Catholicism

[Gráinne]

Not a practicing Roman Catholic, but I suddenly had a memory this morning.

When I was in college the first go-around (so 1981-85), I didn't follow any particular faith, having left my parents' church several years before. I still felt some kind of need for a spiritual practice, so even though I wasn't a Roman Catholic, I went to Mass at the Church a block from my dorm. As I recall, I asked a Catholic friend "How do you go to Mass"?, so I didn't make a fool out of myself.

It may seem a shallow reason for attending, but St. George's was the most beautiful church I had ever seen. It was a historic building in the University neighborhood, right up next to gas stations, a disco, and fast food restaurants.

Someone upthread quoted the prayer right before Eucharist-the part about being unworthy, but say the word and my spirit will be healed. I remember being so moved by that, and I certainly needed healing and lots of it. For many reasons, I was pretty much like a broken down car and completely out of spiritual gas.

I always snapped to attention at the benediction-"The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face towards you and grant you peace" Well, I needed all those things, massively. Upon the benediction, I felt I could keep going for another week. It filled me.

So I did the whole thing-went to classes, had a kind of confirmation ceremony, and Eucharist, I believe. I eventually left Cincinnati but remained a practicing Roman Catholic back in *hometown also beginning with a C*.

There's no good reason why I stopped, except that a few years after I went home, I moved out again and across the country and began a pretty wild (read: irresponsible) lifestyle for a few years. I wonder if I'd stuck to it, and received that benediction every week, if I would have gotten so far off track.

I never formally left the Church, if there is such a thing. It's a very long story, but I bounced around through several Protestant denominations and Episcopal (very Roman Catholic-like in service while still Protestant), then even some time as an Evangelical before leaving Christianity altogether and currently struggling between Judaism and Quakerism.

But even if I'm not a Christian and have serious questions about theology, I still remember how centered I felt during those services. My life fell apart, but spiritually, I had a community and I loved the beauty.

Out of curiosity, I looked up St. George's. Sadly, attendance declined in the years after I was there, with the growth of the University and changing neighborhood. It closed in 1993, and combined with a church a few miles away. I was glad to hear that the beautiful building was saved from being wrecked, and I hope it continues thus.

[Ciaran]

I thought I'd update this thread again with some reflections from here in London.


Firstly, a wider issue impacting the Roman Catholic church here in the UK and that is the resignation last week of Cardinal Keith O'Brien. O'Brien was the most senior Catholic here in UK and was to be the only UK representative who was going to be able to vote in upcoming papal conclave.


His resignation was forced through by the Vatican following allegations from four priests that he had engaged with them in sexual activity - and some suggestions that he had used undue influence in this regard. After initially refuting the allegations, he has now admitted that his sexual conduct has at times "fallen beneath the standards expected of me".


As an outspoken opponent of LGBT marriage and having made numerous homophobic pronouncements through his tenure, the hypocracy was glaring. Yet there is also something incredibly sad about it all - a man potentially so untrue to himself that any legacy of his life was all about a lie.


On more local matters, our LGBT Catholic community here in London had its first service in our Farm Street church on Sunday. Until now, we've had our own standalone service, for LGBT folk and friends and families but that was recently brought to an end by the Archbishop of London.


Instead, he suggested that we should integrate with the wider Roman Catholic community here in London - of course, most of us already do at other times of worship anyway. There was a fear from many of us that this was a deliberate attempt to marginalise us and to make us invisible within the London Catholic community. Many of us have been cynical.


We are now worshiping at Farm Street in London's Mayfair. It's a truly beautiful church:

http://www.panoramicstudio.co.uk/church/


The church was packed on Sunday evening - standing room only in fact. At first, I felt a sense of isolation and loneliness - it all seemed somewhat foreign to me, many strange faces and the lack of common welcome I had been used to at our "Soho Masses".


It all seemed a bit too stilted also .... and initially, as I looked around, I saw only strangers. Then, one-by-one, I saw that there were many of us LGBT Catholics who'd made the journey from our old church to this one. We exist.


So far, the non-LGBT parishioners have been incredibly welcoming to us, as have the priests of the parish. Furthermore, after Sunday's service, the Archbishop of London held a reception for us and, whilst I didn't stay for this, he apparently engaged in an open, honest and constructive debate. It's the first time that openly LGBT Catholics here in the UK have had such direct engagement with such a senior representative of the Church. That's got to be encouraging.


So where to from here? I don't know but, for me, the words of Yves Congar, a Dominican theological, resonate ..... in particular, to paraphrase, that our lives and our faiths are characterised by journeys and that we should never think we've arrived as our lives are nomadic and we never really know our ultimate destination. I'm on that journey.

