‘Coming Out Day’ Still Celebrated at Catholic Colleges
By CNS Staff
A number of Catholic colleges and universities across the country are sponsoring or are allowing events on campus in the next week to mark “National Coming Out Day,” a day to celebrate “coming out as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) or as an ally.” According to the LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign, which actively works against the Catholic Church on issues of human sexuality, October 11 marks the 28th anniversary of the celebration.
“Coming out” refers to the phrase “coming out of the closet,” used to express when one publicly declares their attraction 
to members of the same sex. These sexual attractions are referred to in our current culture in terms of “identities” that define an individual. “Coming Out Day” celebrations serve to lead persons to embrace and be proud of those “identities,” which are rooted in sexual attractions and lifestyles considered either disordered or immoral by the Church.
Same-sex attraction is not a sin, but is referred to as “disordered” and a “trial” for those experiencing those attractions in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Church does teach that same-sex sexual activity is a mortal sin, as is all sexual activity outside the confines of marriage, as understood by the Church.
Despite the mandate of Catholic institutions of higher education to teach and lead students to the truth in Christ, many Catholic colleges continue to support “Coming Out Day” celebrations while completely avoiding events to help students understand Church teaching on sexuality, chastity and gender.
“Events like ‘Coming Out Day’ run the risk of equating a person’s identity with his or her sexual attractions, which, although they form a significant part of a person’s experience, are only one factor in the whole complex reality of what it means to be a human being,” said Father Philip Bochanski, newly appointed executive director of Courage International, in an interview with The Cardinal Newman Society last year. “Promoting events that reduce a person’s identity to his or her sexual attractions betrays our Catholic faith in the dignity of the human person, and does a disservice to those it claims to defend.”
‘Coming Out’ at Georgetown
Georgetown University, America’s oldest Catholic college, is sponsoring a “Coming Out Day” celebration along with events during the entire month of October leading students to celebrate and embrace LGBTQ “identities.” Last year the Newman Society reported on the expansion of the university’s “OUTober” events to focus more on “transgender” students who wish to be recognized as a gender that differs from their biological sex. This year the focus is on “honoring our histories” according to the university’s LGBTQ Resource Center website.
“Coming Out Day” in Red Square, Georgetown’s “free speech” zone, kicks off the OUTober events on October 7. “Come join us on our annual Coming Out Day, featuring a door through which students ‘come out’ as proud LGBTQ Hoyas and Allies,” the event description reads. “Be sure to pick up and wear your ‘I AM’ t-shirt throughout the day to promote visibility and awareness.”
Georgetown’s “I AM” campaign encourages students and faculty to tell their personal stories of embracing their same-sex attraction and gender identity confusion. Georgetown’s LGBTQ Resource Center produced a series of videos with students, faculty and staff giving their testimonies.
The listed partners for the OUTober events include Georgetown’s Campus Ministry and Department of Theology. None of the event descriptions include mention of Catholic teaching on human sexuality and chastity.
In their 2006 guidelines on ministering to those with same-sex attraction, the U.S. bishops stated: “Love and truth go together. … The Church cannot support organizations or individuals whose work contradicts, is ambiguous about, or neglects her teaching on sexuality.” The document reaffirmed a 1986 letter to bishops issued by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that stated: “[W]e wish to make it clear that departure from the Church’s teaching, or silence about it, in an effort to provide pastoral care is neither caring nor pastoral.”
‘Coming Out’ at Other Catholic Colleges
The student group PRIDE at the University of San Diego (USD) is scheduled to hold a “National Coming Out Day” celebration which aims to “encourage the USD community to ‘come out’ as LGBTQ and Ally and embrace our many identities.” Peter Marlow, associate vice president of university communications at USD, told the Newman Society that the event is not sponsored by the university and the university is committed to embodying the Church’s teachings on marriage and human sexuality. But the event is being promoted using university resources on the USD website.
Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis., is celebrating “Coming Out Day” on October 11. The university’s LGBTQ+ Resource Center and the Center for Gender and Sexualities Studies developed a series of events to promote October as “LGBTQ+ History Month.”
The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., is holding a “Coming Out Coffee House” on October 20, described as “An open mic space for LGBTQIA individuals to tell their coming out stories.”
Sponsored by the Gender and Sexuality Center, “National Coming Out Day” will be celebrated at the University of San Francisco with “a quick interactive game” and an “interactive collaborative art piece.” “There are so many words to describe the different identities around gender and sexuality within ourselves, but are they enough? Do we even know all what all these words mean?” the event description reads.
The student club PRIDE at Fordham University’s Rose Hill campus is commemorating “LGBT History Month” with a “Coming Out Week.” A representative of the university’s Office of Multicultural Affairs told the Newman Society that events during the week will include an opportunity to speak at a coffee shop, a door through which people can “come out” as LGBT or as allies, and a trivia night.
Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif., which embraces the label of “one of the most LGBT friendly Catholic campuses in the country,” held a “Coming Out Week LGBTQIA Bingo” on October 3.
