Religion

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Pope Francis invited trans people to Vatican to get COVID vaccines

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Pope Francis invited a group of transpeople to the Vatican to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at Easter, it has been revealed. The pontiff welcomed 50 people to the Vatican on 3 April to receive their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and they returned later that month to receive their second dose, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski confirmed to the National Catholic Reporter. Trans people from a parish in Torvaianica were among those who travelled to the Vatican to receive vaccines after Krajewski reached out to local priest Fr Andrea Conocchia, who has been ministering to the local trans community for some time. Others who […]

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Russian minister claims ‘Western schools’ are teaching children that Jesus was bisexual

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Russia’s foreign minister has made the unlikely claim that schools in a number of Western countries are teaching children that Jesus was bisexual. Minister Sergei Lavrov, 71, painted the improbable picture in an essay for the Russian Kommersant newspaper titled “The Law, Rights, and the Rules,” published Monday (28 June). In it he delivered a sweeping critique of “boundlessly permissive” liberal democracies which he believes “encroach on human nature”, starting with Jesus’ sexuality. “Attempts by reasonable politicians to shield the younger generation from aggressive LGBT propaganda are met with bellicose protests from the ‘enlightened Europe,’” he said. “All world religions, the genetic code of the planet’s key […]

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Powerful archbishop admits Vatican made ‘mistakes’ with attack on LGBT+ rights bill

A top Italian archbishop has spoken out against the Vatican’s unprecedented decision to interfere on Italy’s proposed anti-homophobia law. The Vatican sparked widespread outrage after issuing a nota verbale opposing the bill – which would extend anti-discrimination protections to women, LGBT+ people and those with disabilities – on the basis that it would supposedly breach a 92-year old treaty with Italy. Speaking at the Be pop! cultural review in Rome, archbishop Vincenzo Paglia admitted that the Holy See’s resistance to the bill was a “mistake” and acknowledged that homophobic discrimination is “obvious” to see. “That the problem exists is obvious; that it must be fought is even more obvious […]

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Methodist Church to perform same-sex marriages after historic, landslide vote

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The Methodist Church has voted to allow same-sex marriage, and will now define marriage as between “two people”, rather than between “one man and one woman”. In 2019, the Marriage and Relationships Task Group presented a report to the church’s annual conference, titled “God in Love Unites Us“. The report put forward proposed resolutions same-sex marriage, and these were approved by all but one of the local Methodist synods. On Wednesday (30 June), the 2021 conference gave final considerations on the resolutions, and officially voted to allow same-sex marriages to be conducted in Methodist churches. The conference voted overwhelmingly for marriage […]

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LGBTQ youth of faith pray, bond at ‘Beloved Arise’ group

Jessika Sessoms grew up in a conservative Black evangelical family, attended Christian schools and often heard that being gay was an abomination, until she understood that she was queer while studying to become a missionary.  The 23-year-old from Florida came out publicly last year and has found healing and a sense of community after joining Beloved Arise, a Christian nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and empowering LGBTQ youth of faith.  Maria Magdalena Gschwind, 20, from Germany, credits the U.S.-based group for inspiring her to study Protestant theology in college at a time when she had doubts about whether her sexuality would conflict […]

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Pope Pens Letter Praising Pro-LGBTQ Jesuit Priest

Religion News Service reports: Pope Francis sent a letter praising the work of a Jesuit priest who has been an outspoken advocate for more respectful treatment of LGBTQ people within the Catholic Church, in which the pontiff described Father James Martin’s work as imitating the “style of God.” The letter, written in Spanish and dated June 21, was in response to a communique sent to Francis by Martin that referenced the Outreach LGBTQ Ministry Conference, a gathering focused on Catholic LGBTQ issues hosted virtually by Fordham University this weekend. Read the full article. As you may know, Martin has long been a […]

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Vatican Opposes Italian Bill On LGBT Hate Crimes

The Washington Post reports: The Vatican has taken a highly unusual step against its neighbor, sending a diplomatic note to the Italian government that protests a draft law aimed at preventing hate and violence against LGBT people. The complaint marks a formal effort by the Vatican to influence Italian lawmaking and could provide a test for how forcefully the church can exercise its clout on culture war issues — not just as a religion but as a state. While it’s common for church figures to take stances on affairs in other countries — whether on same-sex marriage, LGBT rights or abortion — […]

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Gay Mormon student sent death threats after being labelled ‘anti-Christ’ by professor

A professor at Brigham Young University’s religion department is under fire for labelling a gay student with a Mormon term associated with an anti-Christ. The Salt Lake Tribune reported Hank Smith, an assistant teaching professor, had been tweeting his thoughts on former parishioners being excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was defending the church’s decision to oust Natasa Helfer, a sex therapist ousted after she publicly opposed church teachings on masturbation and pornography while supporting LGBT+ rights. After Smith denounced several women who supported Helfer, Calvin Burke, an openly gay student at BYU and practising Mormon, jumped in to defend […]

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German Catholics to bless gay unions despite Vatican ban

Germany’s powerful Catholic progressives are openly defying a recent Holy See pronouncement that priests cannot bless same-sex unions by offering such blessings at services in about 100 different churches all over the country this week. The blessings at open worship services are the latest pushback from German Catholics against a document released in March by the Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which said Catholic clergy cannot bless same-sex unions because God “cannot bless sin.” The document pleased conservatives and disheartened advocates for LGBTQ Catholics around the globe. But the response has been particularly acute […]

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First openly trans bishop elected to Evangelical Lutheran church says ‘this call is bigger’ than them

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The US Lutheran church has elected its first openly trans bishop, Megan Rohrer, marking the first time a major Christian denomination has had an openly trans leader. Rohrer, 41, will lead the Sacramento, California-based Sierra Pacific synod, which covers almost 200 different congregations in California and Nevada, for a six-year term. They said they hoped that people would have faith in them as Jesus has faith in them. “I am humbled and honoured, and aware that this call is bigger than me,” Megan Rohrer said in a speech after he was elected as bishop on Saturday (8 May). “My hope is that […]

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