JOIN US FOR THIS WEBINAR
ON TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2024 AT 7PM
Transcendent Faith:
Embracing Diversity in Gender and Spirituality
Join us for an enlightening online event approaching the experiences of transgender people from the perspective of faith and spirituality. Guest speakers Maxwell Kuzma and Sr. Luisa Derouen O.P. will be in conversation with each other about their respective lived experiences - Max as a trans Catholic and Sr. Luisa as a woman religious ministering to the trans community.
Register now for this webinar hosted by Call To Action Metro NY on Tue Mar 19, 2024 at 7 pm (EST). Attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions for a moderated Q+A with Max and Sr. Luisa after their conversation, to round out an evening designed to foster understanding, respect, and inclusivity.
REGISTER:
The Eventbrite link itself is here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/transcendent-faith-embracing-diversity-in-gender-and-spirituality-tickets-809706673457?aff=oddtdtcreator
Or use your smart phone to scan this QR code to get the Eventbrite link:
Invites you to join us in our first IN-PERSON
ANNUAL MEETING since 2019
Father Anne will lead us in a retreat on Sunday, APRIL 14, 2024 at 2-5
This spring CTA Metro NY will hold our Annual Meeting in-person for the first time since 2019. To celebrate this milestone we are presenting a special event - a mini Retreat with Father Anne, a Roman Catholic woman priest and advocate for women's ordination in the Catholic Church. Father Anne is a graduate of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA and an insightful preacher with a deep love for Ignatian Spirituality. Her retreat promises to be a special opportunity for spiritual growth, rejuvenation, and connection, which we need now more than ever as we come together "post" pandemic. Whether you are a long-time attendee or new to our community, whether you experience your faith inside or outside of church walls, this event is open to all who seek guidance and inspiration. Don't miss this chance to deepen your faith and forge meaningful connections with like-minded individuals, and to "be" the church we want to see in the world. Mark your calendars and prepare for an afternoon filled with joy, reflection, and spiritual renewal.
SURVEY: Please use this link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CYPCNZQ
to complete the survey to help Father Anne tailor the retreat as much as possible to our needs. We look forward to welcoming you to this unique event.
Location: 20 Washington Square North, NYC
REGISTER:
Please use the QR code below or this link to reach the Eventbrite registration page to register for the Annual meeting on April 14.
CTA Metro NY expresses solidarity with the NYC theater communities forced out of the Connelly Theater
As Catholics called to be church to one another, CTA Metro NY strongly disapproves of the Archdiocese of New York’s overreach and mismanagement of their property known as the Connelly Theater. The Archdiocese’s recent decision to increase scrutiny of theater productions performed at this space is directly responsible for New York Theater Workshop and SheNYC Arts vacating the space and the resignation of the theater’s general manager.
CTA Metro NY rejects the premise of the Archdiocese’s claim that by censoring prospective productions that include themes such as transgender identity and reproductive justice they are ensuring that works performed at the Connelly adhere to Catholic teaching. While production companies at the Connelly were always aware of the clause that the Archdiocese had final say about what kind of performances were permissible, this power was rarely if ever exercised until a recent change in the Archdiocese’s internal management. Furthermore, the specific themes the Archdiocese objects to are notable – no concerns have been raised about other experiences traditionally frowned upon by Church leadership, such as divorce, premarital sex, murder, or economic exploitation. By singling out certain groups and experiences as unfit for public discourse, the Archdiocese allows itself to be distracted by the culture war agenda instead of providing pastoral guidance to the faithful and material care to those in need.
CTA Metro NY is dismayed by the Archdiocese’s approach of commanding rather than leading. Catholic social teaching articulates principles that shape how we follow Jesus. These principles include respecting the dignity of the human person, fostering the full participation of all people in society, protecting human rights, and special attention and focus on the most vulnerable members of our community. The arts are a key avenue through which we as human beings grapple with these complex principles as they provide opportunities to encounter diverse experiences and perspectives, thereby helping us to shape our consciences. We do not need to be told what conclusions our discernment should bring us – the role of our leadership should be supporting us in understanding how to discern and engaging with opportunities for discernment.
The Archdiocese need not censor plays about transgender people, as there is nothing “un-Catholic” about telling their stories. Catholic social teaching already affirms that transgender people have inherent dignity, deserve basic rights and the ability to participate in society, and indeed should be lifted up particularly due to their experiences of discrimination and oppression. Refusing their voices runs contrary to these ideas, further marginalizing transgender people.
Similarly, the Archdiocese’s restriction on material relating to reproductive justice is inappropriate. The Archdiocese may try to defend its position on condemning works about abortion as part of respecting the life of the unborn child, and yet in doing so it totally forgets about respecting the life of the mother. Regardless of a person’s individual discernment on the ethics of receiving an abortion, people who get abortions are human beings worthy of respect, have personal and nuanced stories that deserve to be told, and – lest we forget – here in New York continue to enjoy the legal right to obtain this procedure. It is estimated that one in four women in the United States have an abortion over the course of their lives, it is bizarre that the Archdiocese wishes to pretend there is no need to discuss such a common human experience.
