and mandate of God. On the contrary, we continue to listen to God and, just like his son, we also aim to create an inclusive church that can serve us all. We urge the bishops to climb down from their towers and hear our voices raised in prayer.”

For more about the Vatican's Synod on the Family, see the previous Wild Reed posts:
• On the Feast of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, Thoughts on Marriage Equality in the U.S. and the Vatican's Synod on the Family
• LGBT Catholics Respond to Synod 2014's Final Report
• Quote of the Day – October 20, 2014

Above: With friends Darlene White (left) and Dorothy Olinger, SSND. We're pictured at Call to Action MN's Fall Conference, which took place in Minneapolis on Saturday, October 18.

At this conference Dorothy was presented with CTA-MN's 2014 Leadership Award, and the following being said about her:

We honor Dorothy for her tireless work as teacher, mentor, organizer and passionate conveyor of the New Creation Story. For nearly 20 years, she was the guiding light of Global Education Associates Upper Midwest. In the early 1980s, Dorothy’s life was changed as she began to learn and internalize the work of the great geologian, Thomas Berry. She embarked on a journey of deepening her own understanding of this unfolding evolutionary story. And so, in the final career of her 70 years as a School Sister of Notre Dame, Dorothy directed the work of GEA where she was able to share the story that had become the passion of her life. She was and remains a faithful messenger of the groundbreaking work of Thomas Berry. For many, she pioneered our journeys into this “new way of thinking” about the universe and our place within it. We are eternally grateful.

I was just one of many people who appreciated the opportunity that CTA-MN's October 18 conference provided to personally thank Dorothy for her pioneering work. As regular Wild Reed visitors may know, I recently developed a workshop on evolutionary spirituality entitled "Companions on a Sacred Journey" which I'm presenting to local groups of Catholics. Dorothy and her work were a real inspiration for me in learning about the "new universe story" of evolutionary spirituality, and thus in developing my workshop. Thanks, Dorothy!

For more on evolutionary spirituality, see the previous Wild Reed post:
• Prayer and the Experience of God in an Ever-Unfolding Universe
• Michael Morwood on the Divine Presence
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Beatrice Bruteau
• In the Garden of Spirituality – Ilia Delio
• Divine Connection
• Out and About – Autumn 2013

Left: The keynote speakers at CTA-MN's Fall Conference were longtime educators and authors in the field of human sexuality Sister Fran Ferder and Fr. John Heagle. Their presentation was entitled "Where Love and Justice Meet: An Emerging Sexual Ethic for Our Time."

For more on their presentation, see the previous Wild Reed post:
• How the Pope's Recent Remarks on Evolution Highlight a Major Discrepancy in Church Teaching on Sexuality

Above: The beauty of autumn in Minnesota.

For more images, see the previous Wild Reed posts:
• In Autumn Light
• Photo of the Day – October 31, 2014
• In Autumn Light II

Above: My friend Raul – October 2014. I took this photo when Raul and I were visiting our friends John and Noelle in St. Paul. Pictured with Raul is Quinn, my "little fox-faced man," who lives with John and Noelle.

Above: My friend Noelle with her granddaughter Amelia – September 2014. That's Eddie in the foreground.


Right: Amelia with her grandpa, John, and Quinn.

Little Amelia loves all the animals at her grandparents' house, especially . . .

. . . Ziggy!

For more images of this handsome cat, see here, here and here.

Above: On October 23 I turned 49! That evening I went out to dinner with my friends (from left) Tim and Pete. Later we were joined by Pete's partner and the four of us saw the film Lilting at the Edina Theater.

Notes Wikipedia about this film:

Lilting is a 2014 British drama film written and directed by Cambodian-born British director Hong Khaou, whose short film, Spring, was selected for Sundance and Berlinale film festival 2011. It is produced by Dominic Buchanan. . . . [Lilting] tells the story of a mother’s attempt at understanding who her son was after his untimely death, as her world is suddenly disrupted by the presence of his male lover. Together, they attempt to overcome their grief whilst struggling against not having a shared language.

