Without Exception Newsletter

This section is an open forum to share reflections or responses connected to our mission. If you have something to say, then send me your thoughts to post them here—even anonymously. There is no format. Please respect the privacy of the authors. These reflections are intended only for the private forum of our network. Public sharing or reprinting is not permitted.

Welcome to our third birthday! If you would like to learn more about the origins of this network, then please check out this podcast episode from Catholic School Matters (June 2022). Thank you all for your ongoing encouragement and support of this ministry. As of today we have 483 people on our mailing list.

There was a lot of news and commentary in April on Dignitas Infinita, the new document on human dignity from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. I encourage you to read and reflect on the document firsthand, but this response from Fortunate Families is excellent.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. The Surgeon General, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of Child and Adolescent Psychology, and Children's Hospital Association have all acknowledged a mental health crisis for young persons in the United States. If you are looking for helpful resources, then please see the toolkits being offered by Mental Health America (MHA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). But if you really want the most simple advice, then turn to the Parable of the Good Samaritan:

[Jesus said,] "Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?”

[The scholar of the law] answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.”

Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise" (Lk 10:36-37).

In June I will be making a pilgrimage to Italy. I am actively seeking a meeting with somebody at the Vatican to discuss the need for better pastoral care for LGBTQ+ students in Catholic schools. This is not about doctrine but about harm reduction and “translation into pastoral practice.” We can improve life outcomes for LGBTQ+ persons by not promoting rejecting behaviors (theological bullying, psychological maltreatment, spiritual abuse, etc.). I think this is an area for greater awareness and action. Please let me know if you have any connections who might help get me in the door.

No matter what happens, I take solace in this reflection from Thomas Merton:

Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless or achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself.

The comments I hear in class aren’t helpful. I hear kids joking about “identifying as an attack helicopter” and making fun of me. These things just push me further into fear and hiding myself from others. This makes it especially hard because I don’t know if they would like me when they figure out who I am. So, I avoid it at all costs.

• It's the time of year when school employment opportunities are identified for next year. A few members of our network have already asked if there are any job postings, especially in Campus Ministry and Theology. If you know of any openings, then you may add information to this shared document so that interested persons can learn more. Please me mindful that this is a public document with community edit rights. When you look below, you will see this document is now added as a Network Resource.

• The Association of Pittsburgh Priests is hosting a Zoom session with Boston College law professor Cathleen Kaveny on Tuesday, May 7 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM. The event is titled "LGBTQ Students in Catholic Schools: Is There a Way Forward?" The culture wars have found a flash point in Catholic schools. Some people, including bishops, want to prohibit LGBTQ teachers from seeking employment in such schools because they violate church teaching on sexual morality and gender identity. Other people urge the schools to be more welcoming, citing Pope Francis' injunction that the doors of the church are to be open to everyone. How do we negotiate these tensions in a way that respects the dignity of everyone involved, as well as the mission of Catholic education? Registration information is available here.

• The Center for LGBTQ & Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS) and LGBTQ-RAN are co-hosting an online presentation on May 16 at 8:00 PM Eastern Time: "Queer and Catholic: Making Sense of Recent (and Confusing) Catholic Statements on LGBTQ Issues." Historian Bernard Schlager, Ph.D. will facilitate this discussion with Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA, and Ish Ruiz, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Latinx and Queer Decolonial Theology at Pacific School of Religion, as they explore recent statements by Roman Catholic leaders on homosexuality, transgender persons, and same-sex relationships. You can read more about this program here.

• Regent College (Vancouver, CAN) is offering a course titled "Being Human in God's World: How the Old Testament Helps Us Understand Our Humanity in a Complex & Broken World." This course will explore how the Old Testament speaks of humanity through story and poetry. The portrait of humanity it presents is realistic, engaging many of today's biggest questions and issues: identity, ethnicity, gender, family breakdown, violence in all its forms, economic justice, political wranglings, relating to creation, and living with vulnerability, pain, and death. Yet, through it all, the human person’s call remains clear: to walk in the world as God’s cherished covenantal partner. The course will run July 15 to July 19, 8:30 - 11:30 AM Pacific Time. More information is available here.

• The schedule and registration link are available for the 2024 Outreach LGBTQ Catholic ministry conference. The event will be at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., from August 2-4.

Binkley, Collin. "Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ students and sexual assault victims. Transgender athletes aren’t mentioned." PBS News Hour, April 19, 2024.

Crary, David. "Transgender Catholics say new Vatican document shows no understanding of their lives." AP News, April 8, 2024.

Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Dignitas Infinita: Declaration on Human Dignity. The Holy See, April 2, 2024.

Dulle, Colleen and Gerard O'Connell, hosts. "Roundtable: On gender, the Vatican and academics are talking past each other." Inside the Vatican, America Media, April 15, 2024.

