Pope Francis waves to faithful as he arrives in the Paul VI hall for his the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022.
By Nicole Winfield
Pope Francis has met with a fourth group of transgender people who found shelter at a Rome church, the Vatican newspaper reported Thursday.
L’Osservatore Romano said the encounter took place Wednesday on the sidelines of Francis’ weekly general audience. The newspaper quoted Sister Genevieve Jeanningros and the Rev. Andrea Conocchia as saying the pope’s welcome brought their guests hope.
The Blessed Immaculate Virgin community in the Torvaianica neighborhood on Rome’s outskirts opened its doors to transgender people during the coronavirus pandemic.
Francis previously met with some of them on April 27, June 22 and Aug. 3, the newspaper said.
“No one should encounter injustice or be thrown away, everyone has dignity of being a child of God,” the paper quoted Sister Jeanningros as saying.
Francis has earned praise from some members of the LBGTQ community for his outreach. When asked in 2013 about a purportedly gay priest, he replied, “Who am I to judge?” He has met individually and in groups with transgender people over the course of his pontificate.
But he has strongly opposed “gender theory” and has not changed church teaching that holds that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.” In 2021, he allowed publication of a Vatican document asserting that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions since “God cannot bless sin.”
Recently, Francis wrote a letter praising the initiative of a Jesuit-run ministry for LGBTQ Catholics, called Outreach. The online resource is run by the Rev. James Martin, author of “Building a Bridge,” a book about the need for the church to better welcome and minister to LGBTQ Catholics.
Francis praised a recent Outreach event at New York’s Jesuit Fordham University, and encouraged organizers “to keep working in the culture of encounter, which shortens the distances and enriches us with differences, in the same manner of Jesus, who made himself close to everyone.”
The first Jesuit pope of the Roman Catholic Church has spoken of his own ministry to gay and transgender people, insisting they are children of God, loved by God and deserving of accompaniment by the church.
On Tuesday, the New York Times published an opinion piece that declared “New York’s hottest club is the Catholic Church.”
The piece was written by an editor at the stuffy conservative Christian journal First Things, which, under the recent leadership of the Catholic theologian R.R. Reno, has swung toward the reactionary right. The author of the piece, Julia Yost, argued that young, cool intellectuals—bored by the corny politics of their liberal peers—have found transgressive delight in embracing the rituals of traditional Catholicism, along with at least some of its moral stances on sex and gender.
These young edgy reactionaries, she wrote, are associated with the buzzy but mostly nominal downtown Manhattan “Dimes Square” scene. (The name refers to a restaurant in the area.) They have embraced “monarchist and anti-feminist sentiments,” she wrote, and they debate esoteric Catholic topics.
“This is not your grandmother’s church—and whether the new faithful are performing an act of theater or not, they have the chance to revitalize the church for young, educated Americans,” Yost declared.
The writer also didn’t mention that “trad Cath” social media, with all its semi-ironic memes about saints and sacraments, attracts those who like to post winkingly about the Crusades. Or that there is a growing group of traditionalist Catholics, yearning for an old version of the religion before the church took out violently anti-Semitic language from its liturgy, who sometimes tread dangerously close to white supremacy. (Traditionalist Catholics are often defined by their rejection of the teachings of the 1965 Second Vatican Council.)
Just as white supremacists reach back to a fictional version of the Middle Ages or the Viking Age to create their own mythos, the trads look back to an imagined pre-modern church.
Yost is not entirely wrong about Catholicism’s online cultural moment and the “transgressive” appeal of it for the young participants. It’s undeniable that many young trads pride themselves on their intellectual independence from their peers, and on the countercultural nature of the worldview they’ve embraced.
Yost may also be right that Gen Z’s intellectual formation in the waters of social media could naturally make the aesthetics of Catholicism more tempting. Catholicism, in an artistic sense, is nothing if not dramatic. It’s gold and lace. It’s incense and violence. It’s martyrs and marble and blood. (Or at least, the theatrical version of it is. Pope Francis has urged the church to drop its obsession with “grandma’s lace.”)