Lilting was met with positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 96% of 24 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.9 out of 10. Justin Chang, in his review for Variety, said that the film "Hong Khaou makes a fine debut with this quietly resonant cross-cultural chamber piece." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, saying, "Delicate and unhurried almost to a fault, though also hauntingly sexy and even humorous at times." Amber Wilkinson from The Telegraph gave the film three out of five stars and praised the lead actor, noting that "Ben Whishaw is magnetic as a man pushed to the edge of fragility by mourning, but who still suggests a quiet strength." Dominic Mill of We Got This Covered gave a positive review and said, "The subject matter is powerful, and the performances are wonderful - in a world of big and showy dramatism, Lilting gets its point across without feeling the need to shout about it."

Lilting is definitely one of the best films I've seen for a long time, and I encourage you to check it out if you haven't already seen it. Its trailer can be viewed here.

Above: On the evening of Saturday, October 25, some friends gathered at my home to help me celebrate my entering into my 50th year! From left: George, John, Kathy, Julia and me.



Left: My good friend and housemate Tim – October 25, 2014.

Above: Friends Liana and Curtis – October 25, 2014. Last summer I had the honor of officiating at Liana and Curtis' wedding. Their daughter is Amelia, pictured earlier in this post with Liana's mother Noelle.

Above: Friends Brent, Joan, and Lisa.

Above: Tim with our mutual friend Kathleen.

Above: Standing at left with Mary Beth, Kathy, John, Brent, Lisa, Joan, and Kathleen.

Above: Lisa & Brent and Curtis & Liana.

For another photo of the table centerpiece pictured in this photo, one comprised of autumn leaves and a statue of a hare (an ancient symbol of both non-heterosexual conforming sexuality and enlightenment), click here.

Above: Little Edgar, son of my friends Julia and Jim, provided some lovely background music at my October 25 gathering!

Above: On the evening of Wednesday, November 5, Irish priest Tony Flannery spoke at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Minneapolis. "Silenced" by the Vatican in 2012 and since then threatened with "canonical penalties," including excommunication, a key message of Flannery's presentation was that we’re at a moment in time when reform-minded Catholics must let their voices be heard.

For more on Tony Flannery's talk in Minneapolis, click here.

Above and left: My friend Raul's apartment overlooks Lake Calhoun and would have to have some of the best views in Minneapolis!

For more images, click here.

Above: Of course, the view from the front of my house in south Minneapolis isn't that bad either!

Above: Although meteorologically not actually the case, autumn ended for me with the (early) return of wintry weather on Monday, November 10, 2014.

For more images, click here.

Above: Celebrating my friend Julia's birthday – Friday, December 5, 2014.




Left: Beth, Lisa and Julia.

Above and below: On Thursday, December 4, I participated in a solidarity rally for Eric Garner and other victims of police brutality, a disproportionate number of whom are African American males. Garner, an African American, died July 17 in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island, New York, after a police officer put him in a chokehold, a tactic banned by the New York City Police Department (NYPD). On Wednesday, December 3, a grand jury decided not to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the officer who applied the chokehold on Garner.

The Grand Jury's decision sparked protests and rallies across the country, including the one on December 4 in Minneapolis, which for several hours shut down Interstate 35W northbound.

For more images and commentary, click here.

Above and below: Views of Minnehaha Creek, close to my home in south Minneapolis.

Above: The Mississippi River's Lake Pepin at Lake City, Minnesota – December 16, 2014.

For pictures of this beautiful part of Minnesota in early fall, see the 2011 Wild Reed post, Adventures in Mississippi River Bluff Country.

Above: My friend and housemate Tim beside our Christmas tree, which we decorated on November 29, the eve of the First Sunday of Advent. For more images and for my thoughts on the Christmas tree as an icon, one that invites us to contemplate the "one holy circle" of both dark and light, click here.

With Christmastide approaching, I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of my readers a deeply meaningful and transformative Christmas . . . and all the best for 2015!

