News and Views

The directive, which appears to be the first of its kind among other U.S. diocesan policies addressing gender identity in schools, requires the schools to inform students’ parents “with reasonable promptness.”

Using this acronym is historic because the church has long persisted in an argument against these letters and their variations, at times denying that LGBTQ people, described as such, even exist.

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, the current U.S.C.C.B. vice president, released last week “Like Every Disciple,” a set of guidelines written as a personal letter for the pastoral accompaniment of LGBTQ persons.

The best pastoral ministers are also very effective at tending to and honoring stories. This is the way of Jesus.

Our mission is to help students move through a process of self-discovery, guiding them toward a transcendent horizon where they meet Jesus Christ and a better version of themselves.

Studies from the Centers for Disease Control in 2016 and 2019 show alarmingly elevated risks of suicide among LGBTQ teens.

These policies mostly lack a foundation in lived experience and pastoral care, which hinders the work of evangelization being done in Catholic schools.

More than 300 years later, LGBTQ persons are being cast as the new witches. From schools to libraries, legislative floors to judicial chambers, public discourse is obsessed with gay and trans persons.

Continuing to prioritize the battle for religious liberty over a disproportionately small number of LGBTQ kids leaves us complicit in the culture of death.

While the United States continues to see diocesan policies emerge in response to LGBTQ issues, “Aroha” takes a different approach. When deciding on events or activities, the document advises that “each situation must be judged on its merits.”