Category Archives: News

British Catholic schools remove ‘mother,’ ‘father’ from admission forms

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MANCHESTER, England – The terms “mother” and “father” will be banned from Catholic schools’ admissions forms in England and Wales following a complaint the terms discriminated against gays and stepparents.

Children begin a fun run last March in the streets near St. Joseph School in Garden City, N.Y. (Credit: Gregory A. Shemitz/CNS.)/

The Office of the Schools Adjudicator, which settles disputes on behalf of the government, upheld the objection of a parent who wished to enroll a child in Holy Ghost Catholic Primary School in London.

The parent had been asked to fill in a form which left spaces only for the names of “mother/guardian” and “father/guardian” and argued that the terms discriminated against “separated, step- and gay parents.”

Source: Crux

LGBT Christian Groups to Meet in London, 2019

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The European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups has announced that its 2019 Annual Conference will be hosted by its UK-based member groups in June 2019, in London.

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The UK member-groups include: Evangelical Fellowship of LGBT Christians,  LGBT Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council, Metropolitan Community Church North London, Quest, The Sibyls. A number of other LGBT Christian groups around the UK, although not members of the European Forum, have also expressed interest in supporting the 2019 Conference. This will be the third European Forum Conference to be held in the UK – previous venues have been Uxbridge (1988), Edinburgh (2000), and St. Alban’s (2008). The founding gathering of the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups took place in Paris, in 1982.

Martin Pendergast, Acting-Chair of the 2019 Conference Planning Group said:

When we see so much fragmentation around Europe – border restrictions, and increasing homophobic and transphobic actions – LGBT Christians and their allies will provide a prophetic voice for an inclusive, welcoming commitment to the common good of all European citizens, particularly LGBT+ people, parents and families. Brexit may or may not happen, but we’re all European even beyond the EU!

The UK Conference will follow the 2018 Conference which will be held in Albano, near Rome, 9-13 May 2018.

“Gathering Voices” LGBT Evangelical Conference

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The Evangelical Fellowship Conference 2017 is now just a week away:
Gathering Voices Conference 2017

At Cross Street Chapel, Manchester – http://cross-street-chapel.org.uk/

To book your place:

Fr James Martin says Cafod ‘not entirely accurate’ in its account of why his London lecture was ‘cancelled’

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‘It was very clear that the 2017 talk was cancelled. And it was clear why: concerns and fears over negative publicity surrounding my LGBT book’

The leading Jesuit, Fr James Martin SJ has said Cafod cancelled a planned October lecture in London because of controversy over his new book, “‘Building a Bridge,’ which calls for further dialogue between the Catholic Church and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics who feel alienated from the Church.

Speaking to The Tablet on Tuesday (19 September), Fr Martin said Cafod’s most recent statement about the keynote talk “is not entirely accurate, and I’m sorry to have to correct the record.”

Cafod, the Catholic international aid agency, has denied that it withdrew an invitation for Fr Martin to speak at an event in London.

Source: The Tablet

India’s top court: Instant divorce among Muslims unlawful | Religion News Service

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NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday (Aug. 22) struck down the Muslim practice that allows men to instantly divorce their wives as unconstitutional.

The bench, comprising five senior judges of different faiths, deliberated for three months before issuing its order in response to petitions from seven Muslim women who had been divorced through the practice known as triple talaq.

Indian law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on NDTV that since the court deemed the practice unconstitutional there is no need for any further legislative action by the government.

Full report: Religion News Service

Christians in Australia support marriage equality  |The Guardian

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A majority of Australian Christians support same-sex marriage and think parliamentarians should vote on the issue as soon as possible.

A Galaxy Research poll of 1,000 Australian Christians has found 54% support marriage equality and 49% do not want the law to be changed to allow civil celebrants to refuse their services to same-sex couples based on conscientious objection.

It also found 61% do not like having conservative religious groups presenting their views on same-sex marriage as though they are speaking for all Christians in the country.

Source: Most Christians in Australia support marriage equality and want a free vote | Australia news | The Guardian

U.K. Bishops’ Voting Guide Reveals Pope Francis’ Influence – Bondings 2.0

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Conversations on marriage and family initiated by Pope Francis have opened doors within the church for families which are considered “non-traditional” by church leaders. But could the pope’s shift to mercy and inclusion in church discussions be having public policy implications as well? There is good evidence from the United Kingdom that the answer is yes.

Screen Shot 2017-05-16 at 9.57.59 AMLike many episcopal conferences, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) released a voting guide ahead of the U.K.’s general election this June. These guides generally include both guiding principles and specific political positions, which too frequently are reduced to the bishops’ opposition to abortion and to LGBT rights.

It is therefore highly significant that CBCEW’s guide omits commentary on LGBT rights altogether, and poses questions rather than dictating positions on issues which are taken up.

Source: Bondings 2.0

Quest Chair Now Co-Chair of Global Network!

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Last year in Rome at the foundation conference of the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics, our Quest chair Ruby Almeida was elected to the steering committee of the new body. It’s just been announced that the steering committee has named her as co-chair, alongside a German, Michael Brinkschroder. This is a an impressive achievement by our impressive chair. I am sure all of us in Quest will want to extend to her heartiest congratulations.

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The news was disclosed in an email from Benjamin Oh, the newly appointed secretary:

After months of working together and also having developed a clearer organizational structure and office bearers roles as tasked by our assembly gathered last October 2015 in Rome, the GNRC – Steering Committee (SC) finally held an open nomination and election last night to properly have those roles filled. The election was a very organic and colleagial process with very little fanfare as we were all quite focus on how to support each another in further developing our Global Network going forward, we are a community in action but also in prayer together.

Just a small snippet to what amount of work we have put in together so far:

We have had 6 SC committee meetings which were punctuated by 3 separate subcommittees meetings each time (i. Organizational Development, ii. Future Assembly & Funding, iii. Communications and Public Relations) in the lead up to most of the SC meetings; we have since issued 4 public statements including (a 4 page long response to Amoris Laetitia) and 2 newsletters in multiple languages, working across 7 global time zones in crazy hours of the days, beyond the countless house of informal meetings and group work across time and place. It is a miracle. It is obvious that we wouldn’t have been able to do this without each another from the Assembly, your affirmation, contributions, thoughts and prayers have been the thing that has kept it all going.

So here are outcome of the election of the Executive Team for the GNRC:

Co-Chairs: Ruby Almeida & Michael Brinkschroeder ; Secretary: Benjamin Oh ;Treasurer:Chris Vella ; Communications Executive: Fernando Gonzalez

Source: Quest Chair Now Co-Chair of Global Network! | Quest

Africa’s most and least homophobic countries | 76 CRIMES

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Most tolerant countries

The Afrobarometer network, which conducts public opinion surveys in Africa, recently listed the continent’s most and least homophobic countries.

In these four African countries, the majority of residents say they would welcome or would not be bothered having a homosexual neighbor:

  • Cape Verde, 74%.
  • South Africa, 69%.
  • Mozambique, 56%.
  • Namibia, 55%.

Least tolerant countries

These five are the countries where the smallest percentage said they would welcome or would not be bothered having a homosexual neighbor:

  • Senegal, 3%.
  • Guinea, 4%.
  • Uganda, 5%.
  • Burkina Faso, 5%.
  • Niger, 5%.

Source: Africa’s most and least homophobic countries | 76 CRIMES