Elie, Paul. "The Vatican's Statement on Gender Is Unsurprising, and a Missed Opportunity." The New Yorker, April 13, 2024.

Hickey, Kent. "Consult the faithful on ministerial covenants for Catholic school teachers." National Catholic Reporter, April 24, 2024.

Horan, Daniel. "The Strawman of 'Gender Theory' in the Vatican’s New Document." New Ways Ministry, Bondings 2.0, April 8, 2024.

McNulty, Stephen. "'Dignitas Infinita' and the limits of pastoral care." National Catholic Reporter, April 16, 2024.

Mental Health America. Mental Health Month. Mental Health America, 2024.

Oceano-Armendariz, Nick, director. Pieces of Me [documentary]. PFLAG National, March 30, 2024.

Reeves, Richard. "The friendship recession" [short video]. Think Big, March 31, 2023.

Sawyer, Jonathon. "(Un)hidden from self: On LGBTQ students and the conspiratorial demonology of the New Apostolic Reformation." Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, April 5, 2024.

Schmidt, Zoë. "Protesting Cleveland Catholic anti-LGBTQ+ policy: Stop the Hate." cleveland.com, April 10, 2024.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Mental Health Awareness Month. SAMSHA, 2024.

Trujillo, Yunuen. "LGBTQ Catholics: Inclusive Ministry 101" [webinar]. Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, April 4, 2024.

Walsh, Julia. "Transgender Catholics call the church to listen, says this Franciscan sister." Outreach, April 8, 2024.

White, Christopher. "Pope responds with 'open heart' to Vatican document criticism from parents of LGBTQ children." National Catholic Reporter, April 30, 2024.

Zerkowski, JR. "Fortunate Families Responds to Dignitas Infinita." Fortunate Families, April 22, 2024.

• The Catholic Educational Leadership Program at the University of San Francisco is hosting a one-day seminar titled "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging as Mission Critical: A Conversation with Culturally Responsive Leaders in Catholic Education." Please join to engage in conversation with leaders whose collective work and individual voices push Catholic institutions to reimagine the mission of Catholic education to better serve its school communities. The event is both in-person and online on Saturday, May 4 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time. Please click here for more information.

• "Creating a Spirit of Welcome: LGBTQ+ Issues and Catholic Schools" is a workshop offered by New Ways Ministry to help Catholic educators plan what types of LGBTQ+ initiatives would be appropriate for their schools. For the spring semester of 2024, New Ways Ministry has received a grant to offer this workshop to school leaders free of charge. The workshop topics can be adapted to local needs and situations, and the program can be scheduled as a one-day, half-day, or two-part program. The general program description can be found here. For more information, please contact Frank DeBernardo at New Ways Ministry: director@NewWaysMinistry.org or call 301-277-5674.

• Registration is open and presenters have been announced! The LGBTQ+ Initiative of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative will host a summer conference from Thursday June 27 to Sunday, June 30, 2024 at the Bergamo Center in Dayton, OH. “Imago Dei: Embracing the Dignity of LGBTQ+ Persons” aims to celebrate the 50th anniversary of a 1974 groundbreaking conference centered on LGBTQ+ inclusion and ministry which was held in Dayton at the Bergamo Center. The conference hopes to honor those who foresaw the importance of developing pastoral care and outreach, and to envision how we can continue to respond to the needs of the LGBTQ+ community within our Church and world.

• The Naming Project Summer Camp will run this summer from July 28 - August 2 in Minnesota. The theme this year is Abundant Life! Sometimes, especially these days, it can be hard to believe in abundant life. Everywhere we look, we see limitations on who we are, on our relationships, and the future ahead of us. God’s promise, over and over again, for all of us, is that we will have abundant life, not limited in any way. This summer, claim that promise of abundant life with The Naming Project, and discover how to ensure others have abundant life as well. Campers will experience large and small group conversation, personal quiet time as well as campfires, crafts, swimming, games, and summer camp fun in the beauty of God’s creation! More information is available here.

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

December 2023

November 2023

Without Exception is a no-cost ministry network for people in Catholic secondary education and related fields of ministry. The goal is to offer helpful networking and resources to accompany our LGBTQ+ students and colleagues with the love of Jesus Christ and his church. Please respect privacy and confidentiality concerning the persons and schools connected to our network. The strength of this work is sustained by the trust among members.

Without Exception is a global network of Catholic secondary educators dedicated to discerning the art of accompaniment for LGBTQ+ students in Catholic schools. Through a commitment to faithful dialogue and peer collaboration, we seek to understand what it means to share the love of Jesus Christ with every person, without exception.

Email: info@withoutexception.net

Website: www.withoutexception.net