In additional promising Roman Catholic news, Bishop Howard Hubbard,
archbishop of Albany, New York, will hold a Vigil Mass at the 2011
Conference of the Catholic Association for Lesbian and Gay Ministry (CALGM).
This
year’s conference, which will take place September 22 – 25, 2011 in
Albany, is titled “Setting the Table for LGBT People in a Diverse
Church.”
Just some of the many workshop topics include outreach to LGBT
youth and college students, resources for straight spouses of LGBT
people, and strategies for building welcoming parishes.
Bishop Hubbard has already received criticism from conservative Roman
Catholic groups, but so far no official Catholic body has chosen to
look into his decision to hold a Vigil Mass at the CALGM Conference.
Unfortunately, the San Elredo community,
run by Bishop Raul Vera Lopez of Saltillo, Mexico, has not been so
lucky.
The Bishop has become the target of a Vatican investigation after
being accused by a Catholic agency based in Peru of “promot[ing]
homosexual relations.”
Bishop Vera argues that his ministry does not go against Roman Catholic teaching.
Instead, he says, the San Elredo community “work[s] with (the gay
community) to help them recover their human dignity, which is frequently
attacked at home and in society, and they are treated like scum.”
Like many Roman Catholic clergy who have supported the dignity and humanity of LGBT people, Bishop Vera has a history of standing up to social injustice in other forms, as well.
The San Elredo community was founded in 2002 by the Rev. Robert Coogan,
an American-born priest who also works as a prison chaplain.
He and
Bishop Vera have been outspoken in their support for LGBT protections in
Mexico, even advocating for civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.
Although Roman Catholic clergy like Bishops Hubbard and Vera and Rev.
Coogan still face backlash from conservative Catholic groups and the
Vatican itself, it is heartening to see that they still stand up in
support of protections and human dignity for LGBT people.