– Michael

Autumn 2014 Wild Reed posts of note:
• Return of the (Cornish) Native
• In Autumn Light
• "A Dark Timelessness and Stillness Surrounds Her Wild Abandonment"
• On the Feast of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, Thoughts on Marriage Equality in the U.S. and the Vatican's Synod on the Family
• Carlos Acosta Recalls the "Clarion Call" of His Vocation in Dance
• LGBT Catholics Respond to Synod 2014's Final Report
• A Guidepost on the Journey
• The Art of Dancing as the Supreme Symbol of the Spiritual Life
• How the Pope's Recent Remarks on Evolution Highlight a Major Discrepancy in Church Teaching
• In Autumn Light II
• John Schlesinger's Sunday Bloody Sunday: "A Genuinely Radical Film"
• Divine Connection
• Tony Flannery in Minneapolis
• Winter's Return
• The Art of Being Kind
• Doris Lessing on the Sufi Way
• Remembering Olga Nikolaevna and Her Sisters
• The Model of Leadership Offered by Jesus: "More Like the Gardener Than the Owner of the Garden"
• The Christmas Tree as Icon, Inviting Us to Contemplate the "One Holy Circle" of Both Dark and Light
• Happy Birthday, Mum!
• Rallying in Solidarity with Eric Garner and Other Victims of Police Brutality
• All 'Round Me Burdens . . .
• A Fateful Reunion
• Jesus, Our Tortured Brother Today
• Active Waiting: A Radical Attitude Toward Life
• Sufism: A Tradition of Enlightenment, the Way of Love, and an Antidote to Fanaticism

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Out and About – Summer 2014
Out and About – Spring 2014
Out and About – Winter 2013-2014
Out and About – Autumn 2013

How the Pope's Recent Remarks on Evolution Highlight a Major Discrepancy in Church Teaching

There's been a lot of media attention focused on Pope Francis' recent comments about evolution.

Reports the Washington Post:

Delivering an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Pope Francis continued his habit of making provocative, seemingly progressive statements. The pontiff appeared to endorse the theory of the Big Bang and told the gathering at the Vatican that there was no contradiction between believing in God as well as the prevailing scientific theories regarding the expansion of our universe.

The way some news outlets are reporting it, Francis has made a groundbreaking declaration. In reality, he's simply reiterating what's been official Catholic thinking on the matter for the past six decades, i.e., belief in God is not incompatible with the acceptance of evolution. During his papacy, Benedict XVI espoused the same view. Indeed, ever since the reforms of Pope Pius XII, the Vatican has espoused belief in theistic evolution, meaning the Divine Presence which we commonly refer to as God, set in motion and infuses the creative process known as evolution.

I welcome Francis reminding us of this, and intend using some of his recent statements in "Companions on a Sacred Journey," the workshop on evolutionary spirituality that I'm currently conducting with groups of local Catholics. Yet the Pope's statements also serve to highlight a major discrepancy in the Vatican's thinking and teaching.


Two different worldviews

This discrepancy stems from two very different worldviews that are employed when dealing with different areas of human inquiry and experience. When it comes to the evolution of the universe, the planet, and humanity, the Vatican is open to what is known as the historically conscious worldview. According to this worldview, reality is dynamic, evolving, and ever-changing. The findings of science are valued and readily integrated into theological understandings and formulations. We see all of this with the Vatican's stance on evolution. Yet when it comes to the reality of human sexuality the Vatican chooses to employ a very different worldview, one that's known as the classicist worldview. Unlike the historical conscious worldview, the classicist worldview sees reality as static, fixed, and always and everywhere the same.

So here's the interesting thing: in important areas such as biblical scholarship and the study of the cosmos, the Vatican has, over time, shifted from the classicist worldview to the historical conscious worldview. Yet in the fields of gender and sexuality, it remains firmly entrenched in the classicist worldview.

In other words, the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church now accepts science when it comes to thinking and talking about astronomy and the evolution of the planet (including the evolution of humanity), but it doesn't accept science when it comes to thinking and talking about the complex reality of sexuality. This discrepancy has been described by some as a glaring and untenable example of intellectual dishonesty. (For more about the classicist and historical conscious worldviews, click here).


A certain mindset

Why are the members of Roman Catholicism's clerical caste so reluctant to embrace the historical conscious worldview when dealing with issues of sexuality? The answer, I believe, is, in part, rooted in a certain mindset that formed in the Middle Ages and lives on in the church's clerical caste. In his authoritative work The Origins and Role of Same-Sex Relations in Human Societies, James Neil clearly and succinctly identifies and discusses this mindset, one that is vividly illustrated by the writings of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, included in Neil's book.