But Yost tries to push the argument further than it really goes. Young trads may think they are being transgressive, but that does not mean that they genuinely are. There are some 50 million Catholics in the U.S., and there’s no denying the influence the religion has had in shaping the country: Just look at its role in the reasoning of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. The Met’s “Heavenly Bodies” theme, Yost argued, was chosen because “Catholicism pairs well with transgression.” Are we sure it’s not because of the centuries of religious artwork? The opulence of the church’s vast historical wealth? Or of the slight thrill of sacrilege, rather than the appeal of traditionalism?
This line of the piece was intriguing to me: “The scenesters of downtown Manhattan may simply find it less dreary to shame one another for fornication than for bearing privilege.”
But Yost tips her hand when she implies that these young people have been, essentially, forced into this position by the failures of secular society. “Disaffection with the progressive moral majority—combined with Catholicism’s historic ability to accommodate cultural subversion—has produced an in-your-face style of traditionalism,” she writes. “By disparaging traditional gender roles and defining human flourishing in meritocratic terms, progressive moralism militates against young people’s attainment of basic goods: marriage and procreation.”
It’s this—more than describing the fashion of any sort of scene, real or imagined—that matters here. The traditionalists are not all harmlessly “larping.” Many are campaigning, sometimes quite vehemently, for the stripping of rights from women and queer people
Yost knows this. Her arguments about the church’s “chance to revitalize the church for young, educated Americans” makes assumptions based on the specific philosophy First Things represents. To conservative Catholics, there is a clear strategy to survive this crisis point in the church’s history: embrace tradition, embrace aesthetics, embrace black-and-white morality and discipline to give clarity in a tumultuous and confusing time. Pope Francis’ strategy is the opposite: reach out to the young and disaffected and bend, as much as possible, to the times; embrace the vast diversity of the faith and hope young people are drawn in by compassion
The church in the U.S. is, in many ways, tornbetween these two philosophies. In New York, the several members of the trad Cath Dimes Square crowd may be the flashiest and most exciting public display of the faith to trend story aficionados—as a journalist, I certainly can’t scoff at a fun trend piece—but there are so many other forms of Catholicism operating in the city, with far greater numbers: Immigrant groups, socialist worker groups, old-fashioned Italian and Irish cradle Catholics. It’s a mistake to overstate the trads’ influence, or even to imply they’re the most interesting story in the Catholic Church right now—especially in New York.
It would also be a mistake, however, to ignore traditional Catholics’ political power. There are degrees to trads. Some are apolitical converts or reverts, who love the “larp” of it, as Yost noted. Some choose to engage more in the church’s political wars than in partisan politics. (Yost nods to the sedevacantists, who typically think Francis is an anti-pope; they may be oddballs, yes, but they are also loud and active on social media). Some—the “rad trads”—are ready to wage the culture wars in American politics, regardless of whose civil rights are thrown under the bus. And extremism experts have been warning about them for some time.
To be fair, Yost writes with some skepticism of this crowd, especially when it comes to their perceived faith. The story links to pieces on “the housewives of white supremacy” and the “awful advent of reactionary chic.” But still, Yost urges the reader not to reject the Dimes Square trad Caths’ practice as inauthentic because “‘authentic’ internal conversion is not a Catholic demand but a Protestant one.” Instead, she says, “what Catholicism requires is adherence to disciplines and dogmas.”
She’s right that we can’t dictate who is and isn’t a Catholic by examining the authenticity of their faith. But she falls short by claiming it is, instead, a matter of rule-following. Scholars will tell you there are many ways to live out any religion, including Catholicism. Polls show that even when it comes to basic dogmatic elements, such as the literal transformation of the Eucharist, many Catholics simply shrug off the official line. Some Catholics choose to draw inspiration more from biblical teachings on tolerance and compassion. Catholics, like nearly all Christians, have chosen which elements of the faith to live by. Yost and the First Things crowd highlight a militant and rigid version of that choice, declaring it the church’s promising future.
