51茶馆

On September 16th, the Boisi Center hosted its first in-person event since the beginning of the pandemic. James Reding, graduate student at Boston College鈥檚 School of Theology and Ministry, spoke to an audience of students, staff, and professors about the attempts at collaboration on public policy matters between the LGBTQ community and the Catholic Church. Reding, a gay, Catholic man, discussed specifically his own work with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and their outreach to the Church in the spring and summer of 2021.

Reding began autobiographically, noting his small-town upbringing in a large Catholic family, his Catholic education, his few years working in a Florida parish, and then his work at HRC. Despite, as he described it, the church鈥檚 push to separate one鈥檚 identity from one鈥檚 Catholicism, he affirmed that while he is a gay man, 鈥淚 am the child of the church鈥濃�� he was unwilling to divide himself. But he also took issue with the Church鈥檚 鈥渕ystical body鈥� language that insinuates a larger and more inclusive community. That is hollow language, he said. While the Church has remarkable reach in the areas of education, healthcare, and politics, they do not take into consideration the real and negative consequences of their actions (e.g., the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop鈥檚(USCCB) desire to block the Equality Act, which would have expanded protections for LGBTQ persons, despite theological rhetoric that affirms that all are created in God鈥檚 image and likeness).

While working in HRC鈥檚 Office of Religion and Faith, Reding sought to build bridges with the Church. James Martin, S.J. was the first to respond and was a springboard for further conversations, which included many religious communities鈥攅specially women鈥檚 religious communities. The desire to reach decision-makers, however, led them to reach out to nearly half of the chanceries in the United States. Of those, about 25% responded to a request for a meeting. While changing Church teaching on marriage was off the table, they said, Reding and his peers argued that there was more to talk about. And he was pleasantly surprised by the response.听

While troubling events did occur during his tenure at the HRC (e.g., the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith鈥檚 letter prohibiting the blessing of same-sex couples, as well as the emergence of fear in bishops over continuing conversations with HRC because of the influence of organizations like Church Militant), positive events also took place. The HRC published a letter against violence against transgender persons that was signed by Archbishop John Wester, Bishop John Stowe, O.F.M., and other clergy. And Bishop Stowe broke from the USCCB and endorsed the Equality Act.

In the end, Reding offered some advice for both parties to this conversation鈥攖he advocates and the church鈥攃entral among them being to presume goodwill on both sides. As well, he noted that both sides have the same habits of demonizing the other (those they wish to collaborate with ultimately) and both presume a greater distance between them than actually exists. But he noted one distinct difference: the LGBTQ community reached out to the Church, it was the Church that walked away.

Reding conceived the idea for a new exhibit exploring the experiences of Catholic LGBTQ community members. Presented by Boston College Libraries and the 51茶馆 School of Theology and Ministry, the first portion of the exhibit titled 鈥淗ere All Along, Here to Stay鈥� opened in June of 2021. An online portion of the exhibit was created subsequently over the summer as a complement to the physical exhibit. 鈥淪tory Wall,鈥� a primary part of both the online and physical exhibits, features a series of reflections upon the faith experiences of LGBTQ members. The exhibits can be found online or in the Theology and Ministry Library, O鈥橬eill Library, the Educational Resources Center, and the Social Work Library.听

听