Analia Santana is a Catholic and a member of the LGBTQ community, two identities she didn’t think could co-exist.
But now she has a place where she can feel welcome at Manhattan College’s new Pride Center for LGBTQ students and staff.
“I was not expecting a pride center,” Santana said. “So I was like, Oh my gosh, we’re like, having a place and like, it’s going to be sponsored by the school, and like the school approves of it, I was very excited and very happy.”
“I want to say like in a way of healing kind of.”
About 200 students identify as LGBTQ along with 50 faculty members of the 3,200 students at the LaSallian Catholic institution.
It took roughly a year for the school to get the center off the ground, but it’s part of a growing movement happening in Catholic campuses around the country.
“St. John’s has a pride center, Fordham is on the campus pride list, Georgetown has a pride center,” said Tiffany French, co-director of Manhattan College’s Pride Center.
The discussion of inclusion for LGBTQ Catholics has long been debated in the Catholic Church.
Over the last month that topic was discussed by hundreds of delegates from all over the world at the Vatican’s global synod meetings.
In the past, while Pope Francis has said any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin, he has also said homosexuality is not a crime and the Church is open to everyone.
Staff at Manhattan College believe this center promotes that openness.
“A center like this communicates the broader sort of eye-opening that’s going on in the Church that these are issues that are important to the people who are the future of the church,” said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, chair of religious studies at Manhattan College.
The center has expanded their hours as more students and staff seek a safe space that makes them feel welcome.
Outreach to LGBTQ Catholics wasn’t the only thing discussed during the monthlong meeting.
Some other hot-button topics were discerned, like the possibility of women deacons and priestly celibacy.
So what comes next?
The bishops take the report back to their dioceses and they’ll meet again for Part Two next year.