Resource Database
Resources and Website Links
LGBT+ AND CHURCH PUBLICATIONS:
(these are links, click on them to go to the doc)
Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich – “dialogue is not a dirty word, it is OUR word!” Cupich said he also has invited LGBT Catholics to come talk with him as part of his own desire for dialogue.
CARDINAL TOBIN WELCOMES LGBT PILGRIMAGE TO HIS CATHEDRAL
NEW JERSEY CARDINAL OFFERS HISTORIC WELCOME TO LGBT PERSONS
Cardinal Cupich: Pope Francis’ ‘field hospital’ calls us to radically rethink church life
BOOKS
Always My Child: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding Your Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered or Questioning Son or Daughter by Kevin Jennings. [NY: Skylight Press, 2003]. Updated, good, general book for parents.
Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story. Carol Curoe and Robert Curoe. [Syren Book Co., Minneapolis, MN, 2007]. “… testimony to the power faith and love can play in bringing families together.”
Coming Out to Parents: A Two-Way Survival Guide for Lesbian Women and Gay Men and Their Parents. Mary Borhek [Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1993]. Not specifically geared to Catholics, but may be the best of the general books for parents.
Creating Safe Environments for LGBT Student: A Catholic School Perspective. Michael J. Bayly. [Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press, 2007]. How to train the staff of your Catholic high school to meet the special needs of LGBT students.
Fortunate Families: Catholic Families with Lesbian Daughters and Gay Sons. Mary Ellen Lopata. [Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing, 2003]. Specifically related to Catholic families, with stories and a full chapter on pertinent church teaching.
Setting the Table: Preparing Catholic Parishes to Welcome Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People and Their Families. James A. Schexnayder . “… offers helpful suggestions … on how the Church … may engage and integrate LGBT persons into the life and ministries of the Church.” Most Rev. Joseph M. Sullivan.
Sexual Ethics: A Theological Introduction. Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler [Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, 2012]. “… a Catholic book on sexual morality that ‘people in the pews’ and ‘my students’ can understand … and therefore more enlightening on common questions about sexual morality as they arise for Catholics in the contemporary world.”
Sexual Diversity and Catholicism. Edited by Patricia Beattie Jung, with Joseph Andrew Coray [Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2001]. Essays exploring relationship between contemporary biblical scholarship and Roman Catholic magisterial teachings about the morality of homosexuality.
This Remarkable Gift–Being Gay and Catholic. Maurice Shinnick [St. Leonard’s, Australia: Allen and Unwin, 1997]. Written by a priest, combines real-life stories and experience. Considered, prayerful, faithful analysis of Church teaching, especially in light of Vatican II.
What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality: Millennium Edition Updated and Expanded. Daniel A. Helminiak [New Mexico: Alamo Square Press, 2000]. Concise, readable book solidly based on modern biblical scholarship. His conclusion: “If people would still seek to know outright if gay or lesbian sex is good or evil…they will have to look somewhere else for an answer.”
NB-— Fortunate Families provides this list but cannot endorse these or any books. We stand by Catholic Social Teaching about the dignity of the human person and the Gospel mandate to work together for the common good.