I was a closeted gay stunt at Brebf Ju Preparatory School Indianapolis. Now, I am an openly gay profsor of relign and LGBTQ polics.
Contents:
- CONFSNS OF A GAY JU: HOW I WAS FORCED TO LEAVE MY CHURCH—AND CALLG
- GAY JU PRIT: “WE DREAM OF A CHURCH THAT WILL ACCEPT .”
- I THOUGHT I ULD BE A GAY JU PRIT. I N’T BELIEVE HOW WRONG I WAS.
- GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE
- THE GAY CHURCH
- THE JUS AND GAY PRI
- JU UNIVERSY SAYS SUPPORT TO GAY ANIZATNS IS “THE CATHOLIC THG” TO DO
- GAY EX-JU CONCERT BOOTED FROM CHURCH AFTER BACKLASH
- POPE MEETS WH JU TARGETED BY NSERVATIV FOR GAY OUTREACH
- THOSE GAY JUS
- AN ARCHBISHOP TOLD A JU SCHOOL TO FIRE A GAY TEACHER. THEY SAID NO
- FATHER MART AND THE GAY JU MAFIA
CONFSNS OF A GAY JU: HOW I WAS FORCED TO LEAVE MY CHURCH—AND CALLG
Who knew that the Society of J, aka the Jus, was the go-to relig orr for gay men wantg to bee prits? In a damagg dictment of * jesuit gay *
I am a morn gay Christian search of love, one who still wants to bee a 2004 to 2014 I was a Ju, a member of the Society of J good standg, an orr gone global by the electn of Pope Francis I. Here’s my story; is an experiment wh tth tellg, as much as is about jtice for LGBTQ Christians and non-Christians, men, women and children who have been eply affected by the lennia of anti-gay theology and hate speech poed by the Roman Catholic Church.
More than anythg else we were a Roman Catholic fay who orred our liv around the life of the Church, as much as we did big Italian meals and Broadway was a cent childhood, but at home I uld never fully be myself, the Church’s teachg on homosexualy burned any genue relatnship between my parents and me and my four siblgs and me. No one ever spoke to me about the subject of sex or sexualy: This drew enough red flags for sirg to be a prit, I prayed for guidance and remembered two Ju prits, Fathers Mateo Ricci and Walter Ciszek, members of the Society of J (the Jus), members of what I would quickly learn was the largt, most progrsive and gay-iendly relig orr the Frs. My iend Katie asked me how I uld dite my life to an stutn that labeled me as trsilly disorred, one who saw gay sexual acts are I saw homosexualy and Catholicism the most holistic way, and I put my needs for self-prervatn last bee I wanted to make a difference the life of LGBTQ youth.
I thought I uld change thgs om the si, but to do this right I had to enter the Church’s most gay iendly orr, an orr wh polil and social nnectns that rivaled the then I knew would take years and years to undo the damage done to the LGBTQ muny by the Church, damage I hoped to help repair my lifetime as a prit.
GAY JU PRIT: “WE DREAM OF A CHURCH THAT WILL ACCEPT .”
The Catholic Church is an almost unique stutn — shunng homosexualy but havg so many gay men s ranks, wr Andrew Sullivan. The Vatin’s failure to reckon wh their sexualy has created a crisis for Catholicism. * jesuit gay *
One immature novice said that for him gay porn was but one means to keep his “gay self” alive and still nnected to a muny so often alienated by the Church; for me, he was erroneoly projectg his own sense of isolatn and alienatn by the Church onto the gay porn those secret meetgs we discsed why was OK for our straight brothers to make c jok about women durg dner while we uld not discs ex-boyiends or what meant to be healthy, chaste gay man. Why was I, a healthy tegrated gay man, choosg life a hostile environment, self-selectg, and eely rpondg to a votn a church that practic “don’t ask, don’t tell” through the impnt guise of hate the s, love the sner?
I THOUGHT I ULD BE A GAY JU PRIT. I N’T BELIEVE HOW WRONG I WAS.
