We talk to two pioneers in LGBTQ rights in the Catholic Church about a momentous religion case. We wrote an amicus brief for them. What they say about the Pope on the issue is extraordinary.

A bit about our guests:

While engaged in study for her doctoral degree at the University of Pennsylvania, Sister Jeannine Gramick became friends with a gay man and began a church ministry to lesbian and gay people. She organized religious services for people with a homosexual identity who had left the Catholic Church because of prejudice against them. Gradually the people she met came to understand that God loves all persons, regardless of one’s sexual orientation, and that the Catholic Church began to welcome them with compassion and love. She co-founded New Ways Ministry, a Catholic social justice center working for the reconciliation of lesbian/gay people and the church. Sister Gramick has traveled throughout the English-speaking world to address groups about sexual identity. She is a Sister of Loretto. Sister Gramick holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.S. in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame. Sister Gramick has written and edited numerous articles and books. Her books include Homosexuality and the Catholic Church, Homosexuality in the Priesthood and Religious Life, The Vatican and Homosexuality, Building Bridges: Gay and Lesbian Reality and the Catholic Church, and Voices of Hope: A Collection of Positive Catholic Writings on Lesbian/Gay Issues.

Francis DeBernardo has ministered at New Ways Ministry since 1992, first as a volunteer, and then as a staff member since 1994. He has served as Executive Director since 1996. He has conducted programs on LGBT issues and Catholicism in parishes, dioceses, retreat houses, colleges, and religious communities throughout the United States. He authored Marriage Equality: A Positive Catholic Approach. He is the editor and a contributor to Bondings 2.0, a daily blog of news and opinion covering Catholic LGBT topics. His articles have appeared in The National Catholic Reporter, Commonweal, The Advocate, and The American Catholic. He was the keynote speaker at the conference on religion and LGBT issues at the first World Pride event in Rome, Italy, in 2000, and a featured speaker at the interfaith conference at World Pride in London, England in 2012.

As children head back to school this fall, herd immunity for measles is down while some parents are demanding “choice” with vaccines. The religious right and RFK Jr. have driven this new era. We talk to leading vaccine expert, Dr. Paul Offit, about the perils of choice.