About Outreach
Outreach is an LGBTQ Catholic ministry that celebrates and elevates the experiences of LGBTQ Catholics within the life of the Church. Rooted in the Gospel and in the love of Jesus—who consistently reached out to those on the margins—we seek to foster a Church where all people know they belong. Outreach is part of America Media, a Jesuit ministry.
Through our website, Outreach offers news, essays and pastoral resources for LGBTQ Catholics, their friends and families, and those who minister with them. We feature original work from cardinals, bishops, priests and lay leaders, as well as theologians, scholars and other voices, creating space for dialogue and storytelling.
Beyond our digital presence, Outreach brings people together in person through national conferences, retreats and regional events. These events offer opportunities for prayer, learning and community—spaces where LGBTQ Catholics and their allies can share their stories and grow in faith together.
We also highlight and support welcoming parishes, schools and Catholic organizations, helping to build a more connected and affirming network across the church.
James Martin, S.J.
Founder
Conor J Reidy
Executive Director
John Consolie
Alessandra Rose
America Media
Advancement Director
A message of welcome from our founder, James Martin, S.J.
On behalf of many people involved in this effort, welcome to Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic ministry.
As you’ll see by exploring this website, we offer news, essays, resources and community for LGBTQ Catholics, for their families and friends, and for those who minister to them in the Catholic Church around the world. We also sponsor national conferences, retreats and regional events to build community, share best practices and worship together.
Reflecting on LGBTQ ministries in the church, we realized that there was no one place online that served as a clearinghouse. So, we decided to bring many of these resources together and make it easier for people to find what’s already being done, offering them some new things as well. You can find these in our searchable Resource library (in a variety of languages).
Outreach, which operates under the auspices of America Media, is rooted in the love of Jesus, who, during his public ministry, reached out to all those who were excluded. It’s inspired by the saints and blesseds, and holy men and women who, in every age, cared for those who were neglected. And it’s grounded in the church’s call today to treat LGBTQ people with “respect, compassion and sensitivity” (Catechism #2358).
Outreach also hopes to offer a place where church leaders, both clergy and lay, can encounter the LGBTQ faithful, in their “joys and hopes” and “griefs and anxieties” as well as engage in respectful dialogue (Gaudium et Spes, #1). Pope Francis’s model of “closeness, compassion and tenderness” towards the LGBTQ community inspires us in our ministry of outreach.
Overall, we strive to help LGBTQ Catholics know that God loves them, that they are at the heart of their church and that they have many gifts to offer the People of God. And we do this ministry from within the church that we all love.
We hope you’ll find this website helpful and that you may be able to participate in our in-person events. We also ask for your prayers.
Welcome to Outreach!
—James Martin, S.J.
Outreach Jesuit Board of Advisors
Outreach benefits from the guidance of a Jesuit Board of Advisors: Timothy Kesicki, S.J. top left; Michael Zampelli, S.J., top right; James F. Keenan, S.J., bottom left; and Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, S.J., bottom right.
Read more about Outreach’s Jesuit Board of Advisors.
A prayer to St. Joseph, patron of Outreach
(CNS photo/Gregory Shemitz)
St. Joseph, patron of the home,
Help us to build a welcoming home
for LGBTQ people in the church.
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus,
help us to remind all our brothers, sisters and siblings
that they are beloved children of God.
St. Joseph, patron of the family,
help us to nurture families
where all children feel loved for who they are.
St. Joseph, craftsman and laborer,
help us to work to spread
God’s justice in the world.
St. Joseph, patron of builders,
help us to build a society
where all are safe from violence.
St. Joseph, loving husband of Mary,
help us to lead lives
of care and devotion to those we love.
St. Joseph, patron of chastity,
help us to be models of selfless love
and boundless charity.
St. Joseph, patron of the hidden life,
help us to carry out our work with
grace, patience and humility.
St. Joseph, pray for all LGBTQ people
who find in you a loving parent,
protector and guardian.
St. Joseph, pray that all those
who feel lost, rejected or excluded,
will come to know that God loves them
as much as you loved Jesus.
St. Joseph, pray for all of us,
no matter who we are,
where we come from or
where we are going.
Amen.
Founder:
James Martin, S.J.
Executive Director:
Conor J Reidy
Assistant Director:
John Consolie
James Martin
Founder
James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, the editor at large at America Media and founder of Outreach. He is also a consultor to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication and a member of the Synod of Bishops. Father Martin is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, Jesus: A Pilgrimage and Learning to Pray. His most recent book is Come Forth: The Promise of Jesus’s Greatest Miracle. His book Building a Bridge, about LGBTQ Catholics, has been translated into nine languages.
Conor J Reidy
Executive Director
Conor Reidy serves as Executive Director of Outreach, the LGBTQ Catholic ministry rooted in celebrating and elevating the Catholic LGBTQ experience.
Before joining Outreach, Conor served as Director of Mission and Ministry at the University of Mount Saint Vincent, where he led campus ministry, service initiatives and programs connecting faith with justice. Earlier, he spent a decade in campus ministry at Manhattan College, accompanying students in their spiritual and personal formation
A graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, where he studied religious studies and art history, Conor also holds a master’s degree in public policy and administration from Rutgers University–Camden. His work is shaped by Ignatian spirituality and a deep commitment to the Church’s call to welcome.