Detroit archdiocese bars speaker from New Ways Ministry

November 21, 2014

Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit has blocked an appearance by a representative of New Ways Ministry at a parish in his archdiocese.

Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, had been scheduled to appear at Christ the King parish. After the archbishop vetoed his appearance, the meeting was moved to a local community center.

An archdiocesan spokesman explained that “New Ways Ministry had been identified as a group that might cause confusion in regards to Catholic church teaching.” The Maryland-based group, which supports gay and lesbian Catholics, was barred from the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, as early as 1977. In 1999, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that the group’s public stands were incompatible with Church teaching. And in 2011 the US bishops’ conference confirmed that “in no manner is this organization authorized to speak on behalf of the Catholic Church or to identify itself as a Catholic organization.”

 

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Further information:

• Archdiocese bans gay rights speaker from Detroit parish (Free Press)
• US bishops reaffirm: New Ways Ministry not a Catholic organization (CWN, 3/17/11)