An official om the Ju-n Santa Clara Universy California told Catholic News Agency that hostg a two-day long nference, on how to promote opportuni for gays and lbians at Catholic lleg is “the Catholic” way to act as opposed to highlightg the trsic immoraly of homosexual acts. * jesuit gay *
I was more shocked by the stori I’d hear of younger Jus fatherg babi, and gay Jus fondlg each other vans on the way to men were gay Jus whom the Church and the Society of J embraced, gay men who acrdg to the church’s teachg were still objectively disorred, trsilly viant om the natural world and social the Society of J dog , or the LGBTQ muny, any favors by keepg ? ”Every time I heard a prep stunt e the term “faggot, ” or unseled a gay stunt bullied by his peers, I thought of Jam Baldw’s say, ‘Stranger In The Village, ’ (PDF) where he wr, “The children who shout ‘Neger! Over time I grew tired of wag for the secret world of gay Jus: I uld go on and on about gay Jus playg the piano the Wt Village’s Duplex or about the nights I spent at NYC’s Splash Bar or Eagle Club.
There were gay Jus who were put cleril prison for embracg unrgrads too long, and others who attend Sexaholics Anonymo, or whose personal llectn of pornography was mistakenly played durg high school lectur. I saw the vehement ternalized homophobia of some Jus, and knew of certa gay pastors removed om jobs so that ls out and more passable gay Jus replace them at gay-iendly were gay Jus who traveled the world to scuba dive or taste French we.
I lament that the gay Jus rema silent while their gay or lbian lay lleagu are fired om jobs and brought closer to 35, I ntue to ponr the qutn: Why is fair for the Church to orda gay men who sneak out at night jt to be wh other men of their muny, while the Church nmns gays who want to marry and to exprs their love?
GAY PRITS: BREAKG THE SILENCE
The two men should meet: Maybe my new iend uld help my Ju brother to e out of the every new stage of formatn, I met more and more gay Jus who were happier sippg stch, orrg cigars, opera tickets, and sho, publishg books or holdg secret mass wh LGBTQ sympathizers (that followed unsanctned lurgil brics) than publicly nontg the jtice experienced by members of their muny. I believe the gay Jus won’t e out bee they live fortable liv, wh accs to so many thgs, like the latt technology or villas abroad or tenured posns at universi, not to mentn the unlimed gas rds that make domtic travel really other words, the gay Jus are livg better liv than the timated 320, 000 to 400, 000 homels LGBTQ youth Ameri.
THE GAY CHURCH
“Our reticence to share our stori wh the church or to speak out when queer people are fired or mistreated likewise ces the church’s narrative around homosexualy mostly to those who misunrstand or monize . But realistilly will our stutn grow s unrstandg of sexualy if we who have experience as both gay men and clergy won’t stand wh other queer people and other Christian church and share what God has shown , that while we would love to not be aaid or ashamed anymore, to not feel danger or like a burn, we would never choose to not be who we are?
THE JUS AND GAY PRI
The Church doctre enurag members to wele and rpect gay parishners, though also stat that gay members are “lled to chasty, ” acrdg to the Human Rights Campaign s asssment of the Church’s stance on LGBTQ issu. The Vatin this month opposed an anti-homophobia law troduced Italy’s Parliament, which uld require some Catholic schools the untry to adopt state-mandated lsons on tolerance and genr, CNN reported last week.
"Still, Brenkert knows he ma the rrect cisn and hop n help spire other gay and closeted people of fah to enter to their own discernment regardg their beliefs whout the terference of a meddlg and outdated hierarchy and orthodoxy. ” He nclud that beg gay isn’t a problem for the church to ntend wh, but “an vatn to a different way of lookg at thgs, and toward a eper embrace of the very gospel that threatens to subvert our most cherished notns about the God whose name is Love.
JU UNIVERSY SAYS SUPPORT TO GAY ANIZATNS IS “THE CATHOLIC THG” TO DO
There are some issu that are better left not addrsed que so clearly, to leave a b more room for the ambiguy of human existence and really to take serly for all of , not jt for gay people, the need for and ntug life of grace and regeneratn. Morators:DougErd, ryld, BuzzardThe Jus: the go-to relig orr for homosexual men wantg to bee pritsThe Jus: the go-to relig orr for homosexual men wantg to bee pritsFeb 26, 2015#12015-02-26T11:53Who knew that the Society of J, aka the Jus, was the go-to relig orr for gay men wantg to bee prits?