There is one evil, an evil above all other evils, that I am aware is always within me, that grievously and piteously lacerates and afflicts my soul. It was with me from the cradle, it grew with me in childhood, in adolescence, in my youth it always stuck to me, and it does not desert me even now that my limbs are failing because of my old age. This evil is sexual desire, carnal delight, the storm of lust that has smashed and battered my unhappy soul, emptied it of all strength, and left it weak and empty.

It's a rather negative view of sexuality, wouldn't you say?

Personally, I prefer the more poetic and thus, I believe, more honest and truthful musings offered by author Winston Graham who, in the eighth Poldark novel, The Stranger from the Sea, has the character of Demelza imagining sexual desire as "a sea dragon of an emotion . . . causing half the trouble of the world, and half the joy."

Perhaps poor Anselm only ever experienced the trouble and never the joy. It's just a pity that his subjective experience of sexuality become codified as objective truth for a good number of centuries. But that's the danger of the classicist worldview: it can turn the particular into the universal and immutable.

Here's what James Neil writes in The Origins and Role of Same-Sex Relations in Human Societies about Anselm's situation and its consequences for Christianity:

Late in [his] life, Saint Anselm of Canterbury anguished over the sexual drive that, despite a lifetime of devotion to God, stubbornly refused to release him even in old age. In writing these words, Anselm could have been speaking for many other Medieval clergymen who devoted themselves to the church's strict anti-sexual moral teachings – a moral code that demonized their own sexual natures. The roots of the psychological disturbance or neurosis are easy to see in the sincere dedication of these devout clergymen to the ascetic sexual ideal that not only required them to suppress a fundamental human instinct, but taught them that their innermost self was evil. The conflict between their beliefs, on the one hand, and the urges of their bodies on the other, set in motion a psychological struggle that was, in fact, a classic example of neurosis as defined in standard psychoanalytic reference work.

. . . Such a conflict would appear to be particularly acute in the case of a person conditioned by religious indoctrination to be repelled by sex, one of the most basic instinctual drives. If the urges were homosexual, the psychological stress would be even greater. The "neurotic symptoms" produced in individuals with such an internal conflict typically take the form of reaction formation, a psychological defense in which the negativity they feel toward the intolerable characteristic is directed to others who display the same loathed characteristics. . . . The level of hostility they displayed to homosexuality was directly proportional to the strength of homosexual responsiveness recorded within each of them.

Putting it another way, because of the distorted lens through which such clergymen perceived sex, and because of his own emotional discomfort with it, [Anselm] could never deal with the subject truly rationally or dispassionately. Hence the references we see to sexual behavior in the morally conservative clergy of the Middle Ages are in almost all cases couched in histrionic and super-heated hyperbole. Likewise the visceral disgust conservative clergy felt for those practicing homosexuality.

In assessing the impact of the anti-sexual thinking and writings of Anselm, Augustine, William of Auxerre, and others, theologian Daniel Maguire insists that we must be candid in acknowledging that "Catholics and other Christians pumped a lot of bad notions of sex and sexual pleasure into Western culture."

Maguire also makes this interesting observation:

One might think that the puritanical horror of sex has been dissipated in a culture where sex is used ubiquitously in the marketplace to promote sales, and frenzied pornography abounds. However, as theologian Grace Jantzen observes, this obsession reflects the historical Christian obsession and is really “the same preoccupation, turned inside out.” The addiction to pornography is fueled by discomfort with sex. It has been suggested that pornography might dull our feeling for the other – in effect, killing love.

Signs of hope

It seems sadly obvious that when it comes to issues of gender and sexuality, the Roman Catholic clerical caste, including the Pope, remain entrenched in the classicist worldview, one still tied in many ways to the anti-sexual moral teachings of Medieval thinking. Yet there are signs of hope in our church for a renewed understanding of sexuality, an understanding firmly grounded in the historical conscious worldview.

