 Dignity
Canada Dignité
is Canada's organization of Roman Catholics who are
concerned about our church's sexual theology, particularly as it pertains to
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons. We work in collaboration with
other Catholic organizations seeking reform in our church's leadership and
teachings. Membership is open to all who share our concerns. We work within and without the Church to promote the full personhood of those
who belong to sexual minorities, and we celebrate our sexuality as a gift of
God.
We believe our loving relationships are intrinsically good, and worthy of
recognition as marriage in civil law as well as in the eyes of God.
We are informed and faithful Catholics who are urging our
church leaders to consider modern scientific and political understandings of
sexual orientation and gender equality. We participate in the activities of
Call to Action and belong to the Catholic
Organizations for Renewal the Coalition of Concerned Canadian
Catholics, and we publicly challenge our bishops, and
even the Holy Father, whenever these leaders preach hatred and discrimination
of gay and lesbian people, or oppose us in our quest for full citizenship.
Whereas many gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Catholics have left the
church in sorrow and disgust, we continue to
practice our Catholic faith despite these overt differences with our temporal
leaders. We claim our rightful place
as
members of Christ's mystical body,
and live the sacramental life of the church, openly and visibly as
gay and lesbian people of conscience.
We of Dignity Canada Dignité
do not wish to be confused with so-called Catholic ministries who premise that
we are objectively disordered, intrinsically evil persons in need of
conversion.
Most of us were raised in the Roman Catholic tradition and have come to feel betrayed by our church leaders, particularly the Canadian Conference of Canadian Bishops, who unceasingly denigrate us and oppose our efforts to achieve civil rights and protections. Our bishops have made numerous pronouncements about "homosexual persons" in the third person, but none have ever addressed us directly, nor invited us to any dialogue. We believe that, in terms of our life experience, no one can, nor should, speak for us but ourselves.
Dignity operates
local chapters in several Canadian cities where members come together
for worship and social activities; our
newsletter brings
members news and editorials of interest to gay and lesbian Catholics.
Dignity Canada Dignité National Officers
National Editor: Joe Brabant, Ottawa
For more information contact our |
Join us:
Add your voice to Canada's gay and lesbian Catholics bearing witness to
the hubris and homophobia of the Canadian bishops. Write to
info@dignitycanada.org
and include your name and city of residence.
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