Pope Francis receives Sr Jeannine Gramick at Vatican

Pope Francis with Sr Jeannine Gramick, SL, Matthew Myers, Francis DeBernardo, and Robert Shine from New Ways Ministry

Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL, a co-founder of New Ways Ministry, met with Pope Francis today at the Vatican. The 50-minute meeting took place the afternoon of Tuesday, October 17, 2023, at Casa Santa Marta. Three New Ways Ministry staff members were also present at the meeting.

Sr Jeannine, brought greetings to Pope Francis from LGBT+ Catholics in the US church. She thanked him for his openness to blessing same-sex unions, as well as for his opposition to the criminalization of LGBT+ people in civil society.

This meeting was remarkable because it reflects the steady acceptance of Catholic officials to LGBT+ issues and ministry. Previous popes and church leaders have opposed Sr Jeannine and New Ways Ministry. This meeting now represents a new openness to the pastorally-motivated, justice-seeking approach which Sr Jeannine and her organization have long practiced.

Sr Jeannine said: "The meeting was very emotional for me. From the day he was elected, I have loved and admired Pope Francis because of his humility, his love for the poor and for those shunned by society. He is the human face of Jesus in our era. Pope Francis looks into your heart and his eyes say that God loves you."

The meeting was the latest interaction between Pope Francis, Sr Jeannine, and New Ways Ministry, which began over two years ago. Sr Jeannine has developed a friendly correspondence with him. In one letter Pope Francis called her a "valiant woman," and later sent her a handwritten note congratulating her on her 50 years of LGBT+ ministry.

Having heard from friends that Pope Francis was eager to meet Sr Jeannine, she wrote to ask if she could visit him and bring Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, and Robert Shine, Associate Director, who were in Rome to cover the Synod on Synodality's General Assembly, and Matthew Myers, New Ways Ministry's Staff Associate.

Communication between the pontiff, Sr Jeannine, and New Ways Ministry began in April 2021 when DeBernardo wrote to the pope to explain the organization's mission and work. The letter also noted New Ways Ministry's occasional confrontations with the Vatican and some US Catholic officials in the course of its 46-year history, particularly focusing on the pioneering ministry of Sr Jeannine and Fr Robert Nugent, SDS, the other co-founder of New Ways Ministry.

The Pope responded quickly to this first letter, explaining that the Vatican sometimes receives partial information about people and organizations. He wrote that New Ways Ministry's letter narrated the history objectively and helped him to better understand the situation. The Pope's letter, written on official Vatican letterhead, offered pastoral encouragement. In closing Pope Francis wrote: "I remain at your disposal," thus inviting further correspondence.

Since that time, Sr Jeannine and DeBernardo have written further letters to the pontiff, always receiving cordial and affirming handwritten notes in return.

DeBernardo commented: "This meeting was an affirmation not only of Sr Jeannine and New Ways Ministry but of the thousands upon thousands of LGBT+ people, parishes, schools, pastoral ministers, and religious communities who have been tirelessly working for equality, and who often experienced the great disapproval and ostracization that New Ways Ministry had experienced.

"Meeting with Pope Francis is a great encouragement for Sr Jeannine and New Ways Ministry to continue our work in the Catholic Church."