Earlier this month in the Twin Cities, Fr. John Heagle and Sister Fran Ferder, longtime educators and authors in the field of human sexuality, spoke at Call to Action MN's Fall Conference. The title and focus of their presentation was "Where Love and Justice Meet: An Emerging Sexual Ethic for Our Time."

This focus was consciously chosen by the conference's organizers because of the strong believe held by many local Catholics that our church is facing a crucial turning point in its understanding of sexuality. Indeed, for many Catholic worldwide, it has become clear that the lived experience of ordinary people differs significantly from official church teaching. The "traditional" Catholic ethic that most grew up with, an ethic grounded in Medieval philosophy and natural law theory, is simply no longer adequate in addressing contemporary issues of human sexuality.

Throughout their October 18 presentation, Heagle and Ferder explored a biblically-based understanding of the gift of sexuality and the responsibility of faithful loving. Such an exploration involved making the connections between relationships and biblical justice, sexuality, and systems of power. At one point they noted that Jesus had little to say about the biology of sex, but spoke decisively about the qualities of authentic loving: respect, responsibility, covenantal faithfulness, and mutuality.

Overall, it was a very helpful and hopeful presentation, one that explored issues of gender, sexuality, and intimacy in much more meaningful ways then those offered by the hierarchy. This is because Heagle and Ferder are operating within a historical conscious worldview, one that is open to the collective wisdom of humanity.

I would contend that the majority of Catholics are operating within this worldview. In her latest National Catholic Reporter column, Jamie L. Manson offers support to this contention when she compellingly writes:

Many bishops have spent the last three decades remaining silent on issues related to the family or silencing those who dared to question the institutional church's teachings on sexuality. In the meantime, Catholic theologians, ethicists and laypeople have been pursuing deeper inquiries, listening to concrete human experiences, and developing contemporary moral frameworks grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition.

Many laypeople have already cultivated their own capacity for moral discernment; they have exercised their God-given gift of conscience; they have managed to grow spiritually without institutional church's constant instruction; they have found that their relationships, which the bishops would label "irregular," are, in fact, deeply sacramental.

Another sign of hope is the recent position paper written and published by the Twin Cities-based Council of the Baptized, a 21-member panel of Catholics chartered in 2012 to be a "collegial voice for a growing community of Catholics in honoring their baptismal responsibility for their local church." The council's latest position paper is entitled "Toward a Healthy Christian Theology of Sexuality," and I'll close with an excerpt from its introduction. (The full paper can be read by clicking here.)

The Council of the Baptized of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is concerned about developing a healthy Christian theology of sexuality. We know that sexuality is with us from conception to death, and that any knowledge and understandings we can gain about it will be self-enhancing and result in improved personal and interpersonal relationships. Unfortunately, the Church's theology of sexuality often comes across to many people as basically negative – a series of no's and prohibitions. We believe a more positive and nourishing theological approach to human sexuality would better serve as a basis for addressing contemporary questions and for dialoguing with other Catholics, other Christians, our Jewish sisters and brothers, and all who are genuinely interested in dialogue.

As faithful Catholics we have heeded the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and informed our consciences on Church teachings. The proposal [contained in this paper] will show that the Church teachings on sexual ethics are reformable. We ask that the entire People of God – hierarchy, theologians, and laity – be consulted and their voices respected on sexual topics. We urge the Church to take into account the findings of contemporary biological research and the policies of professional health associations and world organizations dedicated to improving health. We ask that men who have taken the vows of celibacy no longer be the sole arbiters of official teaching on Christian sexual morality. Only when the voices and lived experience of the whole "People of God," especially those of women and all those who are sexually active, are taken into account will a sexual ethic be credible and faithful.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Beyond the Hierarchy: The Blossoming of Liberating Catholic Insights on Sexuality
• The Non-Negotiables of Human Sex
• The Many Manifestations of God’s Loving Embrace
• Same-Sex Desires: "Immanent and Essential Traits Transcending Time and Culture"
• A Church That Can and Cannot Change
• Johnson and Tushnet Debate is as Much About Revelation as it is Homosexuality
• Sister Teresa Forcades on Queer Theology
• Quote of the Day – May 31, 2014
• Jesus, Sex, and Power
• Daniel Maguire on the Wedding of Sexuality and Spirituality
• Getting It Right

Related Off-site Links:
Five Facts About Evolution and Religion – David Masci (Pew Research Center, October 30, 2014).
Conservatives Will Take Their Ball and Go Home if Francis Changes “Their” Church – Patricia Miller (Religion Dispatches, October 28, 2014).
Homosexual Relationships: Another Look – Bill Hunt (The Progressive Catholic Voice, September 8, 2012).
Creating a Liberating Church – Rosemary Radford Ruether (The Progressive Catholic Voice, July 15, 2010).