Fr. Bochanski told the Newman Society last year that silence from Catholic colleges on the issues of chastity and sexual morality not only confuses students “but makes it more difficult for them to hear and live by the truth of the Gospel, which is that chastity sets a person free to love authentically.”
“Catholic institutions should defend the rights and dignity of those who experience same-sex attractions by promoting the whole teaching of the Church: that these brothers and sisters of ours ought to be welcomed with respect and compassion, and ought to receive every support we can give them to live virtuous, chaste lives,” he said.
Complete Article HERE!
Kicking the habit: two former nuns married in civil ceremony in Italy
Federica and Isabel fell in love while working at rehab center for drug addicts and renounced being nuns but say they have not lost their faith
Federica and Isabel’s love story was not that unusual, apart from one detail.
The affair, which culminated in a civil union this week in the Italian town of Pinerolo, began “slowly” according to their friend, Franco Barbero. The two had a lot in common, having both decided to devote their lives to charitable work.
They fell in love working at a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts, but there was just one hitch.
Both were already married to the Catholic church.
Federica and Isabel were Franciscan nuns when they met and fell in love, and have both since renounced their vocation and spoken out against the church’s position against homosexuality.
“God wants people happy, to live the love in the light of the sun,” Isabel recently told La Stampa, the Italian daily newspaper. The two brides said that they have not lost their faith and would not otherwise have wanted to leave the church.
“We call upon our church to welcome all people who love each other,” added Federica, her new bride.
The courtship and civil union comes about one year after a Vatican official, Krzysztof Charamsa, publicly abandoned the church after announcing that he was gay and in love. Charamsa was sacked and defrocked after admitting he was in love with another man.
The two women were joined in a civil union in a ceremony behind closed doors in Pinerolo’s city hall, about 24 hours before they had planned. The ceremony was supposed to take place on Thursday, but the time was changed after the media were alerted to the story and the couple wanted to avoid a media frenzy.
Luca Salvai, the Five Star Movement mayor who performed the ceremony, told La Stampa: “We have guaranteed the right to privacy for this couple, who asked for discretion.”
He added that the couple were expected to remain in Pinerolo, which is near the city of Turin.
“Yesterday morning they arrived by themselves, scared by all the clamor, and after the ceremony they left by themselves in silence, one next to the other,” Salvai said.
It was the second same sex civil union ceremony performed in the town of Pinerolo since Italy passed legislation to legalise same-sex unions earlier this year. The couple are also due to participate in a religious service by their friend, Barbero, a former priest who was suspended because of his support of gay marriage.
“I can assure you that not all [of the other nuns] were against this. They have been criticised, but also understood by some sisters. Just as there are many good priests who do not condemn these kind of choices. I must add, for the record, that it is not the first time that I happen to marry two sisters,” he said.
Complete Article HERE!
Theologian shares thoughts on sexual morality
By WBTV Web Staff
From Catawba College: “As churches we’ve worked ourselves into a position where we just don’t have much to say about sex,” Dr. Mark Achtemeier shared as he addressed a group of community members, faculty, staff and students at Catawba College on September 20.
In remarks titled, “When ‘Thou Shalt Not’ Is Not Working,” this Presbyterian minister, theologian, and writer explained how he sought to find a way to address sexuality positively from a Christian perspective. “The church becomes a nagging maiden aunt, shaking her finger,” he quipped, suggesting “a more biblical way for how we find guidance for sexual morality.”
“We are the kingdom of thou shalt not,” he said. “Oftentimes, we get introduced to a single proposition – that you should not have sex before marriage…which is good and godly, but there are a lot of situations where it’s just not possible.
“In my book [“The Bible’s Yes to Same-Sex Marriage: An Evangelical’s Change of Heart”], I have a name for this – it’s ‘minefield ethics’ – teaching that the one true path is being a virgin on your wedding night. This approach to sexual morality, I submit to you, is not terribly biblical.”
Noting that the Bible says “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Achtemeier explained that if in fact there was only one right path for sexual morality, “Jesus would have come as a life coach instead of a savior.”
The notion that if one steps off that one right path that “God hates you and you will go to hell,” he said “that’s not biblical either.”
One could look at the commandments in the Bible, he said, noting that the Bronze Age biblical text “is littered with commandments” such as “Don’t eat shellfish,” which require “an awful lot of sorting and sifting.” Or in the Bible, one could look for moral examples, which is only a bit more promising, because there are also immoral examples to be found.
Or, he shared, there is even a third way of finding guidance from the Bible – to look at the purposes of God and his stand behind love, marriage and sexuality. “What are the reasons that are behind these?” He relies on Calvin’s idea that “we can’t understand biblical law unless we understand the purpose of the lawgivers behind them.”
“God is concerned about making us more like Jesus – the law of the gift,” he said. “Human beings are created by God for self-giving love. You must learn to give yourself away to make yourself more like Jesus.”
