Dignity/Chicago

Forty years ago, in October 1986, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger—later Pope Benedict XVI—issued the Vatican document that became known as the Halloween Letter. It described a homosexual orientation as an “objective disorder,” declared homosexual acts “intrinsically evil,” and directed bishops to deny Church facilities to organizations that did not accept those teachings. This all happened when many gay men with AIDS were dying, and they were worried about being allowed to have the Church’s sacraments, along with a Catholic funeral. Its effects reached Chicago in May 1988, when representatives of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin proposed replacing Dignity/Chicago’s ministry with AGLO, a new ministry at St. Sebastian Parish, overseen by six pastors and founded on the principle that all “homosexual acts” are immoral.

Faced with being forced to deny who we believed God made us to be, we made a defining choice: 70 percent of our members voted to reject abiding by official Church teaching that denied the sanctity of same-sex relationships. Although that decision forced our liturgies from Catholic property, it preserved something far more important—our integrity, our community, and our right to worship as the people God created us to be.

Every time we gather today, we honor the courage of those members who voted to leave back in 1988. Their decision reminds us that Dignity/Chicago is more than a place to attend Mass; it is a community shaped by conscience, sustained by faith, and empowered to keep working for a Church in which every LGBTQ+ person is fully welcomed, affirmed, and celebrated.

DignityUSA is hosting four conversations about this document, which marked a pivotal moment in queer Catholic history and helped shape the four decades that followed. Longtime Dignity/Chicago member Mike Hogan will be a featured speaker in Session 2 on Tuesday, October 13, at 7 p.m. Central Time. Click here to register.

Yours in dignity, Mary Donnelly, President

Dignity/Chicago has ministered to LGBTQI Catholics and our allies in the Chicago area since 1972. We serve the community through worship, spiritual education, and social justice action.

As one of many chapters within DignityUSA, we—along with our chapters and Catholic organizations around the world—are deeply committed to justice, equality, and the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in our church and society. We firmly believe that every person is beloved by God and possesses equal dignity. We will continue this work until these goals are fully realized.

Join us for Mass on the 1st and 4th Sundays of the month at 5:00 p.m., in-person at Broadway United Methodist Church, 3338 N. Broadway in Chicago. To join us via Teams, send a request to: DignityChicago@gmail.com.