The Longing for Love: God's Primal Beatitude

For National Coming Out Day today I share the following excerpt from the book Tender Fires: The Spiritual Promise of Sexuality by Fran Ferder and John Heagle. I believe the message of this particular excerpt is appropriate for today as the coming out journey helps transform us into "sacraments of the sacred, icons of the divine." In so doing, this wondrous journey also positions us, or perhaps better yet, opens us to lovingly, authentically and healthily respond to God's "primal beatitude," which, according to Ferder and Heagle, is the longing for love and the ache for relationships.

I've come to believe that it is only when we "come out," i.e., lovingly accept ourselves in the totality of our being, a totality that includes our sexual orientation, that we can seek, build and sustain that special type of relationship which so many people – gay and straight – have experienced as the fulfillment of God's "most lasting blessing" in their lives.

God has created each of us to be sacraments of the sacred, icons of the divine. And the central mystery of God – the heart of the holy – is communion.

This thirst for love and this longing for connection is woven into the very fabric of our “inmost self.” . . . We are created for communion. We are made to belong. . . . Loneliness is an integral dimension of the human condition, a quiet reminder that we are creatures – limited, mortal, unfinished, and radically interdependent.

It would be sad if we awoke one morning and came to our kitchen only to discover that there was no food. But it would be far more tragic if we awoke one morning and discovered that we were no longer hungry. The longing for love, the ache for relationships is God’s primal beatitude, the first and most lasting blessing of our lives.

– Fran Ferder and John Heagle

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Quote of the Day – October 8, 2012
• Coming Out: An Act of Holiness
• The Raising of Lazarus and the Gay Experience of Coming Out
• Darren Hayes, Coming Out . . . Oh, and Time Travel
• Ian McKellen’s Two Greatest Achievements: Playing Gandalf and Coming Out
• A Girl Named Sara: A “Person of the Resurrection”
• No Matter What
• Quote of the Day – July 16, 2010
• Coming Out in Africa and the Middle East
• A Gay Catholic Man's Testimony of Courage and Grace: "God Made Me and Loves Me Just As I Am"
• The Many Manifestations of God's Loving Embrace
• Getting It Right
• Dew[y]-Kissed
• Photo of the Day – March 7, 2012

And for my own coming out story, see The Wild Reed series, In the Footsteps of Spring:
• Introduction
• Part 1: The Light Within
• Part 2: Shards of Summer
• Part 3: Intimate Soliloquies
• Part 4: Coming Out
• Part 5: No Stranger Am I

Related Off-site Links:
Sorry, NOM, But Same-Sex Marriage Has Actual Benefits – Jim David (HuffPost Gay Voices, October 17, 2012),
Is It a Coincidence that Coming Out Day and Vatican II’s Anniversary Are Today? – Francis DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, October 11, 2012).

A Catholic Bibliography on Gay Issues

.

Though by no means definitive, the following bibliography nevertheless highlights a substantial number of books relevant to Catholics seeking greater understanding of the reality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) lives, relationships, and issues.

I hope to continually add to this bibliography, so be sure to periodically check back by clicking the appropriate link in the sidebar’s “Catholic and Gay” section.

And finally: the links to Amazon.com and other off-site locations serve primarily to provide descriptions and reviews of the books listed in this bibliography. If you wish to purchase any of these titles I encourage you to do so through your nearest independent bookseller.

Peace,

Michael

__________________________

A Catholic Bibliography
on
LGBT Issues

Compiled by Michael J. Bayly
Executive Coordinator, Catholic Pastoral Committee on Sexual Minorities
Last Updated: July 11, 2008

Alison, James. Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay. New York: Crossroad, 2001.

