For centuries, religion has been used as an excuse to exclude and persecute sexual and gender minorities - just as it has been used at times to persecute religious minorities (Jews, Muslims), and ethnic minorities (inSouth Africa and the American…
Monthly Archives: March 2013
A New Pope, A New Curia - A New Church?
During the conclave and the preceding Congress of Cardinals, as it was becoming clear that there was a widespread desire for extensive reform of the curia, I came across one observation that intrigued me. This noted the tradition that the…
BBC Asks: “Should Christians Change Their Values?” (I Help to Answer)
Up in York this past weekend, as a panelist in the BBC program “The Big Questions”, with the first topic this week “Should Christians Adapt to Modern Values?” (followed by another on immigration). British readers (and some others who can…
Let Us Remember, March 19th: St Joseph
Saint Joseph is frequently presented as a model of fatherhood. For LGBT Catholics and other Christians however, he is also a powerful symbol of just how little the Holy Family resembled the model of “traditional” marriage and family to easily…
Queer Stations of the Cross: Introduction, and Station 1
For Catholics, an important Lenten devotion is to pray the Stations of the Cross. For queer Catholics, this devotion now has added relevance with a series of paintings by the artist Mary Burton, who has completed a series on the…
Let Us Remember, March 18th
Chris Wayne Beers, Mormon Missionary - and Suicide
Let Us Remember, March 17th: St Patrick of Ireland- a Gay Role Model?
So why should we see St Paddy as a gay icon? In a notable book on Irish gay history (“Terrible Queer Creatures“) Brian Lacey presents some evidence that Patrick may have had a long term intimate relationship with a man: “St.…
Heigho, heigho - It’s Off to York I Go..
To participate in a BBC Television debate show “‘The Big Questions”. There’s plenty to write about right now, the events in Rome and also much else - but I’ll have little opportunity to write anything. I’ll be travelling up north,…
Let Us Remember, March 15th: The (Gay) Roman Centurion and his “Boy”
In Catholic tradition, March 15th is the feast day of “Longinus”, the name given to the Roman centurion at the crucifixion who pierced Christ’s side with his spear. Some writers, like Paul Halsall of the LGBT Catholic Handbook, also identify him with…
A Different Kind of Pope
The more I see, the more I like. Before the conclave, it was clear that there was a powerful desire within the Catholic Church for a fresh start, a new beginning. Some of what I am learning, suggests that in…