Many of the 70 figures identified by Saúl Castro have not previously been linked to the anti-LGBTIQ practice
By a href=”https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/author/lucy-martirosyan/”>Lucy Martirosyan
A Spanish human rights lawyer has named 70 practitioners and promoters of so-called ‘conversion therapy’ in Spain, among them Catholic bishops and priests.
In Saúl Castro’s new book ‘Ni enfermos ni pecadores’ (meaning ‘neither sick nor sinners’), he reveals the traumatic experiences of therapy survivors and identifies different kinds of therapy providers. Many of the people he identifies have never been publicly linked to conversion therapy before.
These range from self-proclaimed “identity coaches” who provide paid services online to “cure” what they call “homosexual obsessive compulsive disorder” to “ex-gay” leaders from the US who spread misinformation via the internet. Catholic schools and churches also promote conversion therapy to their members.
Conversion therapy, which claims to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, has been condemned by international health and human rights experts and is banned in many countries.
As a cisgender gay man, Castro takes this topic personally. “Conversion therapy is a sort of genocide,” he said. “They are offering mechanisms to make us disappear.”
He is also the founder of the association No Es Terapia (‘not a therapy’), which campaigns against conversion therapy in Spain.
There are bans on conversion therapy in nine of Spain’s 17 regions. Promoting or carrying out conversion therapy has been prohibited in Madrid since 2016, with fines of up to €45,000.
In June, the Spanish government approved a draft of a wide-ranging bill to protect the rights of LGBTIQ people. It is particularly strong on rights for trans people, and seeks to classify conversion therapy as a “very serious administrative offence with penalties between €10,001 and €150,000” throughout Spain. The bill is currently going through parliament.
However, making conversion therapy an administrative offence – meaning it is not punishable with jail time – would not criminalise its practitioners or promoters in the way Castro says is needed.
Bishops promoting conversion therapy
Castro interviewed 15 survivors of conversion therapy during his three years of research for the book. They described some of the so-called ‘treatments’ they had experienced.
These included being instructed to flick a rubber band worn around their wrist whenever they felt attracted to someone of the same sex. In some sessions, they were told to strip and hug other naked same-sex participants, to “de-sexualise” their bodies.
He also discovered cases where, if the therapy ‘isn’t working’, psychiatrists prescribe patients medication for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, because these drugs are known to suppress the libido.
Conversion therapy is a sort of genocide
Through his interviews with therapy survivors, Castro was able to reveal the names of several Spanish bishops who have promoted conversion therapy.
Last year, the Vatican conducted an investigation into Granada-based Verdad y Libertad (Truth and Freedom), an organisation that often recruits Catholic bishops and priests to promote and refer people to conversion therapy. The Vatican urged bishops not to participate in any activities run by the group, which has tried several times to be officially recognised as a faith ministry by the Catholic Church.
However, the church itself has never released the names of faith leaders involved with Verdad y Libertad.
Castro said that some bishops and priests would select their victims in parishes, dioceses and theological schools and “monitor their paths to ‘conversion’”. One such case involved a gay Spanish priest who was ordered to start conversion therapy by his parish.
“The worst part of the ‘therapy’ for him was being forced to record his masturbatory and homoerotic fantasies daily,” Castro said. Three times a day, for a year, the priest participated in group Telegram chats dedicated to conversion therapy, with more than 100 other participants. He had a ‘fake’ funeral and burial to symbolise “becoming a new person”.
“They had forced him to break his relationships with friends [and family] because they were ‘triggering’ his homosexuality,” said Castro. Eventually, he left the Telegram group, but “it took him so much to [do so].”
Castro is using the evidence he found to report both individuals and groups to regional authorities in Spain, and also to human rights offices at the United Nations that specialise in sexual orientation and gender identity.
