MLGC was called into existence during a February 1986 sermon in which the new Archbishop (in office only a few months) called for a community, "comunidad" in Spanish, of lesbians and gays to support each other on their journey. The MLGC recognizes that all persons with a homosexual orientation are capable of living a full Catholic life in union with all the members of the Church.
MLGC takes its inspiration from the Gospel; is shaped by Church teachings and pastoral practice; borrows appropriately from the insights of the social and biological sciences; and listens, ponders, and prays over the lived experience of those to whom it ministers.
In 2011 we celebrated our 25th anniversary of this ministry. The Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Catholics was founded by Cardinal Roger Mahony on February 4, 1986 and is supported throughout the Archdiocese at parish level a an active outreach ministry with gay and lesbian Catholics, their parents, families and friends.
Our Mission
The Ministry With Lesbian and Gay Catholics (MLGC) recognizes that all persons with a homosexual orientation are capable of living a full Catholic life in union with all the members of the Church. Our primary goal:
"to foster a spirit of community and fellowship among gay Catholics so that they can offer and receive mutual support in living our their lives of faith with the Church."
MLGC takes its inspiration from the Gospel; is shaped by Church teachings and pastoral practice; borrows appropriately from the insights of the social and biological sciences; and listens, ponders and prays over the lived experience of those to whom it ministers.
MLGC calls on concerned Catholics and all people of good will to know and share in the challenges, burdens and blessings of homosexual persons living a Christian life within the Catholic tradition.
MLGC chooses to follow a prudent pastoral course, accepting people where they are in their discipleship with Jesus Christ, and their membership in the Church, and challenging them to live out fully the call of Christ and the teachings of the Church.
MLGC supports movements for homosexual and lesbian persons that are consonant with Church teaching, especially those which safeguard human dignity and promote human rights.
MLGC supports the Church as pastors in condemning any treatment in which lesbians and homosexual men are the object of violent malice in speech, action, and law, wherever it occurs.
Concomitant with ministry to homosexual men and women, yet distinct from it, MLGC offers care to all persons living with HIV/AIDS.
"Our fidelity to the teachings and example of Jesus Christ make it a moral imperative that we, like Him, reach out in a loving manner to give spiritual and physical help to those who suffer." (Cardinal Roger Mahony)
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