WASHINGTON, D.C., (LifeSiteNews) — New Ways Ministry (NWM), an LGBT activist group that claims to be Catholic, has awarded pro-LGBTQ, Bishop John Stowe, OFM, its “Bridge Building Award” for his “LGBTQ+ efforts.”
In a November 15 ceremony, Stowe, the heterodox bishop of Lexington, Kentucky, received NWM’s award for encouraging so-called “LGBTQ+ Catholics” in their sinful lifestyles instead of showing them the truth of the Catholic faith.
The award ceremony was held at Trinity University in Washington, D.C.
“At this moment, it has become obvious that synodality has not come as a full-throated revolution, but rather like the gentle breath of the Spirit calling us to community, participation, and mission,” Stowe claimed in his acceptance speech.
“Believe me when I say that I share your frustration that things do not move faster in our church, that the LGBTQ language, used by Rome and still not yet employed by U.S. bishops, did not find its way into documents despite being there in earlier drafts, that there have been no discernible developments in our outdated theological language to describe homosexual orientation or relationships, or in the role of women, or the understanding of the reality of gender dysphoria—and each of us has a longer list of what remains unaddressed,” he continued.
The Catholic Church teaches, in accordance with Sacred Scripture and the constant Tradition of the Church, that homosexual activity is mortally sinful and a “sin that cries to heaven” and that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.”
The Church also rejects transgender ideology, affirms the reality of the two sexes, and condemns bodily mutilation, such as “gender transition” procedures, as “against the moral law.”
Notably, in 2010, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) declared that New Ways Ministry “has no approval or recognition from the Catholic Church” to speak on LGBT issues.
“No one should be misled by the claim that New Ways Ministry provides an authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching and an authentic Catholic pastoral practice,” wrote Cardinal Francis George, O.M.I., then the archbishop of Chicago, on behalf of the USCCB.
During the ceremony this month, New Ways Ministry’s co-founder, Vatican-censured nun Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL, said that Stowe was chosen to receive the award due to his “exemplary pro-LGBTQ+ statements and actions.”
Gramick added that when she told Pope Francis about Stowe’s award, he responded by saying that Stowe’s “welcoming style does a lot of good.”
Additionally, NWM executive director Francis DeBernardo noted that, “While the number of supportive bishops in our church continues to increase—not to mention the Bishop of Rome—Bishop Stowe has truly stood out in the past decade for making bold and courageous statements” in support of LGBT ideology.
Stowe, who was appointed by Pope Francis to lead the Diocese of Lexington in 2015, has a long history of pro-LGBT activism.
Earlier this year, the Kentucky bishop doubled down on referring to a woman who calls herself a man and lives as a “diocesan hermit” as a man named “Brother Christian Matson.” However, it is canonically impossible for a “transsexual” person to live as a religious or in any ecclesial state. Stowe has also insisted on using male pronouns to describe the woman.
During 2019’s so-called “pride month,” Stowe issued a sacrilegious “prayer” card that celebrates homosexual “pride” and includes an image of a crucifix with rainbow colors coming from it. That year, he also led an “LGBT retreat” at the University of Notre Dame.
In June 2020, Stowe released a “pride month” video in which he apologized for the Church’s teaching on homosexuality and gender confusion. A few months later, he asked parishes to place an ad for an “affirming” so-called “LGBT ministry” in their weekly bulletins.
The following year, he joined a pro-LGBT event featuring a “pride blessing.” He also endorsed Democrats’ radical pro-LGBT “Equality Act,” which would grant “transgender” males access to women’s private spaces, such as bathrooms, changing rooms, and shelters; require employers and schools to use “preferred pronouns”; allow gender-confused males to compete in female sports; force health care professionals to facilitate “sex changes,” including for children; and establish a federal “right” to abortion, as legal experts and pro-life advocates have warned.
In 2022, Stowe hosted a prayer service that sought to issue an apology to individuals with homosexual inclinations on behalf of the Church titled “Service of Atonement and Apology to the [so-called] LGBTQ+ Community.”
Last year, after Pope Francis expressed openness to “blessings” for homosexual “couples,” Stowe amplified the pope’s remarks and said that such a gesture “almost signifies God’s approval.”
Stowe is one of five bishops who endorsed heterodox Jesuit Father James Martin’s book “Building a Bridge” and was also a featured speaker at a 2017 conference for New Ways Ministry.
In 2018, Bishop Stowe allowed Fortunate Families, a pro-LGBT, self-professed “Catholic” group working in partnership with “Lexington Catholic LGBT Ministry” and the University of Kentucky LGBTQ* Resource Center, to host heterodox and openly homosexual Father Bryan Massingale, who spoke about so-called “LGBT Persons in the The Age of Pope Francis & Social Ethics.”