: Why did Dignity make a public statement challenging the official Catholic position? Dignity felt called to a prophetic stance, which, simply said, is to be honest about the matter. After nearly twenty years of ministering to hurting Catholics, Dignity members were aware of the harm that the Church's repeated condemnation of homosexuality does to individuals. One statement from a pope or bishop can throw devout gay Catholics back into guilt and self-deprecation that they may have spent years trying to overcome. According to a 1989 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the rate of attempted suicide among gay and lesbian adolescents is three to four times higher than that among straight adolescents. According to some estimates, a homosexual person is harassed or assaulted in the USA about every 90 seconds. Insensitive church pronouncements only aggravate these conditions. In contrast, Dignity wanted to go on record as a group of homosexual but self-affirming and practicing Catholics. And Dignity wanted therefore to give hope to other gay and lesbian Catholics. Espa?ol Back to Top Q: What did people find harsh and uninformed in that 1986 Vatican letter? It backed away from the prevailing ethical opinion that a homosexual orientation is morally neutral. Reaffirming its 1975 opinion that homosexuality is a "pathological condition," the Vatican now called it "an objective disorder." These statements refer to homosexual orientation itself, not just to its genital expression. Despite massive evidence to the contrary in medical, psychological, and sociobiological research, the official Vatican opinion is that gay people are sick. This teaching is unmistakable in the Vatican's 2005 Instruction on gay seminarians. It holds that gay men lack "emotional maturity" and cannot "relate correctly to both men and women." In addition, supposedly, they are defective in "love of the truth," "a sense of justice," "integrity," "respect for others," "compassion," and "balanced judgment and behavior." In fact, however, stating what many bishops were known to believe, Bishops Charles Buswell, Thomas Gumbleton, and Walter Sullivan publicly criticized the 1992 document. The bishops in Florida, Maine, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington also opposed discriminatory legislation and/or supported gay rights legislation. However, in 2003 the Vatican called on all public officials to oppose gay marriage as "contrary to the common good," and under Pope Benedict XVI the Catholic bishops have waged an all-out campaign against any civil recognition of lesbian or gay relationships. Espa?ol Back to Top Q: Is Dignity the only ministry to GLBT Catholics? No. Through his pioneering books, lectures, and counseling, Fr. John McNeill, expelled from the Jesuit order for his work, continues to minister to gay and lesbian Catholics. Since 1977, New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Maryland, has provided a national service of education, publications, workshops, and newsletter on homosexuality and Catholicism. Although in 1999 and again in 2000 the Vatican officially silenced co-founders Fr. Robert Nugent, S.D.S., and Sr. Jeannine Gramick, S.S.N.D., the organization continues to provide a "gay-positive ministry of advocacy and justice for lesbian and gay Catholics." Another network of groups, much smaller than Dignity, is Courage. Founded in the early 1980s by Fr. John Harvey, O.S.F.S., of New York City, it helps people to be celibate "in accordance with [the narrowest interpretation of] the Roman Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality." A positive, life-enhancing celibacy is certainly a legitimate goal for those who freely choose it. But the Courage ministry rests on the belief that homosexuality is a psychological aberration, an emotional debility. Built on a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous, Courage aims to have people restrain and control their "sickness." Such a negative starting point, which ignores the bulk of current scientific opinion, can hardly foster personal integration, emotional well-being, or real holiness. Many dioceses now have their own official gay ministries or at least appointed chaplains, and many belong to the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian & Gay Ministries. These ministries vary in