Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., 18th President of St. John s University
At the end of April, Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P., the new president of St. John’s University an ostensibly Catholic institution sent the following email to faculty and staff, under the subject line “LGBTQ+ Climate Assessment”:
Earlier this semester the Office of Equity and Inclusion engaged the Transgender Training Institute to conduct an LGBTQ+ climate assessment. As I read the survey results, I was disheartened to learn about the many negative experiences of our LGBTQ+ students, employees, and alumni: a lack of support, neglect, ignorance, bias, and prejudice. As the report indicates, our non-binary and transgender members have experienced acute distress, and the lack of BIPOC participants leaves gaps in our knowledge of the oppression experienced by those who hold multiple minoritized social identities. It is clear, both from the climate survey and my own observations, that much work needs to be done
Vatican City, May 5, 2021 / 04:35 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Wednesday encouraged people to embrace the contemplative dimension of being human both in prayer and their daily lives.
In his general audience address on May 5, the pope said that the “contemplative dimension of the human being which is not yet contemplative prayer is a bit like the ‘salt’ of life: it gives flavor, it seasons our day.”
“We can contemplate by gazing at the sun that rises in the morning, or at the trees that deck themselves out in spring green; we can contemplate by listening to music or to the sounds of the birds, reading a book, gazing at a work of art or at that masterpiece that is the human face,” he said.
(America Media composite: CNS/Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash)
Editor’s note: This article is part of The Conversation, a new initiative of America Media offering diverse perspectives on important and contested issues in the life of the church. Read another view on the reception of the Eucharist here and
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In the six months since the 2020 election, a growing movement has emerged in the church in the United States that calls upon the bishops of our nation to publicly exclude President Joseph R. Biden and other Catholic public officials from the Eucharist. Those who support this action make a concise, three-part argument: The president supports positions on abortion that clearly depart from the teaching of the church on an extremely grave moral issue; the long tradition of the church requires personal worthiness to receive the Eucharist; and the persistent rejection of clear Catholic teaching extinguishes that worthiness.
Contemplative prayer helps us see world ‘with different eyes,’ pope says
Pope Francis delivers his blessing during his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 5, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
By Carol Glatz • Catholic News Service • Posted May 5, 2021
VATICAN CITY (CNS) Contemplative prayer transforms and purifies the human heart, Pope Francis said.
Being contemplative in prayer is an act of faith and love, it is “the ‘breath’ of our relationship with God,” he said during his weekly general audience May 5.
Continuing his series of talks on prayer, the pope reflected on contemplative prayer, which is not so much a way of doing, “but a way of being,” he said.
.Pope Francis prays as he leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 5, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) .Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 5, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) .Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 5, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) .Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 5, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) .Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 5, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)