Pastoral Affirmation to LGBTQ+ Students, Allies, and Friends

Campus Ministry acknowledges the deep pain many LGBTQ+ people and their loved ones continue to experience with the , recapitulating the Church鈥檚 stance on this matter.

We believe that 鈥渢he source from whom every good gift comes is God, who is above all, blessed for ever. He who is all good has made all things good, so that he might fill his creatures with blessings and even after the Fall he has continued his blessings as a sign of his merciful love鈥� (鈥淕eneral Introduction鈥�, Book of Blessings, 搂 1).

God indeed is the source and author of all blessings. God blessed us since the beginning and blesses us every day, LGBTQ+ and heterosexual-cisgender alike. God blessed us from the very beginning by creating us in God鈥檚 own image and likeness. LGBTQ+ people are not only blessed, but are also a blessing, since God blesses the Church, communities, and families with LGBTQ+ people, LGBTQ+ persons鈥� gifts, and companionship.

Campus Ministry recognizes the very presence of Jesus Christ in LGBTQ+ people and sees his suffering, too, in the pain, marginalization, and alienation experienced by LGBTQ+ people. Through many Catholic LGBTQ+ people, God has blessed the Church, and continues to bless the Church in countless ways; LGBTQ+ people are beloved children of a loving God who constantly blesses the Church in our unity, compassion, and love for one another.

鈥溾�or God is love.... No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit鈥� (1Jn 4:8b, 11-12).

Indeed, God is love, and the blessing of the presence of God and God鈥檚 Spirit becomes manifest as we love each other, support each other, and help each other to heal. No one can deny or take this away from any person.

With humility in the face of the suffering of our beloved, both LGBTQ+ people and Jesus himself, we commit to continuing to lift up the beauty and blessedness of LGBTQ+ people, building spaces for continued growth in faith and hope鈥攖rusting in the presence, guidance, and light of the Holy Spirit.

We pray that God continues blessing the Church, our university, and our world with the vastly rich diversity of people that God has created.

March 25, 2021