“No Body Now But Yours”

(Outreach. David Van Viedma).

It was a low moment for Maureen Rasmussen. It was August 2018 and Rasmussen, a devout Catholic who prays the rosary daily, had had a jarring conversation with a priest she had sought out on a deeply personal matter. Rasmussen had struggled most of her life with the gender she was assigned at birth. She had undergone two years of therapy to clarify her personal need for transition. In her late 50s, she had begun taking the hormones that would conform her body to her deep conviction that she was a woman. They had worked. She had started to feel better as a person.  Early on, a priest had encouraged her on her path. “You’re comfortable in your own skin, and God doesn’t make mistakes,” he had said. But now, before she went any further: “It was important to revisit the spiritual thing one more time. Just to make sure I got it right. It’d be sort of like the blessing on top of the cake.” Only this time, there was no blessing. Rasmussen told the new priest, at a Maryland priory, that she was preparing to break the news to her wife. This priest said that the plans were an offense to her marriage vows and her faith. He pointed to a crucifix on the wall and said, “You cannot transition. This is your cross to bear,” she remembers. “I walked out of there like someone had deflated me. When things go wrong in your life, really hard stuff, you draw on your faith. But when your faith kicks you to the curb when you’re going through it, where else are you going to go?”

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What a gay Catholic family therapist wants the church to know

(Outreach. Brian T. Gillis).

In many respects, broader acceptance of LGBTQ people in our society has advanced at light speed over the past few years. But when it comes to communities of faith, the path to making LGBTQ people feel welcome remains uncharted territory. 

As a family therapist serving LGBTQ young people in Alabama, I have heard countless stories of both negative and positive responses to the disclosure of queer and trans identities. It strikes me that stories of parental rejection so frequently mention faith: “My parents are religious, so it wasn’t okay when I came out.” What saddens me about this type of story is the automatic assumption that religiosity requires rejection! 

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I’m a Catholic priest. When I came out as gay, my parishioners applauded.

(Outreach).

In June 2005, as I laid on the floor of St. Patrick’s Church during my ordination to the priesthood in Banbridge, a town in Northern Ireland, I knew that deep down, in every fiber of my being, I was called to serve as a priest. In that sacred space, I had been baptized, received my First Communion, served as an altar boy, run the youth group and participated in the funerals for my family members. It was not simply a part of me that was being ordained; it was my whole existence.   Life came full circle when I was privileged to concelebrate my first Mass at Christ the King Parish in the Diocese of Oakland, Calif. At that Mass, I told the congregation I hadjust been invited by the chancery to participate in an “accent-reduction class.” I also told the parishioners that I would not be going to the class and that I was perfectly happy with my Irish accent. When they cheered loudly, I knew I was home.

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