GAY EX-JU CONCERT BOOTED FROM CHURCH AFTER BACKLASH
His dictment of some gay prits that sire to keep their liftyle quiet while beneftg om the perks of the Ju orr sheds light on the nfn occurrg wh the semari; a nfn which should be clarified and settled. At every new stage of formatn, I met more and more gay Jus who were happier sippg stch, orrg cigars, opera tickets, and sho, publishg books or holdg secret mass wh LGBTQ sympathizers (that followed unsanctned lurgil brics) than publicly nontg the jtice experienced by members of their muny. I believe the gay Jus won’t e out bee they live fortable liv, wh accs to so many thgs, like the latt technology or villas abroad or tenured posns at universi, not to mentn the unlimed gas rds that make domtic travel really easy.
POPE MEETS WH JU TARGETED BY NSERVATIV FOR GAY OUTREACH
The article, which was reportedly approved by Torr-Botello’s superrs, scrib his ial stggl wh discerng a ll to mistry, notg that his iends and fay exprsed ncerns he uld face obstacl as a person of lor and would be forced to the closet after seventeen years of acceptg myself as gay. He ced exampl of Catholic school teachers fired for beg openly gay as well as other groups who have felt exclud by the church, such as people of lor, women, divorced Catholics, and children wh disabili.
Asked why lbian and gay Catholics should rema the church, pecially after Pope Francis’ disappotg exhortatn Amoris Laetia, the prit replied:I know many Catholic gays and lbians who refe to be ostracized and who rema the church spe what they have had to and are havg to suffer..
THOSE GAY JUS
Margaret Farley's sexual ethics book, Jt Love, seems hard to remember a time when the Roman Catholic Church wasn't fixated on LGBT "Takg a Chance on God, " Irish-born filmmaker Brendan Fay remds that not only is this stggle relatively new church history, but the momentum behd the movement began wh one urageo prit and his groundbreakg film offers a portra of John McNeill, the Ju prit who was silenced 1977 for his book The Church and the Homosexual and, ne years later, was expelled om his orr for refg to stay silent his mistry to gay and lbian Catholics.
The film clus a number of sightful terviews om fellow prit activist Dan McCarthy, theologian Mary Hunt, openly gay prit Bernard Lynch, gay rights activist Gny Appuzzo, and the late activist Ju Fr.
AN ARCHBISHOP TOLD A JU SCHOOL TO FIRE A GAY TEACHER. THEY SAID NO
He rpond to anti-gay forc like Ana Bryant and psychiatrist Charl Soris by wrg a seri of articl that affirmed the goodns of gays and lbians and explored the hols of love between same-sex upl. He also served as a psychotherapist to the gay and lbian muny until 1983, when then-Cardal Joseph Ratzger put a stop to that the early 1980s, as AIDS began to ravage gay muni the cy, silence creasgly beme a adly force.
FATHER MART AND THE GAY JU MAFIA
Victims of AIDS were dyg at alarmg rat, but lears the church and ernment seemed unmoved by the cri of the sick and their fay and the peak of the AIDS crisis 1986, what may have been the worst pastoral timg the Roman Catholic Church's recent history, Cardal Ratzger issued the CDF's "Letter on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.
"I wanted to take away the guilt and self-hatred of gay Catholics who believed the church's posn on homosexualy, " McNeill rponse, lears om his Ju provce me to his apartment and read him a letter Lat tellg him that, bee of his "pertac disobedience, " he was to pack his thgs, leave immediately and never return. But viewers will also fd spiratn the fact that, only 25 years after McNeill's expulsn, Catholics are now the strongt supporters of gay and lbian rights and same-sex marriage the Uned Stat. While Pope Francis famoly rpond "Who am I to judge" when asked about gay prits durg a papal prs nference, he has also said that anyone wh "ep seated" homosexual tennci shouldn't be a prit.