B NDINGS Vol. 34, No. 1 A Publication of New Ways Ministry Spring 2014

By Nathan Schneider conference to learn how to be Al Jazeera America better at it. There was a standing March 2, 2014 ovation. “I was speechless,” Osborne The following are excerpts. To read the says. entire article, go Al Jazeera America Call this nun Sister Monica, using this link: tinyurl.com/lw2tvlq. though that’s not her real name. Maureen Osborne’s mind started to At the request of her congrega- wander. This was 2001, at a conference of tion, her name can’t be used the organization now called the World here. Nor can the congregation Professional Association for Transgender be named; U.S. women's con- Health, which took place that year in Gal- gregations have been under fresh veston, Texas. Several hundred people scrutiny from the Vatican in filled the room. Another panel, another recent years, in part because of question-and-answer period. Osborne is a the allegedly “radical feminist Philadelphia-based psychologist, and at themes” in their theology. But the time more and more of her therapy more than any theology, it was practice was focusing on patients strug- encountering the lives of gling with gender identity. There was a lot transgender people that turned to take in at these panels, not all of it use- this sister into a radical. . . . ful. And then something caught her atten- Monica has welcomed trans tion. people into her home for re- “I heard, without looking or seeing, a treats, and helped them to pray, woman’s voice,” she remembers. “She and taken them out to dinner Ms. Wright, a former star athlete and Vietnam War fighter pilot, was one of the first people in the was publicly apologizing to all the dressed, for the first time in pub- transgender community to work with Sister Monica. Photo: William Widmer for Al Jazeera America transgender people in the world for the lic, according to the gender they damage done to them by the Catholic know themselves to be. She often stays Catholic position, “Nothing, yet.” She .” Her friends begged to Church.” Though not trans, Osborne had in touch with them for years on end. counted that as a blessing. If the church know what this meant for them. grown up Catholic and felt damaged by “Her basic message,” Osborne says, “is did declare something, given its track The article told of a document that had the church herself. to let them know that they are loved by record with lesbian and gay issues, it been produced in 2000 and sent “sub Osborne’s head turned. At the micro- God and that they are meant to embody was not likely to make transgender lives secretum” — secretly — to church leaders phone where people were asking ques- exactly who they are.”… any easier. around the world about how to handle tions, there was a small woman with a Monica has healed souls and saved Then, one morning in January 2003, cases of sexual transition. The document determined posture, prominent cheek- lives. Yet the leadership of the Catholic Monica turned on her computer to find reportedly counsels that the sex stated on bones and close-cropped dark hair begin- Church she serves acts as if her minis- frenetic emails appearing from trans baptismal records should not be changed ning to gray. Her intonation betrayed a try doesn’t exist. When she began Catholics she knew around the country. for trans people, whether there is surgery drawl. She went on to say that she was a working with the trans community in They linked to an article on the Catholic involved or not. Transsexuals cannot val- nun, and had begun ministering in the the late 1990s, Monica could confident- News Service website: “ idly enter into marriage. On the basis of trans community and had come to the ly say, when asked about the official mental instability, they shouldn’t be con- sidered for religious orders. Their condi- tion is to be treated as a species of psycho- sis, above all; the document did neverthe- less allow that reassignment surgery might be morally licit if needed to treat an espe- cially far-gone patient… A harder blow to the Catholic trans community came a few years later, just before Christmas in 2008. In the midst of By Bob Shine an laws to criminalize LGBT people tion or gender identity. a holiday reflection on the highlights of Bondings 2.0 and their supporters allow vigilantes to Here are some sample tweets that his year and the nature of the Holy Spirit, NewWaysMinistryBlog.wordpress.com rape, beat and kill people who are sus- can be used: Pope Benedict denounced what he called January 23, 2014 First Russia, then Uganda, last week pected of being LGBT with impunity. the “manipulation” of human sexuality. A world of humanity is mobilizing This must stop!” Nigeria, now ask @pontifex to say “No He likened those who contradict a strict around the #PopeSpeakOut Twitter cam- It will be incumbent on all of us, More Triangle Nations!”http:// gender binary to those who burn down paign to persuade to speak Catholics and non-Catholics alike, to ow.ly/sSuiY #PopeSpeakOut rain forests. Then in 2012, again at Christ- out against the growing tide of anti-LGBT help spread the word about the cam- Ask @pontifex to call on Christians to mas, Benedict took up the subject once laws around the globe. The campaign is paign so that the pontiff hears from peo- love LGBTQ individuals, not legislate more. “People dispute the idea that they launching today! Bondings 2.0 encour- ple from all over. We are heartened by their extinction. #nomoretrianglenations have a nature, given by their bodily identi- ages all of its readers who use Twitter to the fact that the papal nuncio in Ugan- .