Jeannine Gramick
Encyclopedia
Jeannine Gramick, S.L.
, (born 1942) is a Roman Catholic religious sister
and a co-founder of the activist organization New Ways Ministry
.
in 1960 to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame
. She taught mathematics in high school in the 1960s and was an associate professor of mathematics at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland
in the early 1970s.
Having graduated in 1969 with an M.Sc. degree from the University of Notre Dame
, she later proceeded to complete a Ph.D.
at the University of Pennsylvania
, which she obtained in 1975. Whilst at Penn, Gramick became friends with a gay man, Dominic Bash, and began a church ministry to lesbian
and gay people. She organized religious services for people with a homosexual identity who had left the Catholic Church because of prejudice against them. She has conducted spiritual retreats and pilgrimages to holy places and shrines for lesbian and gay people, their parents, families, and friends.
Gramick helped to begin three organizations for Catholic lesbian and gay people. In addition, she co-founded (along with Fr. Robert Nugent) New Ways Ministry
, a Catholic social justice center working for justice and reconciliation of lesbian and gay people with the institutional Catholic Church.
Gramick has traveled throughout the English-speaking world to address groups about sexual identity
. She advances the judgment of the American Psychiatric Association
that a homosexual identity is not a sickness but an alternative sexual orientation. Consequently, she promotes dialogue, discussion, and education to eradicate myths and stereotypes about lesbian and gay people. She advocates the acceptance of gay and lesbian people as full and equal members of religious, civil, and social groups. She believes that only if all people are treated with dignity and respect will there be peace and harmony in the world.
Gramick has written and edited numerous articles and books. Her books include Homosexuality and the Catholic Church, Homosexuality in the Priesthood and Religious Life, The Vatican and Homosexuality, Building Bridges: Gay and Lesbian Reality and the Catholic Church, and Voices of Hope: A Collection of Positive Catholic Writings on Lesbian/Gay Issues. Building Bridges was translated into Italian and published as Anime Gay: Gli omosessuali e la Chiesa cattolica (Editori Riuniti, Rome, 2003).
, assigned her to this church ministry, despite complaints about the orthodoxy of her activities. After a review of her public activities on behalf of the Church that concluded in a finding of grave doctrinal error, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
(CDF) declared in 1999 that she should no longer be engaged in pastoral work with lesbian and gay persons. In 2000, her congregation, in an attempt to thwart further conflict with the Vatican, commanded her not to speak publicly about homosexuality. She responded by saying, "I choose not to collaborate in my own oppression by restricting a basic human right [to speak]. To me this is a matter of conscience." In 2001, Gramick transferred to the Sisters of Loretto, another congregation of Catholic Sisters, one which supports her in her ministry of education and advocacy on behalf of lesbian and gay people.
In 2009, with the Vatican "conducting two inquisitions into the 'quality of life' of American nuns," commentator Maureen Dowd
recalled that the CDF investigated and disciplined Gramick while the present pope Benedict XVI served at the CDF as "'The Enforcer'"
(with the official titles of Cardinal and Prefect).
, the Loretto Community, the Paulist Community, Call to Action; Dignity USA, the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College, Pridefest America, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and the American Psychological Association. She received the 2005 Peace Prize from the Santa Claus Foundation in Turkey for her work with sexual minorities. She was named a 2006 Laureate of the International Mother Teresa Awards for her role as a human rights activist.
She has served on the national boards of the National Assembly of Women Religious, the Religious Network of Equality for Women, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Women's Ordination Conference. She is currently an Executive Co-Director of the National Coalition of American Nuns. She is strongly committed to justice and peace for humanity.
Gramick is the subject of a documentary film In Good Conscience: Sister Jeannine Gramick's Journey of Faith, by the Peabody and Emmy award-winning director, Barbara Rick.
Sisters of Loretto
Sisters of Loretto or the Loretto Community is a Catholic religious institution, which, according to their mission statement, "strive[s] to bring the healing Spirit of God into our world" and is committed "to improving the conditions of those who suffer from injustice, oppression, and deprivation...
, (born 1942) is a Roman Catholic religious sister
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
and a co-founder of the activist organization New Ways Ministry
New Ways Ministry
New Ways Ministry is an organization providing positive ministry and support to gay and lesbian Catholics in the United States of America. The organization is primarily based in Maryland.-History and purpose:...
.
Career and work
Gramick was educated in Catholic grade and high schools in Philadelphia. She moved to BaltimoreBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
in 1960 to join the School Sisters of Notre Dame
School Sisters of Notre Dame
School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide order of Roman Catholic nuns devoted to primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Their life in mission centers on prayer, community life and ministry...
. She taught mathematics in high school in the 1960s and was an associate professor of mathematics at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland
College of Notre Dame of Maryland
Notre Dame of Maryland University is an independent, Catholic-affiliated, liberal arts college located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, that primarily serves female students.-History:...
in the early 1970s.
