PITTSBURGH (LifeSiteNews) — The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh under Bishop Mark Eckman that just ended its last diocesan traditional Latin Mass (TLM) earlier this month is joining the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to host its inaugural “Catholics, Jews, and Brews” interfaith event for young adults in their 20s and 30s tonight.
While a post-conciliar interfaith Catholic-Jewish dialogue-style event is bad enough, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh openly supports LGBT ideology, and its mother organization has even expressed support for abortion, the murder of unborn children.
An ‘inclusive’ interfaith event
While the August 26 event is nowhere to be found on the diocese’s official website, it’s advertised on the Jewish Federation’s site as “a partnership event between the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh where we will be embarking on a journey of mutual understanding and relationship building over beer and sacred texts.”
The page advertising the event adds that, as “full inclusion is a core value of Jewish Pittsburgh,” people of “all abilities, backgrounds, races, religious affiliations, (Is it even a Catholic-Jewish event at that point?) sexual orientations and gender identities” are invited.
The Jewish Federation’s support for LGBT agenda and abortion
While the previous sentence alone shows that the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, which the Diocese of Pittsburgh is happily partnering with, is pro-LGBT, for anyone still in doubt, its website has an entire page on “Local and national LGBTQ+ Resources.”
This page includes several pictures from the federation’s participation in the 2025 “Pittsburgh Pride March,” showing participants holding rainbow flags featuring a Star of David and t-shirts reading “Love is kosher.” The page also lists guidelines for Jewish organizers of “Pride” events, links to pro-LGBT synagogues and resources for same-sex “couples” and those who identify as “transgender.”
For those unaware, the Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly teaches that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law” and that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.”
The Catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “(h)omosexual persons are called to chastity.” Homosexual acts are mortal sins; therefore, anyone who commits these sins and does not repent through the sacrament of confession is in danger of hell.
The Catholic Church also teaches that God creates every individual male or female at the moment of his or her conception and that sex is an immutable trait that “characterizes man and woman not only on the physical level but also on the psychological and spiritual, making its mark on each of their expressions.”
The Church also condemns bodily mutilation and sterilization as “against the moral law” and denounces gender ideology.
In addition to being a non-Catholic and pro-LGBT organization, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s mother organization, the Jewish Federation of North America, has a history of supporting abortion. In 2022, the organization denounced the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe V. Wade.
“Like the majority of the Jewish community, we disagree with the Dobbs decision and are concerned about the risks it poses to women and girls,” Eric Fingerhut, the president and CEO of the Jewish Federation, said at the time.
Of course, like most pro-abortion individuals, Fingerhut ignored the fact that all the unborn “women and girls” who were killed via abortion across the country for nearly 50 years as a result of Roe.
The Jewish Federation’s support for abortion should not be surprising, considering many other Jewish leaders have defended the slaughtering of the unborn, with some arguing it is a “fundamental right” and even a “Jewish value.”
‘But didn’t Christ eat with sinners?’
Now, you might be inclined to think, “OK, so the Pittsburgh diocese will be drinking and dialoguing with non-Catholics who may support the LGBT agenda and/or abortion, but didn’t Our Lord eat with sinners?”
Yes, of course, but He also called them to repentance!
And, based on how the last 60 years of interreligious dialogue have gone (more on that below), and the “inclusive” language of the ad, it’s highly unlikely that this event will be used to call the Jewish attendees to conversion.
Indeed, the Catholic-Jewish dialogue that has become significantly more prevalent since the 1965 promulgation of Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s document on the Church’s relations to non-Christian (AKA false) religions, has been a complete flop.
While Nostra Aetate does not contain heresy when viewed in light of tradition (I know some trads strongly disagree), its ambiguity and implementation have clearly led to disastrous consequences, especially in the realm of dialogue between Catholics and their Jewish brethren.
Six decades later, we see the fruits of the document’s implementation and this nonstop “Catholic-Jewish dialogue” as far too many prominent Catholics, including EWTN’s Maria Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado, who is also Pope Leo’s pick as the Vatican’s next Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, believe that the faithful should not seek to convert the Jews.
“Rather than them being our brothers and sisters and us being hand-in-hand walking towards salvation, and them being the chosen people, there’s this idea that all Jews should become Christians, which obviously is wrong,” Alvarado said in a clip resurfaced when her appointment was announced in June.
I could go on, but I believe we’ve established more than a reasonable doubt that this evening of dialogue between Pittsburgh’s young Catholics and Jews will likely focus on “building bridges” without a call to repentance from either side. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that more time will be spent talking about the Steelers than either faith.
Bishop Eckman’s crackdown on TLM
Now what’s deeply ironic about this interfaith event is that as Bishop Eckman’s diocese welcomes more “bridge-building” dialogue with a non-Catholic pro-abortion and pro-LGBT organization, it is also kicking traditional Catholics devoted to the Tridentine Mass to the curb.
As I reported for LifeSiteNews earlier this month, Eckman, one of Pope Leo XIV’s earliest appointments, declined to request a new two-year extension (which almost certainly would have been granted) to an indult allowing the TLM to be celebrated at St. Titus Church, Mary Queen of Saints Parish in Aliquippa, where it has been celebrated for nearly 20 years and which still drew a “sizable” congregation at its two monthly Masses, the last celebration of the ancient liturgy at a diocesan parish.
In his letter announcing the decision, the bishop added that requesting a renewal of the parish’s indult from the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments as his predecessor, Bishop David Zubik, did twice, was only a “temporary” measure, called the Novus Ordo Missae the “unique expression of the Roman rite,” and emphasized his belief that now was the appropriate time for the faithful to “be brought toward the celebration of the post-conciliar rite.”
How synodal!
While the Latin Mass will continue to be offered at Most Precious Blood of Jesus Parish (a roughly 30-minute drive from St. Titus), staffed by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP), many of the parish’s faithful are unable to travel to the next closest Tridentine Mass and will now lose access to the ancient Roman liturgy.
The other option in the diocese for the faithful devoted to the TLM would be St. James Church, administered by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), in Pittsburgh, roughly 40 minutes from St. Titus. Regardless of one’s opinion on the Society’s status, Bishop Eckman undoubtedly believes they are in “schism” and “excommunicated.”
Therefore, from his perspective, the St. Titus parishioners who will begin attending St. James or attend more frequently are entering or deepening “schism” because of his decision.
You would think bishops would do everything they can to keep their flock from “schism,” but apparently Eckman is more interested in supporting events with non-Catholics who deny key Church teachings.
But such is the state of the Church, where “all are welcome” to dialogue, except the traditionalists.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for all Catholic bishops, the conversion of the Jews and all non-Catholics!
The Diocese of Pittsburgh did not respond to LifeSiteNews’ request for comment by publication time.
Contact information for respectful communication:
Bishop Mark Eckman
Office phone: 412-456-3010
Email: [email protected]
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