Religion

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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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Vatican bars gay union blessing, says God ‘can’t bless sin’

The Vatican declared Monday that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” The Vatican’s orthodoxy office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a formal response to a question about whether Catholic clergy have the authority to bless gay unions. The answer, contained in a two-page explanation published in seven languages and approved by Pope Francis, was “negative.” The note distinguished between the church’s welcoming and blessing of gay people, which it upheld, but not their unions. It argued that such unions are not part of God’s plan and that any sacramental recognition […]

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Evangelical Adoption Agency To Serve LGBT Parents

The New York Times reports: One of the country’s largest adoption and foster care agencies, Bethany Christian Services, announced Monday that it will begin providing services to L.G.B.T.Q. parents nationwide effective immediately, a major inflection point in the fraught battle over many faith-based agencies’ longstanding opposition to working with same-sex couples. The Michigan-based evangelical organization announced the change in an email to approximately 1,500 staff members signed by Chris Palusky, the organization’s president and chief executive. “We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today,” Mr. Palusky […]

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Group of U.S. Catholic Bishops Urges Support for LGBTQ Youth

Declaring “God is on your side,” a Roman Catholic cardinal, an archbishop and six other U.S. bishops issued a statement Monday expressing support for LGBTQ youth and denouncing the bullying often directed at them. “All people of goodwill should help, support and defend LGBT youth,” said the statement released by the Tyler Clementi Foundation, named for the Rutgers University student who took his own life in 2010 after being recorded on a webcam kissing another man. Among those signing the statement were Cardinal Joseph Tobin, the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, and Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico. According to […]

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Trailblazing Gay Imam Trains Muslim Religious Leaders on Gender and Sexuality

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A pioneering gay imam is teaching South African Muslims about sexuality and gender identity in Islam during the coronavirus pandemic. Imam Muhsin Hendricks, 53, was one of the first imams in the world to publicly come out as gay in 1998, according to Reuters, and he has made it his mission to start conversations about LGBT+ issues in Islam. In 2004 he founded The Inner Circle, a human rights organisation based in Cape Town which helps “Muslims who are queer to reconcile Islam with their sexuality” and gender identity. He also runs workshops for imams across Africa, helping them to develop an inclusive […]

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Nearly Half of LGBTQ Adults Are Religious, U.S. Study Finds

Almost half of LGBTQ adults in the United States are religious, according to a recent report from the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute. Of nearly 16,000 respondents polled in the Gallup Daily Tracking Survey, 47 percent were either moderately or highly religious. Those who were older, Black or lived in the South were the most likely to be religious, researchers found. To determine religiosity, respondents were asked about service attendance and the importance of religion in their daily lives. Respondents who said religion was not an important part of their daily life and they never or seldom attended services were […]

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Catholic Leaders Beg Joe Biden to ‘Repent’ his Support for LGBT+ Rights ‘for His Own Salvation’

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Anti-LGBT+ Catholic leaders have demanded that president-elect Joe Biden “repent” his support for same-sex marriage and abortion. The president-elect is set to become only the second Catholic president in US history after John F Kennedy when he takes office in January. Biden, who is both a devout Catholic and a strong strong supporter of LGBT+ rights who has vowed to try to pass non-discrimination protections, is significantly out of step with the conservative Catholic orthodoxy in the US. Bishops have voiced scepticism over Biden’s viewpoints, distancing themselves from the incoming president. Texas bishop Joseph Strickland went further than most on Friday (19 November) […]

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