Alison, James. On Being Liked. Herder and Herder, 2004.


Bayly, Michael (Ed.). Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic Schools Perspective. New York: Harrington Park Press, 2007.

Berzon, Betty. Permanent Partners: Building Gay and Lesbian Relationships That Last. Plume, 2004.

Boenke, Mary. Trans Forming Families: Real Stories About Transgendered Loved Ones. Oak Knoll Press, 2003.

Boisvert, Donald L. Sanctity and Male Desire: A Gay Reading of Saints. The Pilgrim Press, 2004.

Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.

Boswell, John. Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe. New York: Villard, 1994.


Brooten, Bernadette J. Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Brown, Mildred L. and Rounsley, Chloe Ann. True Selves: Understanding Transexualism – For Families, Friends, Co-workers and Helping Professionals. Jossey-Bass, 2003.

Buxton, Amity Pierce. The Other Side of the Closet: The Coming-Out Crisis for Straight Spouses and Families. Wiley Books, 1994.

Coleman, Gerald D. Homosexuality: Catholic Teaching and Pastoral Practice. New York: Paulist Press, 1995.

Conover, P. Transgender Good News. Silver Spring, MD, 2002.

Duberman, Martin Bauml, et al. (Eds.). Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past. New York: Penguin, 1989.

Duncan, Geoffrey (Ed.). Courage to Love: Liturgies for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community. The Pilgrim Press, 2002.

Empereur, James L. Spiritual Direction and the Gay Person. New York: Continuum Publishing, 1998.

Evans, Amie M. and Healey, Trebor. Queer and Catholic. Haworth Press, 2008.

Farley, Margaret. Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics. Continuum, 2006.

Ferder, Fran and Heagle, John. Tender Fires: The Spiritual Promise of Sexuality. New York: Crossroad, 2002.


Ferder, Fran and Heagle, John. Your Sexual Self: Pathway to Authentic Intimacy. Notre Dame. Indiana: Ave Maria Press, 1992.

Garden, Nancy. Hear Us Out: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope, 1950 to the Present. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

Garner, Abigail. Families Like Mine: Children of Gay Parents Tell It Like It Is. Harper Paperback, 2005.


Gottlib, Andrew. Sons Talk About Their Gay Fathers. Harrington Park Press, 2003.

Gramick, Jeannine and Nugent, Robert. (Eds.). The Vatican and Homosexuality. New York: Crossroad, 1988.

Gramick, Jeannine (Ed.). Homosexuality in the Priesthood and Religious Life. New York: Crossroad, 1989.

Gramick, Jeannine and Nugent, Robert. (Eds.). Voices of Hope: A Collection of Positive Catholic Writings on Gay and Lesbian Issues. New York: Center for Homophobia Education, 1995.

Hanway, Donald G. A Theology of Gay and Lesbian Inclusion: Love Letters to the Church. Haworth Press, 2006.

Harvey, Andrew. The Essential Gay Mystics. HarperSanFrancisco, 2007.


Helminiak, Daniel. Sex and the Sacred: Gay Identity and Spiritual Growth. New York: Harrington Park Press, 2006. (NOTE: For an interview with Daniel Helminiak, click here).

Helminiak, Daniel. What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality. San Francisco: Alamo Square Press, 1994.

Holtz, Raymond (Ed.). Listen to the Stories: Gay and Lesbian Catholics Talk About Their Lives. New York: Garland Publications, 1991.

Horner, Thomas. Jonathan Loved David: Homosexuality in Biblical Times. Westminster John Knox Press, 1978.

Jennings, Jr., Theodore W. The Man Jesus Loved: Homoerotic Narratives from the New Testament. Cleveland. OH: The Pilgrim Press, 2003.

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Stuart, Elizabeth. Just Good Friends: Towards a Lesbian and Gay Theology of Relationships. New York: Mowbray, 1995.

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Zanotti, Barbara (Ed.). A Faith of One’s Own: Explorations by Catholic Lesbians. Trumansburg, NY: The Crossing Press, 1986.