New Ways Ministry is pleased to announce our latest publication, Cornerstones: Sacred Stories of LGBTQ+ Employees in Catholic Institutions.
Cornerstones is an anthology of 12 stories of faith, sacrifice, joy, and pain from LGBTQ+ people employed by Catholic parishes and schools. The stories in the anthology are divided into three categories: LGBTQ+ people who have been fired from Catholic schools, LGBTQ+ people who have been fired from Catholic parishes, and LGBTQ+ people who have continued employment at Catholic institutions with the support of their employers.
The collection was compiled by two gay Catholic men, Ish Lewis and Mark Guevara, who were themselves church officials.
In the anthology’s introduction, Lewis explains the timeliness and importance of these testimonies: “Since 2007, more than 100 employees in the United States alone have been fired or forced to resign from Catholic institutions for reasons related to their LGBTQ+ identity or for supporting those who identify as LGBTQ+. … Anecdotally, we know that many more have been fired, but for a variety of reasons (including fear of harm), they have kept their experiences private.”
The stories in this anthology not only convey the real experiences these officials faced, but also address some important questions about how the Catholic Church operates. Guevara concludes: “We strive to be a synodal Church, a Church that listens to the Holy Spirit speaking among all people and follows his leading. We hope that this collection of sacred stories will increase community discernment in our diocesan, parish and school communities, leading to pastoral conversion.”
The book’s main title, “The Cornerstone,” alludes to Psalm 118:22-23: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was done by the Lord, and it is a wonderful thing in our eyes.”
Bishop John Stowe of the OFM Religious Order of Religion in Lexington, Kentucky, recommended the book, saying it contains “powerful stories of people who have experienced rejection and challenges because of their LGBTQ identity while serving in the Church where they are rooted and whose faith they profess.”
Christina Traina, a prominent theologian at Fordham University, said the stories in the book show that “when LGBTQ+ employees stay silent, secretive, or don’t fully show up in the workplace out of fear, we all lose out. When you pull out the cornerstone, it can really bring the house down!”
To order Cornerstones, click here
Cornerstones is a companion volume to New Ways Ministries’ 2022 anthology, Loving Tenderly: Sacred Stories of Lesbian and Queer Religious , a previous volume featuring 23 stories of Catholic nuns who have embraced their LGBTQ+ identities.
For information on all New Ways Ministry publications, click here.
—Robert Schein, New Ways Ministries, July 23, 2024
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