Tag: Catholic

The Trouble With The Pope: On Benedict XVI’s 2010 visit to Britain

POPE EMERITUS Benedict XVI died on 31st December 2022, and was buried in the Vatican this week. His legacy is long, though he resigned in 2013, the first Pope to do so for 600 years. In September 2010, as Pope Benedict visited Britain, I was the Convenor of the Liverpool branch of Quest the LGBT+ …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2023/01/07/the-trouble-with-the-pope-on-benedict-xvis-2010-visit-to-britain/

Vatican statement declares blessing same-sex relationships is ‘illicit’

The Catholic Church’s office for promoting its teaching authority has issued a statement in response to a question: ‘Does the Church have the power to bless unions of persons of the same sex?’ The answer is ‘Negative’, in more ways than one. I wrote this response on behalf of The Open Table Network:

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2021/03/15/vatican-statement-declares-blessing-same-sex-relationships-is-illicit/

The book I wish I had written – Queer and Catholic: A Life Of Contradiction by Mark Dowd

THIS BLOG began as I turned 42 in 2012, as: an attempt to be heard, not just for myself, but for other lesbian, gay and bisexual Christians who struggle with their sexual orientation in faith communities that judge them, at best, to be defective heterosexuals, rather than recognising and valuing the gifts and insights that embracing their …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2018/11/18/the-book-i-wish-i-had-written-queer-and-catholic-a-life-of-contradiction-by-mark-dowd/

‘Today you will be with me in paradise’ – Saying farewell to Uncle Simon

ONE MORNING earlier this month, my sister called to say our uncle in Ireland was unwell, and that the hospital which had become his home had advised Mum to come and see him while there was still time. Mum and my sister were booking a flight to Dublin that afternoon, and Mum asked if I …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2018/03/30/today-you-will-be-with-me-in-paradise-saying-farewell-to-uncle-simon/

The Examen: Practicing an attitude of gratitude

As part of St Bride’s Liverpool‘s Lent reflection series on ‘Holy Habits’, I shared my experience of the Examen, an invitation to daily thankfulness: In St Paul’s letter to the Colossians (3: 12-17), he tells the church in Colossae to ‘Always be thankful’ in everything they say or do, giving thanks to God in the name …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2018/03/01/the-examen-practicing-an-attitude-of-gratitude/

Marriage equality – why is it important for faith communities?

AUSTRALIA HAS VOTED in favour of marriage equality for LGBTI people – the results were announced on Wednesday and greeted with joy and expectation that the law will now change to make it so. As my husband is Australian, I have followed the campaign with interest. We had a civil partnership in May 2012 – …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/11/18/marriage-equality-why-is-it-important-for-faith-communities/

Writing the icon of 9/11 – Remembering Fr Mychal Judge #AllSaints

On September 11, 2017, sixteen years after the devastating terrorist attack on New York’s World Trade Center, an article appeared online about its first recorded victim, which asked: ‘Could Father Mychal Judge Be the First Gay Saint?’ Father Mychal Judge was a little-known Franciscan friar ministering humbly to the disenfranchised and unloved on the streets of …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/11/01/writing-the-icon-of-911-remembering-father-mychal-judge/

‘I choose not to collaborate in my own oppression’ – Sister Jeannine Gramick on 40+ years of ministry among LGBT Catholics

THESE were the courageous words of the keynote speaker at this year’s annual conference of Quest, which offers pastoral support for LGBT Catholics in the UK. Sister Jeannine Gramick has cared and campaigned for the LGBT community in the USA since 1971, two years before Quest was founded. I first heard about Sister Jeannine in 1999 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2017/09/14/i-choose-not-to-collaborate-in-my-own-oppression-sister-jeannine-gramick-on-40-years-of-ministry-among-lgbt-catholics/

Making noise for #AntiBullyingWeek, #InterfaithWeek, #TDOR

THIS WEEK in England there is an interesting combination of commemorations – Anti-Bullying Week, Interfaith Week, and Trans* Awareness Week, culminating today in Trans* Day of Remembrance (TDOR). I have been at four events in the past week to mark these campaigns: ‘An All Embracing Faith’ – Keynote speech by Ruth Hunt, CEO of Stonewall …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/11/20/makingnoise-antibullying-interfaith-tdor/

Halloween – Summer’s end, a feast for remembering

AT THIS time of year it’s not unusual to hear people in England complain of the ‘American import’ of Halloween and its lanterns, costumes, and trick-or-treating. While it’s true that Halloween celebrations have become as commercialised as Christmas, in the USA and increasingly here in the UK, it’s also true that it was our ancestors …

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Permanent link to this article: https://abravefaith.com/2015/10/31/halloween-summers-end-a-feast-for-remembering/

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