Confronting Homophobia and Transphobia

Before I entered the Community, Loretto was already engaged in the hard work of confronting homophobia and transphobia that threatens the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. For example, at a Colorado assembly in the 1980s, the Loretto Women’s Network presented its Mary Rhodes award to Mary Hunt and Diann Neu, a lesbian couple. And at the 1989 Assembly, I received the Mary Rhodes award for my LGBTQ advocacy through New Ways Ministry. And in 1992, the Loretto Assembly in El Paso publicly disagreed with the Vatican statement which limited the civil rights of LGBTQ people.

Because of my New Ways Ministry work, Loretto’s advocacy for LGBTQ people expanded when I became a Community member in 2000. Like many social justice organizations, New Ways Ministry was founded in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. It is a ministry of justice and reconciliation for LGBTQ Catholics and the wider Church community and was inspired by our Church’s social teaching and the scriptures on which they are based.

New Ways Ministry takes its name from the 1976 pastoral letter, “Sexuality: God’s Gift,” written by Bishop Francis Mugavero of the Brooklyn Diocese. The bishop addresses lesbian and gay persons, saying, “ … we pledge our willingness … to try to find new ways to communicate the truth of Christ because we believe it will make you free.”

Much of New Ways Ministry’s advocacy for structural change in the Church and society is very public. For example, we publish analyses of Church documents on sexual ethics; we organize national signature campaigns in support of civil rights, marriage equality and lifting the ban on LGBTQ people in the military; we publicly support LGBTQ+ employees of Catholic institutions who were fired for their identities and relationships; we keep in close contact with national media outlets to comment on Church statements and actions affecting LGBTQ people.

In the pastoral arena, there are retreats for gay priests, lesbian nuns and parents with LGBTQ children. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, New Ways Ministry sponsored pilgrimages to the Holy Land, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, El Salvador and multiple holy sites in European countries.

New Ways Ministry supports a host of educational programs. For example, seminars have been conducted in almost three-fourths of U.S. dioceses; many have been held at retreat centers and motherhouses of congregations of women religious. A daily blog, together with other social media, provides news and commentary on Catholic LGBTQ issues, as well as spiritual reflections.

The staff write, publish and distribute books, articles and other helpful resources. For the last two years, New Ways Ministry has brought together about a dozen bishops for a two-day meeting with theologians, LGBTQ persons, medical doctors, psychologists, pastoral ministers, gay priests and lesbian nuns.

From its very beginnings, New Ways Ministry was criticized by some clerical segments within the Church, even though both I and Fr. Robert Nugent, the other cofounder, were assigned to this ministry
by our religious congregations. At the same time, many religious communities of women and men, parishes, universities, theologians and some U.S. bishops supported New Ways Ministry. For many decades, congregations of women religious, including Loretto, of course, were the main financial support of the Ministry.

Much of the criticism changed, at least at the Vatican level, after Pope Francis was elected. I became his pen pal for his last five years and kept him informed about the Ministry’s projects, which he heartily blessed. All the staff were privileged to meet him at Casa Santa Marta at the Vatican during the synods of 2023 and 2024.

I feel proud that New Ways Ministry has been one part of the Loretto umbrella “to break down barriers between people and to build up human communion” among all peoples (IATW, 23), including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people!