Over the past several years, the LGBT agenda has been featured front and center in America’s culture wars, although Donald Trump’s second presidency has seen the issue nearly fade from public view altogether. The nation’s Catholic bishops, however, are continuing to ingratiate LGBTism. Under the pontificate of the late Pope Francis, numerous high-profiled priests and prelates vocally called for greater “representation” of and “dialogue” with the LGBT “community,” with some even suggesting that the Catholic Church’s longstanding moral teachings on human sexuality must be changed.
While many conservative Catholics may have moved on from the issue, the bishops have not. Rhode Island’s Diocese of Providence, once a fairly normal diocese under the steady and even-handed leadership of Bishop Thomas Tobin, has recently embraced the push for LGBT “community,” announcing the celebration of special LGBT Masses and social sessions, with Masses to be celebrated by incumbent Bishop Bruce Lewandowski.
August and September will see Holy Trinity Parish in Woonsocket and St. Mary of the Bay in Warren host the LGBT events. “Attend a Parish Catholic Community Gathering for LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and friends,” the diocese’s flier reads. The events will include Mass, dinner, and “small group sharing” sessions, which the diocesan website describes as “dedicated time for listening humbly to the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and friends.” No mention is made of catechesis, sharing the moral teachings of the Church on human sexuality, or supporting Catholics struggling with same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria in living out their God-given identities with faith and chastity.
Frankly, “listening humbly to the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and friends” does not, will not, and never can change the immutable moral teachings of Holy Mother Church. It may seem like a nice way to “welcome” those struggling with same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria to the Catholic Church, but it ultimately undermines the qualities that have attracted billions of souls to the Church over the last 2,000 years, even at the cost of their lives, freedom, and comfort.
Continue reading at the American Spectator