[meridiantoo]

Originally Posted by Ciaran

...the words of Yves Congar, a Dominican theological, resonate ..... in particular, to paraphrase, that our lives and our faiths are characterised by journeys and that we should never think we've arrived as our lives are nomadic and we never really know our ultimate destination. I'm on that journey.

I love this! Thank you for your thoughtful posts, insights, and faith.

[Gráinne]

Just catching a few minutes of the election of the Pope on TV. I thought it was unusual that the press would be invited in there; I don't think this is a part of the Vatican that regular people ever get to see. Still, I've always wanted to see what is open, such as the Sistine Chapel. Truly a beautiful place.

Even if whoever is Pope doesn't affect me in any way, it will be interesting to see if it's someone "traditional", or if they go with someone outside the box. There's no rule that the Pope can't be black, or American (controversies aside).

[Ciaran]

Thought I'd refresh this thread. I'm refreshing it not to talk of theology or to try to convince others that the Catholic church is slowly but surely changing for the better - although I do think it is. Rather, just to share an update on my own Roman Catholicism.


Most Saturdays, I watch football (aka soccer), drink a few, or more, beers and spend too much money shopping. Today, however, I went to a full day workshop for LGBT Catholics in London. Entitled, "Next Steps", it was just that i.e. each of us working out our next steps on our Catholic journey.


I'm not sure if my Catholic faith is still growing stronger. However, I do know that it's increasingly important to me. I appreciate that for many, maybe most, being LGBT and Catholic is a contradiction in terms. However, to me, it's the opposite. For me, as bizarre as it may sound, I find it easier to reconcile my genderqueerness through my Catholicism than through anything else.


I've been luckier than most. Unlike many others, my home parish (in Northern Ireland) was always been welcoming to me. It still is. It remains an important part of my life, especially when I come home. I return to the church as often as I can - in fact, I was able to convince Tmbyfem, a member here, to accompany me to a beautiful Christmas Eve service a few years ago when she was visiting from San Diego.


That church is where my mother first took me to mass over 37 years ago. More recently, a few weeks ago when my mum visited London, I had the opportunity to take her to my current parish here in London. It's at Farm Street, Mayfair - where our active LGBT "Soho Masses" community now celebrates it mass and where today's workshop was held. Bringing my mum to this church was incredibly affirming for me on many levels. She, a conversative Catholic, has become an active proponent of LGBT rights and visibility within the church. I should never have expected any less given the unconditional love she has always shown to me - but, all the same, I'm still really pleased about it all.


So today's workshop? Well, it was important to me. I don't always like living in London and it will never be my home. However, today reminded me that I'm fortunate to live somewhere that's cosmopolitan enough to have a real and active LGBT Catholic community. The opportunity to interact on a real and meaningful level with other LGBT Catholics is invaluable to those who do have a Catholic faith and want to reconcile it to their non-heteronormative gender identity / sexuality.


In particular, here in London which has been the focus of much of the global media attention on LGBT rights within the Catholic chuch over recent months given the church authority's decision to stop our LGBT-focused masses. Our previous LGBT-focused mass was ended by the church authorities as, so they said, they wanted LGBT Catholics to form part of a wider, active, functioning parish. There were, and remain, many doubters. They might have a point - the number of visible LGBT Catholics at our regular masses is said to have dropped.


Notwithstanding that, we remain a real community and we are now becoming a real part of a wider parish community. The existing "straight" parishioners have accepted us with open arms - unambiguously so. The parish has had one letter of complaint about our involvement and that letter came from a non-parishioner. Just as we are gaining from the parish, the existing parishioners are (hopefully) benefiting from us too. We're taking part in wider parish communities and existing parishioners are coming to some of our social functions. There's learning on both sides - and, yes, we are becoming a real and meaningful part of parish life.


As a part of today's workshop, we were each asked to decide upon a number of personal commitments to make or undertake over the next twelve months. One of mine, rather spontaneous, is to complete a Lough Derg pilgrimage. It's a rather harsh pilgrimage on a remote island off the western Irish coast. I've wanted to do this for some time but have lacked the courage, probably due to an uneasiness as to how my genderqueerness will be accepted.


Sometimes, however, you just need to take that next step .....................

[SoSousMe]

As a practicing Catholic, welcome in My local church with open arms, along with the rest of our LGBTQ family. I found this to be very disheartening

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com...13/05/05/66442

[Mopsie]

Originally Posted by SoSousMe

As a practicing Catholic, welcome in My local church with open arms, along with the rest of our LGBTQ family. I found this to be very disheartening

http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com...13/05/05/66442

This article made me feel so angry/frustrated - we are outsiders in a Church that supposedly welcomes us all...

