The conclave has ended and there is a new pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina. While many people were hoping for a new and different direction related to the Vatican's relationship to LGBT people, it does not seem to be the case.
The Vatican announced that Pope Benedict will resign due to age and health concerns. News like this tends to make people wonder what sort of change a transition like this might mean in the Roman Catholic Church. LGBT people and allies – many of whom are Catholic – have a particular interest in seeing what direction the church is heading.
The Roman Catholic Priest who denied communion to a lesbian woman at her mother’s funeral is no longer with the Diocese of Washington, according a Diocese spokesperson.
Take action to support Keaton Fuller, an openly gay senior at Prince of Peace Catholic School in Clinton, Iowa, who was denied the opportunity to receive the Matthew Shepard Scholarship from the Eychaner Foundation at his school awards ceremony.
Two prominent Catholic LGBT advocates spoke with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell about the disconnect between the Roman Catholic hierarchy and everyday Catholics in America who support LGBT people. Sister Jeannine Gramick of New Ways Ministry and Jeff Stone of Dignity USA reacted to recent anti-LGBT actions taken by the Roman Catholic hierarchy despite the fact that a growing majority of Catholics support LGBT people.
HRC recently revealed that the Church and other Catholic organizations, including the Knights of Columbus, have financially supported NOM’s efforts to increase “hostility” between the LGBT and black communities; and to drive a wedge between LGBT Latinos and members of their own families by making "support for [so-called traditional] marriage a key badge of Latino identity."
In recent years, the Roman Catholic Church has seen the divide grow between the actions of church leadership and what’s in the hearts of the people they are supposed to represent.
