Responding in Love and Respect: Our Commitment to the Members of Our Community Identifying as LGBTQ

At the very heart of our mission as a Catholic and Dominican college is the mandate to affirm the God-given dignity, freedom, and equality of each person, and to promote the common good and the human flourishing of every member of our community. This is articulated beautifully in our College Mission Statement. Jesus’ command to love one another enflamed the heart of St. Dominic and led him to extend a loving embrace to all. This sacred heritage has been passed down to us, and we aspire to love one another in the same way. Our shared commitment to becoming more loving, just, and equitable — a Beloved Community — must motivate and animate what we do and how we live.  

Affirming the Inherent Dignity of All

It is no secret that we live in a rapidly secularizing age that challenges the Church’s understanding of the human person and human sexuality. More and more we find that there are deep conflicts between Catholic and secular accounts of these realities. For some, questions about sex and gender take on the significance of adjudicating whether Providence College is still committed to its Catholic identity. When this happens, members of our community who identify as LGBTQ are often made to shoulder the burdens of these challenges, unfairly caught up in controversial questions about institutional fidelity to our Catholic and Dominican mission and identity. This is wrong and it is unjust to our LGBTQ community members.

Others rather suggest that Catholic moral teaching is prejudicial to members of our community who identify as LGBTQ. We as an institution refute the claim that Catholic teaching is prejudicial. Indeed, Catholic moral teaching asserts the inherent dignity of all members of this community, condemns unjust discrimination against anyone, and welcomes all into the full embrace of worship and fellowship and the universal call to holiness. It is for this reason that our vice presidents for mission and ministry and DEI and their colleagues work tirelessly together to tailor an approach to these difficult and sensitive issues that flow from the mission of Providence College.

A Sensitive and Pastoral Approach

We recognize that our approach to sensitive issues surrounding human sexuality and gender will differ significantly from the approach taken by public universities and even by some other Catholic colleges and faith-based institutions. Our approach at Providence College must remain faithful to and be informed by the Catholic Church’s vision of the human person and human sexuality. Anything less would be inconsistent with our Catholic identity, and therefore unacceptable. Our hope is that this statement will provide some much-needed clarity and a direction for moving forward as a community to answer some of the most challenging questions before us.

This Statement and the Theological Foundations document that follows provide a foundation for a sensitive and respectful approach to the members of our community who identify as LGBTQ. We are deeply indebted to numerous faculty and staff who contributed to the writing and editing of the Theological Foundations document, which we invite you to read and reflect upon in its entirety. To chart a way forward, we have identified a framework below for responding lovingly to the members of our community who identify as LGBTQ. The framework identifies major principles which will help guide us and discusses the steps we will be taking to respond to the challenges before us as well as those that doubtlessly will arise in the future. Much of this Statement is derived from the Theological Foundations document, and the statements in italics are direct quotes.

Principles to Guide Us

1. We recognize and appreciate deeply the intrinsic value of the LGBTQ-identifying members of our community and the contributions made by them. As reflected in the College Mission Statement, the College “welcomes qualified men and women of every background and affirms the God-given dignity, freedom, and equality of each person.” We see each of you as a beloved child of God, a beloved member of the Friar Family, and your lived experiences and identities do not compromise that in any way.
   
2. We affirm and applaud SHEPARD’s stated mission to “stop homophobia, eliminate prejudice, and restore dignity.” The College will work with SHEPARD in this shared goal.
   
3. We recognize and regret that some members of the Friar Family who identify as LGBTQ have often been made to feel invisible and have been marginalized, including in the name of Catholic teaching. This is unacceptable, in that the Catholic Church clearly defends the inviolable dignity of every human person as beloved of God. As a result, the College deplores any offenses against that fundamental human dignity and calls for all its members to show true compassion and goodwill toward one another.… It is particularly crucial for us as a Catholic and Dominican community that all our members understand that Church teaching in no way justifies or supports any form of shaming or condemnation on the basis of sexual orientation.
   
4. We recognize how some individuals and organizations have expressed confusion and frustration, particularly when planning events or inviting speakers to campus. Members of our community who identify as LGBTQ often feel that they are held to greater scrutiny and different standards than other individuals and groups. Though some student groups, some divisions, and academic departments have dealt with some of these matters, for the most part, College leadership has not addressed them, except when they have bubbled over into controversies that had to be engaged. This has caused undue stress and negative attention on these members of our community in ways we regret. This same silence has meant that those who have sought to proclaim Catholic teaching on human sexuality have also been marginalized and accused of hate speech. SHEPARD, other clubs and organizations, and individuals are in no way prohibited from scheduling speakers and events. However, as a Catholic and Dominican college, we cannot endorse or allow events, activities, or initiatives that are inconsistent with the College’s Catholic identity, nor can we endorse or support affiliations with organizations whose principal activities and ideologies are in opposition to the moral teachings of the Church. These guidelines are not meant to infringe upon academic freedom, and faculty are encouraged to explore controversial issues in their classes or in other academic settings as provided for in the Faculty Handbook and the College’s Outside Speaker Policy.
   
5. Consistent with perennial Church teaching calling each person to chastity according to his or her state in life, and as reflected in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2357), the College can neither condone nor support sexual activity outside of the marital relationship between one man and one woman, or any sexual activities that “close the sexual act to the gift of life.” This is true of everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.… It may seem strange, but the Church holds together both the sinfulness of non-marital sexual acts and the dignity and belovedness of those who might choose them. For Christians who identify as LGBTQ, as for all Christians, a failure to live chastely in no way impinges on the belovedness and dignity of the persons concerned. The call to chastity presents a challenge for most Christians, particularly when we first try to answer that call. It is crucial that we cultivate a campus culture where every person is valued and respected as they are. We also recognize and state affirmatively that individuals should not be defined by sexual activity.
   
6. The College’s approach to DEI issues must be motivated by the Scriptural call to love of God and neighbor. When the great Dominican saint and scholar St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about the Christian life, he noted that caritas, usually translated as love or charity, is so central to the Christian life of holiness and virtue that it should motivate our every action, shape our character and our very selves, and direct our lives to the love of God and neighbor and all things in their proper order and relation.…Commitment to veritas and caritas marked the life of Dominic and continues to shape the Order of Preachers. Standing in that tradition, Providence College aims to be a Beloved Community, one deeply formed by a collective commitment to both veritas and caritas, to the pursuit of truth and the embodiment of well-ordered love.
   
7. We will create opportunities for ongoing, informed, and charitable dialogue on these sensitive issues to increase understanding and ensure that all members of our community receive the dignity and respect demanded by the Church and by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Responding in Love and Respect (downloadable PDF)