“God sets up marriage as one very important tool to give ourselves completely to another person. This includes the gift of his body. With that insight in hand, a lot of biblical and moral teaching starts to make more sense.”
Polygamy is viewed as bad, because it is a divided gift since the body is given to more than one person. Sex outside of marriage becomes a concern, because it involves a complete giving of the body without a complete giving of the soul/self/life/future.
“Bodies and spirits are connected to one another; and if you treat your body as a cheap commodity, over time, you start to feel cheap as a person. As Christians, we have access to this teaching to grow as a self-giving person. We, as Christians, know that your sexuality could be a major part of this self-giving project.”
There are three things one could do to find guidance that Achtemeier translated to three questions one should ask themselves regardless of their sexuality or sexual morality:
“Because we are saved by grace, we can be honest with ourselves. How is it with me and God? Where am I in relation to God’s will?” “What’s below me on the slope? What do I need to look out for down there?” “What’s the next right thing I can do to bring myself closer to the image of Jesus?”
He concluded that when we can view sexuality positively in light of God’s purpose for us, we can face our sexuality and its place in our life– and we can take the next steps to becoming more fully a being focused on self-giving love.
Complete Article HERE!
Gay Marriage Sparks Catholic Church to Fire Music Director
By Kate Nagle
The former Music Director at the Church of St. Mary in Providence is speaking out, after being fired on Monday because he said “of the person I love” — his male partner, whom he married in 2015.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Tuesday, Michael Templeton, who resides in Warren, spoke to a conversation with church clergy that he said was “bizarre, unprofessional, and inappropriate,” which led to his firing as Music Director at the Catholic church, where he served for more than five years.
See Facebook Post BELOW
“What I can tell you about the conversation, is that from what I’ve read, is it’s consistent with the other situations I’m aware of around the country — that they say because of the public nature of your ministry, and the inconsistency of your life choices, that we are requiring your resignation,” Templeton told GoLocalProv.com on Tuesday.
“My heart breaks because this brings to light what ‘safe’ means to people. I feel this action represented more than me in my role. It represents people who have been marginalized and thought of as ‘less than’ for a whole host of reasons,” said Templeton. “I came to St. Mary’s for what it is and who they welcome, whether they come from reformed lives of addiction, or come from divorce and are remarried, whatever the reason. I want to be clear — I did not resign, I was relieved of my duties.”
The church did not respond to request for comment on Tuesday.
Rhode Island in Focus
Templeton spoke to his path to Rhode Island, and the role that Catholicism — and music, and education — has had had in his life.
“I went to St. Bonaventure for college. The Franciscan Friars there encouraged me to take a position at St. Francis [in downtown Providence],” said Templeton. “I was the Director of Adult Education and Music, which really brought me to this area.”
Templeton spoke to his degree in elementary education, which brought him briefly back to his home state of New York for a job in the public education system there, before he decided to return to Rhode Island.
“I came back to Rhode Island for the slower pace of life,” said Templeton. “I’ve been [at St. Mary’s] since I came back five years or so ago. At that time, their music director had quit unexpectedly and the pastor at the time invited me to come on board, so I wanted to do right by the community. A lot folks were there from the St. Francis days.”
Templeton said he was aware that his marriage to his partner in 2015 could put his position in jeopardy, but that he didn’t see it coming.
“What I can say is that I am aware of Catholic educators and administrators around the country facing this — I’ve seen this happen to some colleagues in the music ministry, and they’re all heartbreaking stories,” said Templeton. “These are people giving their best, they’re faith-filled Catholics. It chips away a little each time.”
Templeton said that his had not hidden his life, or his partner, while at the church.
“I have worked hard to live a life of integrity, which means never hiding,” said Templeton. “So it’s 2016. We all have to be concerned about our well-being. Yes, it’s an integral part of me, but only part of me — I’ve been fortunate to do things that I love with the talents and gifts I have.”
Pope Francis Pronouncement
When asked what he would say to Catholics who say that homosexuality — and gay marriage — are against the tenets of the church, Templeton offered the following.
“What I can I say? People need to follow their heart. I feel strongly I give the best I can and what that means is bringing people closer to God through music,” said Templeton. “I pray for those people to follow their heart and conscience. The God I believe in is a merciful God. The Pope has called us to a year of mercy and I invite people to heed that call.”
In 2013, Pope Francis had publicly said, “Who am I to judge?” when asked about the possibility of gay clergy in the Catholic church.
“What I would say about that quote, and I don’t know its context, is regardless of what issue we talk about, it is central to the Pope’s message,” said Templeton. “There’s only one person that we’ll need to answer to at the end of it all.”
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support,” said Templeton, following his dismissal. “Friends from high school, college, have all left amazing messages. I’m not a media person, I’m not seeking attention. I just want to open the conversation again. I hope people keep their faith, hold their heart, and keep the conversation going on this.”
Complete Article HERE!