Building a Bridge Team
(between the LGBTQ+ community and the Catholic Church)
(between the LGBTQ+ community and the Catholic Church)
The movement for Jesus was always from the outside in. His message was always one of inclusion, communicated through speaking to people, healing them, and offering them what biblical scholars call “table fellowship,” that is, dining with them, a sign of welcome and acceptance in first-century Palestine. In fact, Jesus was often criticized for this practice. But Jesus’s movement was about inclusion. He was creating a sense of “us.”
~James Martin, SJ in
Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity
Mission Statement: The Building a Bridge Team works to encourage a welcoming, inclusive, and loving environment at Bellarmine Chapel for people who are LGBTQ+, as well as empower those who wish to support these individuals.
Team Meetings are held every other Sunday at 5:30 PM
You can RSVP by emailing our Team Chair, Katherine Inskeep at kinskeep@alumni.nd.edu
or our Director of Social Mission, Tim Severyn, at severynte@xavier.edu
~James Martin, SJ in
Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity
Mission Statement: The Building a Bridge Team works to encourage a welcoming, inclusive, and loving environment at Bellarmine Chapel for people who are LGBTQ+, as well as empower those who wish to support these individuals.
Team Meetings are held every other Sunday at 5:30 PM
You can RSVP by emailing our Team Chair, Katherine Inskeep at kinskeep@alumni.nd.edu
or our Director of Social Mission, Tim Severyn, at severynte@xavier.edu
Resources for Building a Bridge
This list contains a variety of books, articles, church statements, and more that can help us all understand the contours of the relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and the Church, as well as the work that is being done to heal that relationship. We are sharing these resources because we believe they can be useful for dialogue and understanding. These links were compiled by members of our community. Because of the breadth and depth of these resources, some links may contain content that could contradict current Catholic teaching. The parish does not endorse the positions of any of these organizations or resources.
This list contains a variety of books, articles, church statements, and more that can help us all understand the contours of the relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and the Church, as well as the work that is being done to heal that relationship. We are sharing these resources because we believe they can be useful for dialogue and understanding. These links were compiled by members of our community. Because of the breadth and depth of these resources, some links may contain content that could contradict current Catholic teaching. The parish does not endorse the positions of any of these organizations or resources.
Start Here
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Resources for LGBTQ+ Catholics
Resources for Discerning Young People and their Families
- List of LGBTQ-Friendly Parishes and Faith Communities - created by New Ways Ministries, this list includes Bellarmine Chapel as an LGBTQ-friendly parish in the Cincinnati area
- Coming Home to Catholicism and to Self - created by the Human Rights Campaign, this guide is aimed at LGBTQ American Catholics who hope to lead their faith communities toward a more welcoming stance, and those seeking a path back to their beloved tradition
- Vine & Fig - an affirming space for queer Catholics, it includes a private Slack group
- List of LGBTQ-friendly Catholic colleges and universities - includes Xavier University
Resources for Discerning Young People and their Families
- Start by reading Building a Bridge by Fr. James Martin, SJ
- A summary of the major ideas can be found in America: The Jesuit Review from April 2016
- Teen fiction about lesbian, gay, and bisexual identities
- The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
- Openly Straight by Bill Konigsberg
- Simon Vs. the Homo Sapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli
- The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi
- Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley
- Teen fiction about transgender, gender-fluid, and gender-nonconforming identities
- The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
- If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
- What We Left Behind by Robin Talley
- Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
- Books for parents
- Always My Child: A Parent's Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, or Questioning Son or Daughter by Kevin Jennings
- Fortunate Families: Catholic Families With Lesbian Daughters And Gay Sons by Mary Ellen Lopata
- Are There Closets in Heaven?: A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share their Story by Carol and Robert Curoe
- Other helpful items
- This Remarkable Gift: Being Gay and Catholic by Maurice Shinnick
- Queerfully and Wonderfully Made: A Guide for Lgbtq+ Christian Teens by Leigh Finke
- Fortunate Families - a national organization of Catholic parents with LGBTQ+ children supporting others to affirm, celebrate and seek equality for their families
Understanding Church Teaching on LGBTQ+ Identities
Note: Some of these statements can be triggering for some members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.
The Catholic Church and the LGBTQ+ Community in the News
Note: Some of these statements can be triggering for some members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.