All the way from the US
Paid-for online counselling sessions – in person or via books and audio – are another common channel for conversion therapy in Spain. While researching his book, Castro signed up for a couple of sessions to understand the practitioners’ motives.
Positive Approaches To Healthy Sexuality website (screenshot 25 July 2022) | PATH
One example is provided by US website Positive Approaches To Healthy Sexuality (PATH). Its $150 “counselor training program”, designed for therapists and ministry leaders who would in turn “assist” LGBTIQ people to change their “same-sex attraction” and enter heterosexual relationships. The training includes more than 18 hours of recordings and a 180-page manual.
It was devised by Richard Cohen, a prominent figure in the ‘ex-gay’ movement in the US, who identifies as a “former homosexual” and is now married to a woman and has three children. In 2002, he was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association for multiple ethical violations.
“In Spain, the main discourse by perpetrators of conversion therapy stems directly from Richard Cohen,” according to Castro. He also says that “teenagers who lack education about the LGBTIQ community” are the “most susceptible” to Cohen’s ideas if they come across his books online.
In 2012, Cohen promoted his latest book, ‘Coming Out Straight: Understanding and Healing Homosexuality’, in Madrid during the sixth conference of the ultra-conservative network World Congress of Families (WCF).
A 2020 investigation by openDemocracy revealed that the WCF is linked to $280m of ‘dark money’ spent overseas by US Christian right groups since 2007. More money was spent in Europe than in any other region.
The late Joseph Nicolosi is another American practitioner of ‘reparative therapy’ – an alternative term for conversion therapy – with significant influence abroad. A Google search in Spain for “cómo dejar de ser gay” (‘how to stop being gay’) yields results for five books by Nicolosi.
‘Conversion therapy has to be criminalised’
For Castro, simply banning conversion therapy in Spain doesn’t go far enough.
“Conversion therapy has to be criminalised,” he said. “Our criminal code has to be amended, not only [to stop] impunity, but so that those who are responsible for promoting the practice and violence are locked up in jail… Fines are not a deterrent, but jail is.”
Spain is the home of CitizenGo, an ultra-Catholic, far-right advocacy group, which has created bailout funds for anti-LGBTIQ groups in the past.
Since the publication of his book in June, six more survivors of conversion therapy have contacted Castro. He encourages people to report cases to his organisation, No Es Terapia.
“I’m not hoping that [criminal proceedings] will happen,” Castro said. “I will make them happen.”
Jul 3, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Parishioners listen to a video taped message from Rev. Rene Costanza at the Newman Center, the parish and student ministry at Ohio State, letting them know that the diocese is being taken from the Paulist fathers during Catholic mass on July 3, 2022.
by Jack D’Aurora
In June 2021, when Catholic Archbishop José H. Gomez stated that President Joe Biden should not receive Communion because he is pro-choice, I wrote in an opinion piece, “Every day, someone in the Catholic Church’s hierarchy wakes up and says, ‘What can we do today to show how out of touch we are with our people and lose more of them?’”
On June 21—without ever talking with the Paulists or members of our community—he gave the four Paulist priests, who served at Newman for 66 years, until June 30 to wind up their administration. He later relented and gave them until July 12, and permitted them to celebrate Mass until July 31. But the Paulists had to vacate their diocese-owned home by Aug. 31.
The Paulists would be allowed to preach and hear confessions, but would require permission before performing weddings and funerals — a one-year arrangement the bishop could terminate at any time.
Jul 3, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Fr. Jimmy Hsu, CSP leads Catholic mass at the Newman Center, the parish and student ministry at Ohio State on July 3, 2022. The diocese is being taken from the Paulist fathers, an order of Catholic priests, who have run it for 65 years.
Remember the famous line from “The Godfather“: I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse?
His own actions reflect anything but an open attitude.
