Introduction

Conditions of use

Dignity/USA

other Dignity chapters

• Dignity/San Diego
• Dignity/Palm Springs
• Dignity/San Fernando Valley

the institutional (Roman) Catholic Church

• the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, headquartered in Los Angeles, California (and it also has a Spanish language website),
• the Diocese of San Bernardino, headquartered in San Bernardino, California and
• the Diocese of Orange, headquartered in Orange, California.

recommended readings and such

• As a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist, John J. McNeill was the first to gain a wide audience with his books on homosexuality and Catholicism, beginning with his seminal The Church and the Homosexual, published by Beacon Books in Boston, first in 1976 (with Church approval, that was announced by Father McNeill at a Dignity liturgy in New York in 1976). It convincingly shows that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality.
• As a Yale University history professor, John Boswell produced many scholarly works; but the most famous in the GLBT community are two books of particular interest and importance to GLBTs. They are:
  • Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality, Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the 14th Century, published in 1980 by the University of Chicago Press, in Chicago, and
  • Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe, published in 1994 by Villard Books (a Division of Random House Books), in New York.
• Rome Has Spoken (edited by Maureen Fiedler and Linda Rabben under the auspices of Quixote Center (in Brentwood, Maryland) and published in 1998 by Crossroads Publishing Company in New York) is a priceless collection of pronoucements by Popes and other high Church officials on a variety of selected subjects of current interest, to GLBTs and others. The book focuses on the differences among the pronouncements on the same subject over time, to show that to deny that Church teachings change over time would be pure folly.
• In 1998, Dignity/USA joined approximately 140 other Church-reform groups to address the subject of just what would make a good Pope. The full text of A Pope For the Time To Come, including both the report and the cover letters to then Pope John Paul II and all of the then members of the college of Cardinals appear on the website of Dignity/USA; and they are a wonderful read.
• Not all are interested in serious analysis of modern theological thought and method; but if you think that you want to expose yourself to a basic primer on the subject, an excellent book with which to do so is Dynamics of Theology by Jesuit priest Roger Haight, a professor of historical and systematic theology at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and published in 1990 by Paulist Press. He has also, more recently (in 1999), published an eye-opening Jesus Symbol of God, Orbis Press, Maryknoll, New York; and still more recently, he has published a two-volume work on Church history (and Church governance throughout its history): Christian Community In History: Comparative Ecclesiology (volume 1; October 2004); and Christian Community In History: Historical Ecclesiology (volume 2; February 2005). His works are readily available on-line from Amazon.com, by using "Roger Haight" (in quotes) as a search term on its site.
• Finally, Dignity/USA has on its website a page devoted to some further recommended reading, primarily on GLBT subjects.

welcoming faith communities

Cosas en Español/Things in Spanish

• Introducíon a Dignitad: Qué querrá decir Dignitad? (an Introduction to Dignity).
• Declaración de la Posición y Propósito (Dignity's Declaration of Position and Purpose (SP&P)).
• Catolicismo, Homosexualidad, & Dignidad: Pregustas Y Respuestas Sobre Ser Lesbiana, Gay, Bisexual, o Transgendered, y También Católico.
• Siempre Serán Nuestros Hijos (Always Our Children, a pastoral message from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (1997)).

More Dignity/USA

• an opportunity to read the most recent/important press releases issued by Dignity/USA and other news (and to read a copy of the most recent issue of Dignity/USA's monthly newsletter (called The Dateline), click on "Details" in the box headed by the current month on that page or the Home page of the Dignity/USA website), and
• an opportunity to sign up, free of charge, to have Dignity/USA send to you, by e-mail from time to time, its News Service in order to keep you up to date on Dignity news,
• an opportunity to sign up for a variety of on-line discussion groups on GLBT topics, and
• an introduction to the leadership team of Dignity/USA, as well as the wide variety of projects underway under their leadership, and
• numerous items of historic importance (and of particular interest to GLBTs) on a variety of topics, including:
  • a study of sexual ethics prepared and issued by Dignity/USA itself; and see also:
    • the Statement of Position And Purpose (SP&P) of Dignity (that can also be reached by clicking on the SP&P link just below the banner at the top of each page of this website), and
    • the topic of sexuality itself by clicking here (or by clicking on the Sexuality link in the banner at the top of each page of this website), and
    • its Guidelines on the pastoral care of GLBT persons, issued at the time of its biennial convention in Austin, Texas, in July 2007, and
    • the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page of this website (that can also be reached by clicking on the FAQs link just below the banner at the top of each page of this website),
  • documents on Church doctrine,
  • the highlights of the history of Dignity,
  • a chronological listing of those who have held various leadership positions in Dignity since its inception, and
  • a chronological archive of historic Dignity documents, as such,
• extensive liturgy/worship materials, including
  • materials on Couples Ministry (including Holy Unions and a very ringing (and detailed) endorsement of Gay Marriage itself),
  • materials on the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.
• resource materials regarding particular groups within Dignity, including
  • those who are bisexual persons,
  • those who are transgender persons (and including materials addressed to promoting a better understanding of transgender persons by others),
  • those who are in the GLBT leather community,
  • those who are living with HIV/AIDS (or who are close to or assisting those who are living with HIV/AIDS), and
• resource materials for family issues involving GLBT persons, from many different angles, including:
  • help for youth themselves who may be GBLT as they go through the difficult process of trying to discern and accept their own sexuality,
  • help for the parents (or other family) of GLBT persons from an organization of other Parents, Family, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and even (to a more-limited extent) the institutional Church in the form of a pastoral letter from American bishops that is entitled "Always Our Children."
  • help for non-GLBT persons as they are being come out to, that may even provide helpful hints for the GLBT person who is trying to do that coming out,
  • help for those who have GLBT parents themselves,
  • and do not forget the materials on Couples previously cited above.
• a version in Spanish of many Dignity documents and prayers (and see also the Hispanic Ministry page of this website itself and Things in Spanish section above on this Resources page itself, including assistance in Spanish), and
• information on opportunities to volunteer your services to assist Dignity, over and above chapter activities as such, and
• an extensive list of other organizations (and in that list, the name of an organization is a link that will take you directly to its website, even though the name is not underlined in that list) that will be of interest to reform-minded people, such as Dignity members and other GLBT persons in general, and includes:
  • Dignity/Canada, though it is a separate organization from Dignity/USA),
  • Integrity, a GLBT organization for the Episcopal Church,
  • the Metropolitan Community Churches, truly GLBT churches as such,
• assistance in locating a Dignity chapters in any part of the country (whether you live there or wish to attend a chapter event while visiting that part of the country),
• a copy of the By-Laws of Dignity/USA itself, and
• finally, but certainly not the least important, it has information (and procedures) for joining, renewing, donating to, and/or updating information on file with Dignity/USA; click here to go there. There are no minimum dues to become a member; but by clicking here, you can read an appeal for making a donation and doing so at a generous level, as well as an explanation of why you should consider doing just that, if you have the financial means to enable you to do so.