Building a Bridge


Book Description

“A treasure...a wise and entertaining book that should appeal to the spiritual pilgrim in all of us, no matter what the faith and no matter whether believer or nonbeliever.” – Chicago Tribune The New York Times bestselling author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything and Jesus: A Pilgrimage turns his attention to the relationship between LGBT Catholics and the Church in this loving, inclusive, and revolutionary book. A powerful call for tolerance, acceptance, and support—and a reminder of Jesus' message for us to love one another. In this moving and inspiring book, Martin offers a powerful, loving, and much-needed voice in a time marked by anger, prejudice, and divisiveness. On the day after the Orlando nightclub shooting, James Martin S.J. posted a video on Facebook in which he called for solidarity with our LGBT brothers and sisters. "The largest mass shooting in US history took place at a gay club and the LGBT community has been profoundly affected," he began. He then implored his fellow Catholics—and people everywhere—to "stand not only with the people of Orlando but also with their LGBT brothers and sisters." Father Martin's post went viral and was viewed more than 1.6 million times. Adapted from an address he gave to New Ways Ministry, a group that ministers to and advocates for LGBT Catholics, Building a Bridge provides a roadmap for repairing and strengthening the bonds that unite all of us as God's children. Martin uses the image of a two-way bridge to enable LGBT Catholics and the Church to come together in a call to end the "us" versus "them" mentality. Turning to the Catechism, he draws on the three criteria at the heart of the Christian ministry—"respect, compassion, and sensitivity"—as a model for how the Catholic Church should relate to the LGBT community. WINNER OF THE LIVING NOW BOOK AWARD IN SOCIAL ACTIVISM/CHARITY.




Hidden Mercy


Book Description

The 1980s and 1990s, the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States, was decades ago now, and many of the stories from this time remain hidden: A Catholic nun from a small Midwestern town packs up her life to move to New York City, where she throws herself into a community under assault from HIV and AIDS. A young priest sees himself in the many gay men dying from AIDS and grapples with how best to respond, eventually coming out as gay and putting his own career on the line. A gay Catholic with HIV loses his partner to AIDS and then flees the church, focusing his energy on his own health rather than fight an institution seemingly rejecting him. Set against the backdrop of the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the late twentieth century and the Catholic Church's crackdown on gay and lesbian activists, journalist Michael O'Loughlin searches out the untold stories of those who didn't look away, who at great personal cost chose compassion--even as he seeks insight for LGBTQ people of faith struggling to find a home in religious communities today. This is one journalist's--gay and Catholic himself--compelling picture of those quiet heroes who responded to human suffering when so much of society--and so much of the church--told them to look away. These pure acts of compassion and mercy offer us hope and inspiration as we continue to confront existential questions about what it means to be Americans, Christians, and human beings responding to those most in need.




Made for Love


Book Description

In Made for Love, Fr. Michael Schmitz presents the Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction and same-sex "sexual" relations. He begins by giving background information regarding the different worldviews of the human person, the philosophical ideas of nature and purpose, the differences between objective and subjective truth, the principal of non- contradiction, and the fallen human nature that resulted from Original Sin. He then discusses in great detail the nature and ends of human sexuality and the nature of true love, while, in a compassionate and non-judgmental way, explaining the flawed nature of same-sex "sexual" relations. While this book is intended primarily for those who have same-sex attraction and their family and friends, its presentation of the compassionate truth of Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction will be of great benefit to everyone in today's society.




Gay and Catholic


Book Description

Winner of a 2015 Catholic Press Award: Gender Issues Category (First Place). In this first book from an openly lesbian and celibate Catholic, widely published writer and blogger Eve Tushnet recounts her spiritual and intellectual journey from liberal atheism to faithful Catholicism and shows how gay Catholics can love and be loved while adhering to Church teaching. Eve Tushnet was among the unlikeliest of converts. The only child of two atheist academics, Tushnet was a typical Yale undergraduate until the day she went out to poke fun at a gathering of philosophical debaters, who happened also to be Catholic. Instead of enjoying mocking what she termed the “zoo animals,” she found herself engaged in intellectual conversation with them and, in a move that surprised even her, she soon converted to Catholicism. Already self-identifying as a lesbian, Tushnet searched for a third way in the seeming two-option system available to gay Catholics: reject Church teaching on homosexuality or reject the truth of your sexuality. Gay and Catholic: Accepting My Sexuality, Finding Community, Living My Faith is the fruit of Tushnet’s searching: what she learned in studying Christian history and theology and her articulation of how gay Catholics can pour their love and need for connection into friendships, community, service, and artistic creation.




