Tag Archives: Society of Jesus

Jesuit Video Series Asks, “Who Are We to Judge?”

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A Jesuit production company is highlighting the experiences of LGBT Catholics in a YouTube series called Who Are We to Judge?, a reference Pope Francis’s response when asked about gay priests last summer.

 Rev. Eddie Siebert, president of Culver City, California-based Loyola Productions, said that the series creates a space for LGBT Catholics to share their faith stories.

jesuit video series, who are we to judge

“We didn’t want to get into church teaching, and dogma, and doctrine,” said Siebert. “We just wanted to talk to faithful people who are gay and ask them to tell their stories.”

He explained that the staff at Loyola Productions, which runs the YouTube channel Ignatius News Network where the videos are posted, came up with the idea to create the series:

“We asked, ‘What can we do to highlight this issue in terms of being Catholic and being gay, and what this means for people?’”

Though some conservative Catholic groups have criticized the project, Siebert said the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

– full report at  Advocate.com.

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New documentary depicts Jesuit’s struggle for LGBT rights

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With the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s very public battle against same-sex marriage and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent condemnation of Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley’s sexual ethics book, Just Love, it seems hard to remember a time when the Roman Catholic Church wasn’t fixated on LGBT issues.

In “Taking a Chance on God,” Irish-born filmmaker Brendan Fay reminds us that not only is this struggle relatively new in church history, but the momentum behind the movement began with one courageous priest and his groundbreaking book.

Filmmaker Brendan Fay and John McNeillThe film offers a portrait of John McNeill, the Jesuit priest who was silenced in 1977 for his book The Church and the Homosexual and, nine years later, was expelled from his order for refusing to stay silent in his ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics.

The film had its New York City premiere this weekend as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the New York chapter of Dignity USA, a community McNeill helped found. The film includes a number of insightful interviews from fellow priest activist Dan McCarthy, theologian Mary Hunt, openly gay priest Bernard Lynch, gay rights activist Ginny Appuzzo, and the late activist Jesuit Fr. Robert Carter.

Fay’s documentary offers a full depiction of McNeill’s life as well as a window into the gay struggle for liberation in both church and society amid the terrifying backdrop of the AIDS crisis. Two sections of the film are particularly powerful: McNeill’s calling to the priesthood and his calling forth out of the silence imposed on him by the Vatican.

– full report at National Catholic Reporter

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