- “What is the official church teaching on homosexuality?” by Fr. James Martin, SJ from America: The Jesuit Review (April 6, 2018)
- Next Steps from New Ways Ministry (August 2020)
- Human Rights Campaign - Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Roman Catholic Church
- Catechism of the Catholic Church Sections 2357-2359
- Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers by the USCCB (1997) (Note: Archbishop Dennis Schnurr, while the General Secretary of the USCCB, approved this document)
- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Homosexuality Resource Page
- Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (1986)
- Considerations Regarding Proposals to give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Persons by the Congregation fo the Doctrine of the Faith, under then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (2003)
The Catholic Church and the LGBTQ+ Community in the News
- The Catholic Doctrine Conduct Clause (Morality Clause) for Teacher-Ministers
- Archdiocese of Cincinnati Expands Morals Clause in Teacher Contracts, from WLWT5 (March 7, 2014)
- James Zimmerman, LGBTQ+ Teacher, Terminated at Archbishop Alter High School in Dayton
- Ohio Teacher in Same-Sex Marriage Loses Catholic High School Job by Sarah Salvadore from National Catholic Reporter (May 8, 2020)
- Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr Sends Letter to Alter High School Family from The Catholic Telegraph (May 1, 2020)
- Indianapolis and Brebeuf Jesuit
- Indianapolis Archdiocese cuts ties with Brebeuf Jesuit Over Refusal to Fire Gay Teacher by Arika Herron in the Indianapolis Star (June 2019)
Organizations
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Books
Documentaries
- Nonfiction
- Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay by Fr. James Alison
- The Church and the Homosexual by John J. McNeill - published in 1976, the first comprehensive critique of the Catholic Church’s teaching on LGBTQ+ relationships
- Hidden Voices: Confessions of a Gay, Catholic Priest by Gary Meier
- Unashamed: A Coming Out Guide for LGBTQ Christians by Amber Cantorna
- Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay by James Alison
- Pastoral
- Amoris Laetitia by Pope Francis
- Top 10 Takeaways from Amoris Laetitia by America: The Jesuit Review
- Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Students: A Catholic School Perspective by Michael J. Bayly
- Welcoming and Affirming: A Guide to Supporting and Working with Lgbtq+ Christian Youth by Leigh Finke
- Amoris Laetitia by Pope Francis
- Academic
- Sexual Ethics: A Theological Introduction by Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler
- Sexual Diversity and Catholicism: Toward the Development of Moral Theology by Patricia Beattie Jung
- All Things to All People: The Catholic Church Confronts the AIDS Crisis by Mark R. Kowalewski
- Where is the Place for Devout Gay Families in the Church? by Emma Green from The Atlantic (October 2015)
- Father James Alison, a publicly gay priest, testimony:
- Facing Down the Wolf from Commonweal Magazine (June 2020)
- Fr. James Alison Tells the Story Behind the Phone Call from the Pope from New Ways Ministry (December 2019)
- An Interview with James Alison from Commonweal Magazine. (March 2012)
- AIDS and the Hidden Church by Michael J. O’Laughlin from The Revealer (June 2020)
- What the Church is Doing to Welcome LGBT Catholics by J.D. Long-Garcia from America: The Jesuit Review (June 2020)
- Stonewall’s Jubilee: A Time for Joyous Prayer by Francis DeBernardo from New Ways Ministries (June 2019) 50 years of Stonewall’s influence
- The Case for Why Catholics Should March in LGBT Pride Parades by John Gehring from The Washington Post (June 2019)
- What Does a Church Open to LGBT Catholics Look Like by Fr. James Martin, SJ from America: The Jesuit Review (August 2019)
- LGBTQ Ministry is for the Good of All by Fr. Bryan Massingale from US Catholic (August 2020)
Documentaries
- A Secret Love (2020) on Netflix
- For the Bible Tells Me So (2007)
- For They Know Not What They Do (2019)
- The New Black (2013) - about the black community and LGBTQ marriage equality
- Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church by Michael O’Loughlin of America: The Jesuit Review
- Tabard Inn from Vine & Fig
- Queerology by Matthias Robert
- Jesuitical from America Media - has some episodes focused on LGBTQ+ issues
Bellarmine Chapel
(513) 745 - 3398 |
Mailing Address:
3800 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, OH 45207-2211 |
Physical Address:
3801 St. Francis Xavier Way Cincinnati, OH 45207 |
Parish Center Address:
3832 Ledgewood Dr. Cincinnati, OH 45207 |