[Wolfsong]

Originally Posted by Ciaran

Thought I'd refresh this thread. I'm refreshing it not to talk of theology or to try to convince others that the Catholic church is slowly but surely changing for the better - although I do think it is. Rather, just to share an update on my own Roman Catholicism.


Most Saturdays, I watch football (aka soccer), drink a few, or more, beers and spend too much money shopping. Today, however, I went to a full day workshop for LGBT Catholics in London. Entitled, "Next Steps", it was just that i.e. each of us working out our next steps on our Catholic journey.


I'm not sure if my Catholic faith is still growing stronger. However, I do know that it's increasingly important to me. I appreciate that for many, maybe most, being LGBT and Catholic is a contradiction in terms. However, to me, it's the opposite. For me, as bizarre as it may sound, I find it easier to reconcile my genderqueerness through my Catholicism than through anything else.


I've been luckier than most. Unlike many others, my home parish (in Northern Ireland) was always been welcoming to me. It still is. It remains an important part of my life, especially when I come home. I return to the church as often as I can - in fact, I was able to convince Tmbyfem, a member here, to accompany me to a beautiful Christmas Eve service a few years ago when she was visiting from San Diego.


That church is where my mother first took me to mass over 37 years ago. More recently, a few weeks ago when my mum visited London, I had the opportunity to take her to my current parish here in London. It's at Farm Street, Mayfair - where our active LGBT "Soho Masses" community now celebrates it mass and where today's workshop was held. Bringing my mum to this church was incredibly affirming for me on many levels. She, a conversative Catholic, has become an active proponent of LGBT rights and visibility within the church. I should never have expected any less given the unconditional love she has always shown to me - but, all the same, I'm still really pleased about it all.


So today's workshop? Well, it was important to me. I don't always like living in London and it will never be my home. However, today reminded me that I'm fortunate to live somewhere that's cosmopolitan enough to have a real and active LGBT Catholic community. The opportunity to interact on a real and meaningful level with other LGBT Catholics is invaluable to those who do have a Catholic faith and want to reconcile it to their non-heteronormative gender identity / sexuality.


In particular, here in London which has been the focus of much of the global media attention on LGBT rights within the Catholic chuch over recent months given the church authority's decision to stop our LGBT-focused masses. Our previous LGBT-focused mass was ended by the church authorities as, so they said, they wanted LGBT Catholics to form part of a wider, active, functioning parish. There were, and remain, many doubters. They might have a point - the number of visible LGBT Catholics at our regular masses is said to have dropped.


Notwithstanding that, we remain a real community and we are now becoming a real part of a wider parish community. The existing "straight" parishioners have accepted us with open arms - unambiguously so. The parish has had one letter of complaint about our involvement and that letter came from a non-parishioner. Just as we are gaining from the parish, the existing parishioners are (hopefully) benefiting from us too. We're taking part in wider parish communities and existing parishioners are coming to some of our social functions. There's learning on both sides - and, yes, we are becoming a real and meaningful part of parish life.


As a part of today's workshop, we were each asked to decide upon a number of personal commitments to make or undertake over the next twelve months. One of mine, rather spontaneous, is to complete a Lough Derg pilgrimage. It's a rather harsh pilgrimage on a remote island off the western Irish coast. I've wanted to do this for some time but have lacked the courage, probably due to an uneasiness as to how my genderqueerness will be accepted.


Sometimes, however, you just need to take that next step .....................

Ciaran,

I commend you on your faith journey and will remember you in my daily prayers. I've heard of Lough Derg and that it is considered possibly the harshest of pilgrimages. What I would tell you is not to be afraid. If you are called to it then there is purpose for it. Let your faith strengthen you and the full armor of God cover you.

As a Catholic I struggle with some of the tenants......I do not believe that communion becomes the actual body of Christ or wine His blood, I do not believe that unborn babies that have not been baptized go to Limbo.....I do not believe in baptism that is not full immersion and completed before the person baptized asks for it (that is probably the Baptist in me.....I claim dual citizenship)......I do not believe in sex for procreation only or that using birth protection is a sin.......I do not believe in confession or the need for a priest or saint to be an intermediary between myself and God.......I do not believe in praying to the Saints.....I do not believe in the section of the Apostle's Creed that states, "We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church." I know you are probably thinking well what the hell is Catholic about this guy then? I don't know the answer to that. All I can tell you is that when I first really saw my faith, that first time I really felt it, everything I knew started to unravel. Maybe I don't have the right to be there anymore.