LGBTQ Catholic Ministry: Past and Present by Jason Steidl (review)

Reviewed by: LGBTQ Catholic Ministry: Past and Present by Jason Steidl Donal Godfrey SJ LGBTQ Catholic Ministry: Past and Present. By Jason Steidl. New York: Paulist Press, 2023. 183pp. $27.95. This book is a history of LGBTQ Catholic ministry, with the foreword by James Martin, SJ. As Martin says in his remarks, it is mostly a record of the grassroots lay Catholics who worked to change the church from the bottom up. Despite being involved in LGBTQ ministry for 35 years, I learned much that is new: the story of gay Catholic George Hyde, rejected in confession in 1945, who left to found the Eucharistic Catholic Church; the story of Dignity USA, a national LGBTQ ministry, founded in 1969 by Fr. Pat Nidorf in San Diego, later becoming a lay led organization which continues to make a huge difference [End Page 68] in the lives of LGBTQ Catholics; the chilling effect of the "Halloween" letter from the Vatican in 1986 to "the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons," which had devastating consequences for Dignity and other LGBTQ ministries. The chapter on New Ways Ministry, founded in 1977, focuses on the work of Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Fr. Bob Nugent. I recall passing protestors to attend their workshop on homophobia at the University of Toronto over 30 years ago. New Ways Ministry has also fought for civil rights for LGBTQ folk. Recent supportive letters from Pope Francis to New Ways Ministry go a long way in healing the pain of condemnations from Vatican sources in the past. Chapter 4 focuses on the history of Fortunate Families founded in 2004 by the Lopata family after their son Jim came out to them as gay. This group has in particular worked with families and LGBTQ Catholics. Chapters 5 and 6 address the LGBTQ groups at St. Paul the Apostle in New York where the author has been a parishioner. The first was known as the Gay and Lesbian Catholic Ministry, begun in the early 1990s with leader Donald Maher. A later group, Out at St. Paul, continues this powerful ministry with LGBTQ folk in the parish today. Chapters 7 and 8 describe the ministry of James Martin, SJ, with LGBTQ Catholics. Martin does not challenge church teaching but rather negative pastoral and social approaches to this topic. Nonetheless, Martin has attracted a serious backlash within the church even as support from Pope Francis has given Martin the space to continue this work. Chapter 9 looks at the present situation for LGBTQ ministry in the church. The work of liberation theologian Jon Sobrino, SJ, is applied to LGBTQ ministry. For Steidl, the queer are the poor. And outside the queer (the poor) there is no salvation. Steidl argues that a revolution is happening at the grassroots, and that the Holy Spirit is moving us to a more hopeful future. Recent Catholic LGBTQ ministries of such hope are profiled, including Affirmed in Chicago, and The Fig and Vine. The book ends with this question, "What will you do to heal the wounded Body of Christ?" This book is clearly such a labor of healing and love. And certainly as a gay Catholic priest who has been involved LGBTQ ministry for 35 years in several countries, I am very grateful that Steidl examines this important topic so well. While it is painful to be reminded of our history and present-day oppression, this book is also an inspirational story of transformation and hope. I am inspired that Pope Francis has changed the tone on this topic. I believe his friendships with three gay men—Yayo Gross, Evgeny Afineevsky, and Juan-Carlos Cruz—have influenced Francis in this regard. I commend the book highly for being an important contribution to the literature on LGBTQ Catholic ministry. It should be made available in university and Catholic libraries. [End Page 69] Steidl says that he hopes to tell more stories than can be told in this book. Let this book be the start of future explorations on this topic, outside and within the USA. I have had encounters with some of these stories, that of Quest in the United Kingdom, the ministries...

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