CTA Metro NY notes that with the suspension of operations at the Connelly Theater, the Connelly Middle School will no longer receive revenue from the theater’s proceeds and faces serious budget issues. We question why shuttering this theater was more important than funding a school for low-income girls who may not otherwise be able to receive a quality education.
CTA Metro NY expresses solidarity with SheNYC Arts, New York Theater Workshop, and all members of the NYC theater community committed to using the arts to explore diverse perspectives, be in dialogue with our world’s challenges, engage with the complexity of the human experience, and uplift the voices of those who have too often been excluded. Our prayer for you is a prayer of peace, strength, and justice.
Father Anne led us in a retreat on Sunday, APRIL 14, 2024 at 2-5
On Sunday April 14th 2024 CTA Metro NY held our Annual Meeting in-person for the first time since 2019. To celebrate this milestone we invited Father Anne, a female Roman Catholic priest and advocate for women's ordination in the Catholic Church, to lead us in a mini-retreat and liturgy. CTA Metro NY Board Member Teresa Thompson gave the homily for the Mass presided by Father Anne, in response to the document Dignitas Infinita that was released by the Vatican earlier in the week. Read the full text for the homily below:
“Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see.” In today’s Gospel Jesus comes to the disciples leading with his full humanity. The disciples, like so often in the Gospel, don’t get it. They do not yet fully understand that Jesus is Lord, raised from the dead. Jesus wants them to understand that this is not some trick of the light or supernatural event – he is really here with us, in body, in flesh.
This recalls also the Gospel of last week on Divine Mercy Sunday. John recounts how Thomas Didymus does not believe that Jesus is returned – he is not dead, he is alive. It takes that personal encounter with Jesus for Thomas to be transformed. With grace Jesus invites him to touch the wounds in his hands and his side. In this way, Jesus says to him, engage with me. Engage with my full self – my humanity, my pain, and my resurrection.
Many of us are familiar with Caravaggio’s famous painting “The Incredulity of Saint Thomas”. It captures the moment Thomas discovers Christ’s wounds and his skepticism is conquered by revelation. In 2017, photographer Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin created an image inspired by this depiction for her exhibit titled id:TRANS. In the image, a young transgender man in an unbuttoned shirt invites his friends to look at his chest, showing them is gender-affirming top surgery scars. The young man’s hand holds one of his friend’s fingers to the truth revealed by his body, just as Jesus does with Thomas’ hand in Caravaggio’s painting. In this way the young man says to his friend, engage with me. Engage with my full self, my transgender self. My humanity, my pain, and my resurrection.
As people of God, we are invited to grow in understanding and spiritual maturity over time, both in our individual lives as well as collectively over the course of generations. In this way, God gradually unveils deeper insights and truths as human understanding evolves and historical circumstances change. We learn more about God’s nature and God’s plan for humanity through the Scriptures, yes, but also through encountering God in our lives, in the world, and with one another.
This past Monday, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a new document titled Dignitas Infinita, Latin for human dignity. The document purports to emphasize the inherent, God-given dignity of every human person – a dignity that is intrinsic and inviolable. It makes mention of conditions that are contrary to this dignity, including poverty, war, and the marginalization of people with disabilities. However, Dignitas Infinita would also have us count transgender rights and reproductive justice among those travesties. This is a betrayal of LGBTQ people and women, particularly those of us who are Catholic.
Dignitas Infinita shows a profound lack of engagement with the lived experiences and the spiritual journeys of transgender people. And make no mistake, for transgender people of faith the journey of transition is not just a social one, but also a spiritual one. Transgender Catholics, like all other Catholics, ask themselves “who am I, and what is God’s plan for me?”
I have been blessed by opportunities to know and converse with transgender Catholics. My friend Max Kuzma, who was one of our guests at CTA Metro NY’s webinar last month, loves to share how embracing his identity as a transgender man opened him up further to the mercy of God’s love, allowing him to claim more firmly his identity in Christ. At a retreat I went to recently, I had the opportunity to meet Maddie Marlett, a transgender woman who is an up-and-coming leader in Dignity USA. In response to Dignitas Infinita, Maddie writes “my journey to self-acceptance was through realizing my self-worth as God’s creation. I made one choice and that was to live.” How different would this document have been if only church leaders would open up their hearts, minds, and spirits to journeying with people like Max and Maddie. Instead, they have missed the opportunity to encounter and cherish the diversity of humanity as created by God in God's image.
The LGBTQ community and our allies are not gripped by a dangerous, death-dealing “gender theory” debunked by scientists. The Vatican actually is, in their insistence that gender identity be limited to these rigid, binary labels we impose on one another as fallible human beings. Transgender Catholics show us that gender identity is a beautiful part of the human experience that each of us personally co-creates with God.
Transgender rights are a life issue. Without acknowledging transgender people’s humanity, without protecting their place in civil society, without providing gender affirming care, we expose them to violence. Without welcoming transgender people in the Church, without celebrating their gifts, we compromise their ability to flourish as the full selves God created them to be. Let us pray that the leaders of the Church and we who are church may have the wisdom to engage with transgender people as their full selves – their humanity, their pain, and their resurrection. Here with us, in body, in flesh. Let us heed the call of Jesus and be transformed – “look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see.”