In his interview, the bishop referred to our members — some 800 Ohio State students and 600 residents of greater Columbus — as children who are upset with parental discipline. Which of these members is a child, and how is it the bishop imagines himself to be a parent?
Bishop Fernandes’ actions speak of arrogance, an aptitude for spinning facts, a profound lack of consideration for his people, and a condescending attitude. But you have to give him one thing: He has provided us with a shining example of how not be to be an effective leader.
The new bishop, Earl K. Fernandes, seated, is applauded by Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, left, during his ordination and installation as the 13th bishop of the Diocese of Columbus on May 31, 2022.
Newman Center will now likely be less inclusive. Based on the document given the Paulists, Newman will endeavor to attract conservative groups such as FOCUS and Opus Dei. FOCUS advocates that gay individuals live chaste lives, and Opus Dei states that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”
And the bishop is a proponent of celebrating the Mass in Latin. Nothing like going nearly 60 years back in time to the days of pre-Vatican II.
The diocese communicated to the Dispatch that “Out of respect for the Paulists’ privacy in the final masses with the community on July 30 and 31st, no media will be permitted inside the center or on the property.”
The Paulists would have welcomed the media.
It’s the bishop who didn’t want publicity for a standing room-only Mass, where tears were shed, and Ken Watkins, pastor of the adjacent University Baptist Church, applauded the Paulists, saying, “Newman Center has been the starship of campus ministry.”
I will no longer attend Mass at Newman, and though a cradle Catholic, I may join a different faith tradition.
If only the Catholic hierarchy would jettison its hubris and constricted thinking and focus on the gospel’s simple message of humility and inclusion.
Progressive Anglican bishops breathed a sigh of relief that plans for a vote against homosexuality were derailed at the just-ended international Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops. Meanwhile, separate from the formal conference in Canterbury, England, conservative Anglican bishops launched an initiative that allows bishops to show their support for the anti-homosexuality resolution that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, removed from the Lambeth agenda.
Leaders of the Lambeth conference of bishops representing the 85 million worldwide members of Anglican churches backed away from a planned vote on whether to reaffirm a 1998 resolution rejecting homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and gay clergy.
As the conference ended, the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) announced that among bishops at the conference, 125 bishops from 21 provinces representing 7.9 million Anglicans, had signed up in support of the anti-gay resolution. The conservative bishops said that they would also invite bishops from Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda to support the resolution. Those bishops — representing about 27 million Anglicans — boycotted the Lambeth conference because it did not exclude bishops from Anglican churches that accept same-sex marriage and/or ordain gay bishops:
The Episcopal Church in America;
The Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil;
The Anglican Church of Canada;
The Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia;
The Scottish Episcopal Church; and
The Church in Wales.
The GSFA bishops said that “if there is no authentic repentance by the revisionist provinces, then we will sadly accept a state of ‘impaired communion’’ with them.”
The GSFA position is not as harshly anti-gay as that of many other anti-gay churches, especially in Africa. The 1998 resolution:
recognises that there are among us persons who experience themselves as having a homosexual orientation. Many of these are members of the Church and are seeking the pastoral care, moral direction of the Church, and God’s transforming power for the living of their lives and the ordering of relationships. We commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptised, believing and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ;
While rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture, calls on all our people to minister pastorally and sensitively to all irrespective of sexual orientation and to condemn irrational fear of homosexuals, violence within marriage and any trivialisation and commercialisation of sex.
“170 archbishops and bishops issued a statement affirming the ‘holiness of LGBT+ people’s love’. Many LGBT+ people had been ‘historically wounded by the church and particularly hurt by the events of the past few weeks’.
“Jayne Ozanne, a prominent campaigner for LGBT+ equality within the church, said she was ‘overwhelmed with the level of support and concern … for the global LGBT+ community.’
“Ozanne added: ‘We now need to look at practical ways to help educate people about matters of sexuality and gender identity, and to share the theological basis that has led so many to affirm and celebrate same sex relationships.’ “
