Gay friendly catholic church nyc
NYC church redefines acceptance for LGBTQ+ people
NEW YORK -- Pope Francis formally signed off on allowing Catholic priests to bless queer couples in December
But decades before the pope’s historic announcement, a Novel York City church has embraced the LGBTQ+ people and provided a unharmed space for worship.
The Church of St. Francis Xavier, in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, provided services for AIDS patients while others refused, including being one of the first to bury a person who died of the virus during the epidemic of the s. More recently, the church became the fresh home for a decadeslong memorial for people who died from AIDS-related complications when the original host parish was closed as part of the Archdiocese of New York’s reorganization plans.
“We came and we never left,” Roe Sauerzopf told ABC News Dwell, recalling the first occasion she and her wife, Paula Acuti, had attended Sunday Mass at St. Francis, and how they immediately felt “safe” to be themselves.
“It’s been a struggle to be a lesbian, and to be a Catholic lesbian has been even more of a struggle,” Acuti, a New York resident, mutual with a room complete of women who be present a Catholic Lesbian collective
History
St. Joseph’s was founded in as the sixth Roman Catholic church in Manhattan. For much of its history the church had a largely Irish immigrant congregation. As Greenwich Village evolved into one of New York City’s most progressive neighborhoods, with a substantial LGBT population, St. Joseph’s became an open and welcoming parish, with a strong emphasize on social justice issues. This has been one of the Catholic churches most welcoming to the city’s LGBT community. Every year during LGBT Lgbtq+ fest Month in June the church holds a extraordinary mass in memory of those lost to AIDS.
In , the first encounter of the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) was held in the basement of St. Joseph’s. The meeting, attended by eleven officers from the Novel York City Police Department (NYPD), was organized by Sergeant Charles H. Cochrane at a time when gay police officers did not touch comfortable coming out and when they suffered from discrimination and harassment. A year earlier, Cochrane testified in support of the City’s gay rights bill, which made him the first officer in the history of the NYPD to publicly announce that he was gay:
Sgt. Charles H. Cochrane,
We are the Church of St. Francis of Assisi LGBT Ministry, inspired to action by the charism of St. Francis of Assisi, to welcome, worship, and witness. By welcoming, celebrating and engaging, we are an example to our Catholic Community in fostering an inclusive environment. We fulfill our mission by sponsoring spiritual events, educational and social activities and outreach for members of our community and to people in the greater community within the Archdiocese of New York.
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About our ministry and our colors:
Identifying as Lesbian or Male lover and Catholic can sometimes be a challenge, however, we affirm you.
As a ministry, together we acknowledge that all people are truly created in God’s image and VISION a world where all people understand their God-made perfection. Therefore, we’re on a MISSION to design an inclusive environment within our Catholic community by delivering equality, through access to God and opportunity for connection.
ONE COLOR, ONE PROMISE
When celebrating with us, we possess fou
The Church of St. Francis Xavier’s community group is a part of a collective endeavor to foster an unapologetically LGBTQ-affirming, woman-friendly Catholicism
Stephanie Samoy gives a tour of the conference room where Catholic Lesbians meets for meetings when the group gathers in-person. The Church of St. Francis Xavier, NY. Sunday, March 13, Riley Farrell for NY City Lens.
When Stephanie Samoy first entered the Church of St. Francis Xavier in , she sensed it was a rare community. The smell of chicken noodle soup — fed to impoverished believers during the parish’s weekly food control — wafted into the church pews. Feeling what she attributed to care for or the Holy Energy, Samoy wept. Samoy moved up to New York City after she graduated college at the University of Arizona, craving distance from her parents after coming out as woman-loving woman three years prior. Raised in the church, coming to terms with her sexuality was a “horrible time.”
Stephanie Samoy speaks with a parishioner before carrying out her duties as a lector during service. The Church of St. Francis Xavier, NY. Sunday, Parade 13, Riley Farrell for NY City Lens.
But this congregation was unique. St. Francis Xavie
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