What happens when a Catholic comes out as gay? What responses and acceptance do they find in their church? What difficulties and awkward silences do they encounter?
These timely questions will be addressed in the presentation of the investigative book "Opus gay. The Catholic Church and Homosexuality" (Newton Compton, 2010) by journalist Ilaria Donatio. The presentation will take place in Livorno on Friday, July 8, 2011, at 9:00 p.m., in the conference room of Circoscrizione 1 in Piazza Saragat 1.
A multi-voiced meeting that, starting from the numerous testimonies of lesbians, gay men, priests, and theologians collected in the 240 pages of "Opus Gay," will discuss homophobia and the Catholic Church, the role of homosexuals among believers, Catholic theology and sexual morality, and above all, seek to understand what happens when homosexuals are concretely welcomed into the Church, as has been the case for several years, with a specific inclusive pastoral program in the Dioceses of Turin, Parma, Cremona, and Crema.
These are important examples of how the Church's intransigence, filtered through the human warmth of many of its ministers, can be transformed into understanding, sharing, and mutual progress.
Because, as Ilaria Donatio reminds us, "The Church, ... is many things at once. Above all, it is not the monolithic edifice that official documents make it appear to be," but "how long will it be before it becomes that 'sweetest shore for all the excluded' for which Don Tonino Bello devoted his entire life?".
Speakers at the meeting will include Ilaria Donatio, the book's author; Father Andrea Bigalli, editor of the magazine "Testimonianze"; and a young member of Kairos, the gay Christian group in Florence, who will share her testimony.
The initiative is organized by Arcigay of Livorno, in collaboration with the homosexual Christian groups Kairos of Florence and Ponte di Pisa, the Punto Pace Pax Christi of Florence and Gionata.org, the online project on faith and homosexuality.
July 8, 2011 – 9:00 PM
Opus Gay: The Catholic Church and Homosexuals
District 1, Piazza Saragat 1 Livorno