Queer and Catholic


Book Description

This superb memoir of a gay, working class boy from Manchester exploring how to reconcile his sexuality with his Catholicism is all the more powerful because of his deep knowledge of and commitment to his faith. Spanning the late 1960s to the present day, Mark Dowd's Queer and Catholic chronicles a changing attitude to same-sex attraction over more than half a century and is packed with stories in turn funny, deeply moving and spiritually insightful, including: coming out to his parents by talking in his sleep, training to become a Dominican priest before eloping from a religious order with an ex friar, and attending the funeral of his father - accompanied by his father!




Alive in God


Book Description

How can Christianity touch the imagination of our contemporaries when ever fewer people in the West identify as religious? Timothy Radcliffe argues we must show how everything we believe is an invitation to live fully. God says: 'I put before you life and death: choose life'. Anyone who understands the beauty and messiness of human life – novelists, poets, filmmakers and so on – can be our allies, whether they believe or not. The challenge is not today's secularism but its banality. We accompany the disciples as they struggle to understand this strange man who heals, casts out demons and offers endless forgiveness. In the face of death, he teaches them what it means to be alive in God. Then he embraces all that afflicts and crushes humanity. Finally, Radcliffe explores what it means for us to be alive spiritually, physically, sacramentally, justly and prayerfully. The result is a compelling new understanding of the words of Jesus: 'I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.'




A Big Heart Open to God


Book Description

The world was shocked when Jesuit magazines across the globe simultaneously released an exclusive interview with Pope Francis, just six months into his historic papacy. Within minutes of its release, the interview dominated the worldwide media. In a wide-ranging conversation, Pope Francis spoke movingly about his spiritual life, his hopes for church reform, his open-minded stance toward gays and lesbians, his views on women, and even his favorite movies. America magazine, where the idea for the interview originated, commissioned a team of five Italian-language experts to ensure that the pope's words were transmitted accurately into English. Now this remarkable, historic, and moving interview is available in book form. In addition to the full papal interview conducted by Antonio Spadaro, SJ, on behalf of the Jesuit journals, A Big Heart Open to God includes an introduction by the editor in chief of America, Matt Malone, SJ, describing the genesis of the interview, a series of responses by a diverse range of Catholic voices, and a spiritual refection on the interview by James Martin, SJ, author of Te Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything. In his refection, Father Martin helps readers use the pope's powerful comments as a foundation for personal prayer. In this historic interview, Pope Francis's vision for the church and humanity itself is delivered through a warm and intimate conversation, and he shows us all how to have a big heart open to God.




Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality


Book Description

In Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality: New Paths to Understanding, Rev. Louis Cameli, nationally renowned pastoral leader and priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, presents the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality with insight, new possibilities for spiritual care, and a vision for greater hospitality within the Church. Is the sexuality of homosexually inclined persons a blessing or a curse? Does it lead a person to God or away from God? Can a homosexual person be a good Catholic? With humility and pastoral sensitivity, Cameli offers hope to the many who feel alienated from the Church because of these questions. Taking his cue from Pope Benedict’s call to “express the teaching pastorally, theologically, and intellectually in the context of today’s studies of sexuality and anthropology,” he provides a deeper understanding of the Church’s theological language and stresses that while the Church is a teacher, it must also be a learner.




Catechism of the Catholic Church


Book Description

Over 3 million copies sold! Essential reading for Catholics of all walks of life. Here it is - the first new Catechism of the Catholic Church in more than 400 years, a complete summary of what Catholics around the world commonly believe. The Catechism draws on the Bible, the Mass, the Sacraments, Church tradition and teaching, and the lives of saints. It comes with a complete index, footnotes and cross-references for a fuller understanding of every subject. The word catechism means "instruction" - this book will serve as the standard for all future catechisms. Using the tradition of explaining what the Church believes (the Creed), what she celebrates (the Sacraments), what she lives (the Commandments), and what she prays (the Lord's Prayer), the Catechism of the Catholic Church offers challenges for believers and answers for all those interested in learning about the mystery of the Catholic faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a positive, coherent and contemporary map for our spiritual journey toward transformation.




Blessed Parents: Experiences of Catholic Parents with Lesbian and Gay Children


Book Description

The stories in this booklet are from Catholic parents from Italy. These stories were originally published in Italian by a ministry for Catholic LGBTQ people in Italy called Tenda di Gionata (Jonathan's Tent). This book contains a wealth of resource information for Catholic parents: a bibliography of the classic books on homosexuality and Catholicism, a list of U.S. Catholic organizations that deal with LGBTQ issues, and a number of high quality video and audio resources for parents.