Having graduated in 1969 with an M.Sc. degree from the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, she later proceeded to complete a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, which she obtained in 1975. Whilst at Penn, Gramick became friends with a gay man, Dominic Bash, and began a church ministry to lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and gay people. She organized religious services for people with a homosexual identity who had left the Catholic Church because of prejudice against them. She has conducted spiritual retreats and pilgrimages to holy places and shrines for lesbian and gay people, their parents, families, and friends.
Gramick helped to begin three organizations for Catholic lesbian and gay people. In addition, she co-founded (along with Fr. Robert Nugent) New Ways Ministry
New Ways Ministry
New Ways Ministry is an organization providing positive ministry and support to gay and lesbian Catholics in the United States of America. The organization is primarily based in Maryland.-History and purpose:...
, a Catholic social justice center working for justice and reconciliation of lesbian and gay people with the institutional Catholic Church.
Gramick has traveled throughout the English-speaking world to address groups about sexual identity
Sexual identity
Sexual identity is a term that, like sex, has two distinctively different meanings. One describes an identity roughly based on sexual orientation, the other an identity based on sexual characteristics, which is not socially based but based on biology, a concept related to, but different from,...
. She advances the judgment of the American Psychiatric Association
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the most influential worldwide. Its some 38,000 members are mainly American but some are international...
that a homosexual identity is not a sickness but an alternative sexual orientation. Consequently, she promotes dialogue, discussion, and education to eradicate myths and stereotypes about lesbian and gay people. She advocates the acceptance of gay and lesbian people as full and equal members of religious, civil, and social groups. She believes that only if all people are treated with dignity and respect will there be peace and harmony in the world.
Gramick has written and edited numerous articles and books. Her books include Homosexuality and the Catholic Church, Homosexuality in the Priesthood and Religious Life, The Vatican and Homosexuality, Building Bridges: Gay and Lesbian Reality and the Catholic Church, and Voices of Hope: A Collection of Positive Catholic Writings on Lesbian/Gay Issues. Building Bridges was translated into Italian and published as Anime Gay: Gli omosessuali e la Chiesa cattolica (Editori Riuniti, Rome, 2003).
Vatican condemnation
Since 1971, Gramick has worked for justice and peace for sexual minorities. For approximately 20 years her religious congregation, the School Sisters of Notre DameSchool Sisters of Notre Dame
School Sisters of Notre Dame is a worldwide order of Roman Catholic nuns devoted to primary, secondary, and post-secondary education. Their life in mission centers on prayer, community life and ministry...
, assigned her to this church ministry, despite complaints about the orthodoxy of her activities. After a review of her public activities on behalf of the Church that concluded in a finding of grave doctrinal error, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...
(CDF) declared in 1999 that she should no longer be engaged in pastoral work with lesbian and gay persons. In 2000, her congregation, in an attempt to thwart further conflict with the Vatican, commanded her not to speak publicly about homosexuality. She responded by saying, "I choose not to collaborate in my own oppression by restricting a basic human right [to speak]. To me this is a matter of conscience." In 2001, Gramick transferred to the Sisters of Loretto, another congregation of Catholic Sisters, one which supports her in her ministry of education and advocacy on behalf of lesbian and gay people.
In 2009, with the Vatican "conducting two inquisitions into the 'quality of life' of American nuns," commentator Maureen Dowd
Maureen Dowd
Maureen Bridgid Dowd is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times and best-selling author. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, she worked for Time magazine and the Washington Star, where she covered news as well as sports and wrote feature articles...
recalled that the CDF investigated and disciplined Gramick while the present pope Benedict XVI served at the CDF as "'The Enforcer'"
(with the official titles of Cardinal and Prefect).
Recognition
Many groups have recognized her work in this pioneer ministry. Some of these groups include the National Coalition of American NunsNational Coalition of American Nuns
The National Coalition of American Nuns , since its inception has been an advocate for social and structural change inside and outside the Catholic Church. It is said to officially represent from 500 to 2,000 U.S. women religious....
, the Loretto Community, the Paulist Community, Call to Action; Dignity USA, the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College, Pridefest America, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and the American Psychological Association. She received the 2005 Peace Prize from the Santa Claus Foundation in Turkey for her work with sexual minorities. She was named a 2006 Laureate of the International Mother Teresa Awards for her role as a human rights activist.
She has served on the national boards of the National Assembly of Women Religious, the Religious Network of Equality for Women, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Women's Ordination Conference. She is currently an Executive Co-Director of the National Coalition of American Nuns. She is strongly committed to justice and peace for humanity.
Gramick is the subject of a documentary film In Good Conscience: Sister Jeannine Gramick's Journey of Faith, by the Peabody and Emmy award-winning director, Barbara Rick.