@Pontifex Urge heads of state to re- ty,” he said. Media headlines announced participate. da was pre-disposed to reject that na- spect human dignity. NO MORE TRI- another attack on the trans community — The campaign organizers are New tion’s anti-gay bill and that Cardinal ANGLE NATIONS! #PopeSpeakOut even if it’s trans people who struggle Ways Ministry, The Fellowship Global, , the archbishop of In the wake of anti-gay legislative more than anyone to live according to and a growing number of co-sponsors. It Mumbai who is one of the pope’s clos- measures made in #Nigeria & #Uganda, what they take as their given nature. offers a positive action that people can est advisors, has spoken out strongly we urge @pontifex to speak out against Again Benedict compared his perception take to respond to the dangerous new against India’s anti-LGBT ac- such unchristian prejudice of the “new philosophy of sexuality” with wave of anti-LGBT laws and policies in tion. These signs indicate that there is a environmental destruction. As Catholics, we are saddened by our At the time, Mateo Williamson had countries such as Nigeria, Russia, Ugan- good chance the pope will, with the fellow Christians who attack the global da, India, and Jamaica. right encouragement, speak out, too. just arrived in Florida to undergo gender- #LGBT community. We will speak out, confirming surgery. He is a college stu- “By sending tweets to the pope, we The campaign has established a join us and share. want to move him to speak out against website, NoMoreTriangleNations.com, dent (double-majoring in Spanish interpre- these laws, many of which have been sup- as a resource and headquarters for the .@Pontifex As a voice for the voice- tation and microbiology) who transitioned ported by Catholic leaders and people in campaign. “Triangle Nations” is a ref- less please publicly condemn anti-gay two years ago, and he met Monica soon these nations,” said Francis DeBernardo, erence to the pink triangle assigned to laws! #PopeSpeakOut after that. Williamson grew up in a strenu- Executive Director of New Ways Minis- gay men in Nazi concentration camps .@Pontifex Please condemn Uganda’s ously Catholic family, an altar server try. “We were amazed and gratified when during the Holocaust. anti-gay bill as you defend human rights since he was 8. He loves his faith and Pope Francis said ‘Who am I to judge.’ New Ways Ministry is a 37-year old for all! #PopeSpeakOut wants to keep loving it, though his parents Now we need a powerful, faith-based national Catholic ministry of justice and .@Pontifex Please urge Nigeria to stop and priests haven’t always made that easy. statement from Pope Francis to support reconciliation for LGBT people and the arresting gay and trans people! Please They taught him to feel that wanting to the freedom and lives of our LGBT sisters wider church community and civil soci- save lives! #PopeSpeakOut pick up a football was not just unladylike, and brothers.” ety. .@Pontifex Stop the unjust legal dis- but a grave sin. The news of Benedict’s Pastor Joseph Tolton, Executive Direc- The Fellowship Global is a partner- crimination of gay/lesbian/trans people. speech brought childhood horrors flooding tor of The Fellowship Global said, ship with circles of Christian clergy and Speak out against anti-gay laws around back. . . “People of faith and hope from all tradi- LGBTI people in the African Diaspora the world #PopeSpeakOut James Whitehead is a theologian who tions will tweet the Pope to urge him to to express a faith perspective supporing .@Pontifex Call Christians around the teaches at Loyola University in Chicago. make a pronouncement to the world to the social, legal, and moral inclusion of world to love gay people not legislate In recent years he and his wife, Evelyn, a ‘Do no harm!’ The rising tide of draconi- all people regardless of sexual orienta- their extinction #PopeSpeakOut  (Continued on page 6) Page 2 BONDINGS Vol. 34, No. 1 B NDINGS Signs of openness on LGBT and marriage Spring 2014 Vol. 34, No. 1 issues from two European church leaders By Francis DeBernardo the church and church teachings in creating what it said Bondings 2.0 were ‘some of the difficult realities for lesbian and gay Francis DeBernardo, Editor NewWaysMinistryBlog.wordpress.com people in Ireland today.’ February 11, 2014 “However, he welcomed Dr Martin’s acknowledge- Board of Directors Two European prelates have made statements recently ment of the impact that a culture, which still has homo- Mary Byers which point, once again, toward a more open discussion of phobia as part of it, has on those who are lesbian, gay, Jeannine Gramick, SL LGBT and marriage issues, topics which will be discussed bisexual and transgender.” Ryan Sattler at October’s Synod on Marriage and the Family. Meanwhile, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna In Ireland, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin made some surprising statements about the hierarchy’s Board of Advisors acknowledged that some people in the views on marriage, at the time of the Cornelius Hubbuch, CFX church have used doctrine “in a homo- Austrian bishops’ ad limina with Anna Koop, SL phobic way.” The Irish Times report- Pope Francis. The National Catholic Louise Lears, SC ed that the archbishop made these com- Reporter stated: Anthony LoGalbo, OFM ments in a discussion about the upcom- “In several interviews shortly Claire Pluecker ing national referendum in Ireland before leaving Vienna, Schönborn advocated a more rational, down-to- about the legalization of same-gender marriage: earth approach toward family rela- Staff tionships. ‘For the most part, the Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director “Discussions have to be carried out in a ‘mature’ way so that people can church approaches the [family] issue Matthew Myers, Associate Director unhistorically,’ he said. ‘People have Robert Shine, Social Media Coordinator freely express their views, while at the same time being respectful and not always lived together in various causing offence, he said. He said that in ways. And today, we in the church Co-Founders general he believed it was the person tacitly live with the fact that the ma- Sr. Jeannine Gramick, SL who was offended who defined what jority of our young people, including Rev. Robert Nugent, SDS being offended is. those with close ties to the Catholic “‘Anyone who grew up in Ireland church, quite naturally live together. Bondings is a seasonal publication designed would have told jokes that were pointed The simple fact is that the environ- to keep our subscribers informed of issues at the gay community; at Travellers ment has changed.’ . . . . that pertain to lesbian and gay people [gypsies]; it is part of the culture we “Schönborn said he regretted that and the . grew up in, but we have to grow out of the Austrian bishops haven’t dared to it,’ he said. He said church teaching was speak out openly on necessary church reforms in the past. They Founded in 1977, New Ways Ministry that marriage was between a man and a woman, exclusively, but that this ap- Archbishop Diarmuid Martin haven’t had the courage to address is an educational and bridge-building the need for greater decentralization ministry of reconciliation between the Cath- proach did not exclude gay people from celebrating their union by a different means.” and to strengthen local churches’ responsibilities, he said. olic gay and lesbian community ‘We were far too hesitant. I beat my own breast here. We and the institutional structures The Independent quotes Martin as saying further: “‘God never created anybody that he doesn’t love.’… certainly lacked the courage to speak out openly.’” in the Roman Catholic Church. “Speaking to the Irish Independent, the senior cleric Schönborn had high praise for the work and message said this meant that ‘anybody who doesn’t show love to- of Pope Francis, and said he sees the promise of change New Ways Ministry seeks to eradicate wards gay and lesbian people is insulting God. They are occurring in the church: prevalent myths and stereotypes not just homophobic if they do that – they are actually “Schönborn said he was convinced that far-reaching about homosexuality and supports civil Godophobic because God loves every one of those peo- church reform was on the way, ‘but it will not be rights for lesbian and gay persons in society. ple’… achieved through big words and programs but through “He added: ‘We all belong to one another and there is people like Pope Francis.’ One could already see that the no way we can build up a society in which people are ex- pope has become a role model, Schönborn said. ‘The New Ways Ministry cluded or insulted. We have to learn a new way in Ireland atmosphere is changing and his behavior is making itself to live with our differences and for all of us to live with felt,’ he said. What impressed him most about the pope 4012 29th Street was his charisma. ‘You can feel his inner devotion to Mount Rainier, Maryland 20712 respect for one another.’ “ According to RTE, a leader of Ireland’s Gay and Les- God from which his compassion, his warmth and his in- (301) 277-5674 fectious sense of humor emanates,’ the cardinal said.” [email protected] bian Equality Network (GLEN) was disappointed that the archbishop did not address pressing issues facing the Though U.S. bishops have not yet embraced the new NewWaysMinistry.org era of Pope Francis, it seems that some of our European NewWaysMinistryBlog.wordpress.com LGBT community there, but affirmed his statements about the damage that cultural attitudes can cause: church leaders are, in fact, taking steps toward a new era “GLEN’s Brian Sheehan described it [the archbishop's of less judgement and more discussion and openness of comment] as ‘a missed opportunity’ to tackle the role of the reality of people’s relational lives. 

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