Six takeaways from the Outreach 2023 LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference

Before we turn to the takeaways, I would like to thanks all those who made the Outreach 2023 LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference such a grace-filled event. 

First, thanks to Ryan Di Corpo, our managing editor, who pulled the conference together logistically. Our keynoters—Tania Tetlow, Marianne Duddy-Burke and Juan Carlos Cruz—and panelists came from around the world to share their wisdom, expertise and experience with more than 250 participants. Our incredible musicians offered us beautiful morning and evening prayers, and Archbishop John C. Wester flew in from Santa Fe (after a day-long storm delay) to celebrate our closing Mass at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle. (Thanks to the Paulist Fathers, too!) 

Thanks to Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., Fellows and interns at America Media, our parent organization, for shepherding our participants around Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus during the weekend. We are grateful to America Media, Fordham University’s Center for Religion and Culture, the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and Clear Faith Publishing for co-sponsoring the event.

Finally, thanks to our attendees who came from around the world—Argentina, Australia, England, Italy, Spain, Malta, Belgium and Germany—and around the United States, to share best practices, build community and worship together.

Now, a few takeaways.

1). LGBTQ Catholics are interested in the Bible

We already knew this from the many views on our “Outreach Guide to the Bible and Homosexuality” and the fact that an article on that topic by Walter Brueggemann, the esteemed biblical scholar, is our most popular article ever. 

But if this were ever in doubt, our panel “The Bible and Homosexuality” was the proof positive. A standing room-only crowd, the largest of the conference, crammed into the Moot Court room at Fordham’s Law School to hear some top biblical scholars and students of the Bible expound on what are often called the “clobber verses,” that is, those used against LGBTQ people. 

We were incredibly fortunate to hear from distinguished scholars like Harold W. Attridge, former dean of the Yale Divinity School (and an expert on John’s Gospel) and the inimitable Amy-Jill Levine, author of The Misunderstood Jew, an essential and even brilliant book about the Jewishness of Jesus. They both reminded the audience that the passages in the Bible on homosexuality cannot be understood outside of their historical context.  Brandan Robertson, author of The Gospel of Inclusion, and Grant Hartley, a theology student, both spoke not only from an academic perspective, but from their own experiences as members of the LGBTQ community.

In a similar vein, another packed house attended the panel “Catholic Theology and the LGBTQ Person,” which showed the desire for serious theological reflection among LGBTQ Catholics.

2). LGBTQ Catholics want to know their own history

Marianne Duddy-Burke, the executive director of DignityUSA, offered a fascinating and moving keynote on the 50-year history of this historic LGBTQ organization. Ms. Duddy-Burke was not the only one in tears when she described the experience of ministering to LGBTQ people with H.I.V./AIDS around the same time that Dignity was being expelled from many Catholic parishes after initial support from many in the American hierarchy. (She also noted that this was the first time that she had been invited to speak inside a Catholic church since 1986.)

After her talk, in which she shared lessons learned (e.g., “The needs and realities of those being served must drive ministry”), a few of younger participants said to me, “I had no idea about all that. It helps me to better understand our place in the church today.”

3). We can support one another worldwide

One of the most fascinating panels for me was “The International Experience: LGBTQ Catholics Worldwide,” where we heard speakers from Belgium, Germany, Malta, Spain and Italy, some clergy and some lay men. 

Part of the panel was offered in Italian by Don Andrea Conocchia, who works with transgender people in Italy, a story recently told in Outreach. Supertitles in English behind him–and behind Don Cristóbal Rodriguez, a Spanish priest who works with LGBTQ people–enabled the English-speaking crowd to follow along easily. Panelists spoke of not only their experience in their individual countries, but also about the need for building support networks among international groups, especially as we move along the Synodal Path.

4). Pope Francis and other church leaders support us

A few weeks ago, we received a beautiful handwritten note from Pope Francis, greeting conference organizers and participants. In a fascinating keynote address yesterday, Juan Carlos Cruz, an openly gay man and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, spoke about his personal relationship with the Holy Father and his knowledge of the pope’s love and affection for LGBTQ people. 

The pope’s friendship, Mr. Cruz said, “shows that the highest levels of the Catholic Church are capable of love, understanding and acceptance” for LGBTQ people. And as if that weren’t enough, he shared with the crowd that the pope had called him that morning, just a few hours before his address, and asked Mr. Cruz to pass his greetings along to us. 

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, also wrote us a warm welcome letter to the conference, as did the Very Rev. Joseph M. O’Keefe, S.J., the provincial superior of the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus; and so did Tania Tetlow, the president of Fordham. 

On our closing day, many of us heard news that Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, celebrated a Mass marking the 35^th anniversary of AGLO, the archdiocesan LGBTQ outreach program. So we felt the support of many in the institutional church throughout the weekend, which was capped off by a Mass celebrated by Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe.

5). Transgender topics are urgent

In one panel, “LGBTQ Ministry in High Schools,” the panelists decided that the most pressing issue facing Catholic school educators was ministry to transgender students and so their panel highlighted that issue. (Another panel, “The Church and the Transgender Catholic” focused on that topic exclusively, but focused mainly on adults.)

David Palmieri, a contributing writer at Outreach and theology teacher at Xavierian Brothers High School in Westwood, Mass., asked the participants to move from a model of potential conflict with church authorities to more “transcendent” approach that focuses less on conflict and recognizes the individual situation of each student. Another urgent need, many panelists throughout the weekend recognized, was the need for greater intersectionality. (Outreach hopes to have more women, more people of color and more transgender people on the panels in future conferences.)

6). Ours is a joyful ministry

Many panels this past weekend focused on admittedly serious topics. In a discussion with representatives from national LGBTQ groups, including GLAAD and PFLAG National, panelists described the increased bullying, harassment and persecution faced by LGBTQ people in the last year.

But the conference was marked mainly by endless hugs, warm embraces and smiles of recognition on people’s faces, not only during the laughter-filled mealtimes, but also during the joyful morning services and ebullient closing Mass. This was a conference about an often challenging ministry but also one about the “joys and hopes” of the LGBTQ community.  At a Saturday night wine-and-cheese reception, sponsored by the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, I remarked to a few people, “Gee I didn’t expect everyone to come!” And a young man said, “Father Jim, we know how to celebrate!”

Next year, we are aiming to host events in conjunction with other colleagues and friends. Our keynote speeches and closing Mass are already online, and we’re planning to publish as many of the panels discussion contributions as possible. In the meantime, keep following us here on Outreach and our social media accounts for the latest on ministering with our LGBTQ friends in the church we all love.