Register now to attend the webinar discussing:

• criminalisation & it’s implications

• health conditions (hiv/aids)

• LGBTI+ refugees

• the responsibility of the catholic church

• how does the catholic church protect the human rights & human dignity of LGBTI+ people

The European Forum of LGBTI+ Christian Groups (EF) invites you to participate in a webinar series leading up to the 2024 Synod of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC). The EF's Roman Catholic Church Working Group continues its efforts to support the visibility of LGBTI+ Catholics during the Synod, in alignment with Pope Francis's goal of bringing the Church closer to its followers. From February to April 2024, national Bishops' Conferences will engage with all the People of God to reflect on the outcomes of the first part of the Synodal Assembly held in Rome during October 2023. As we approach the October 2024 Synodal Assembly, there are various activities where we can contribute to making the Church more inclusive for LGBTI+ individuals.

These webinars aim to enhance our understanding and application of Synodality within the Church and explore ways to foster a truly listening Church for everyone. We hope these sessions will facilitate ongoing participation and meaningful contributions from LGBTI+ Catholics, individuals and groups, parents, families, and others to the 2024 Synodal Process of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as to the subsequent outcomes beyond 2024.

Synodal Webinars:

• Get Inspired

• Get Creative

• In Cooperation with #ListeningChurch

Inputs from speakers and activists during the webinars will be recorded and made available as a podcast. You can find the "Priceless PODCAST" on your preferred podcasting platform to catch up on all recordings of previous synodal webinars.

Speakers

Dr. Vincent Manning has been engaged in HIV ministry since the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. His 2019 doctoral thesis explores issues at the intersection of HIV and Christian faith; the experiences of ten people living with HIV are viewed through the theological lens of the Passion. He is currently Director of the charity, Catholics for AIDS Prevention & Support, and a leader within the Positive Faith HIV peer support ministry.

Davis Mac-Iyalla is a Nigerian-born Anglo-Catholic Christian and well-known LGBT+ human rights activist, public speaker, and an interfaith minister. Davis is the founder and executive director for the Interfaith Diversity Network of West Africa (IDNOWA) founded in 2016. IDNOWA is a regional network of faith-based individuals and activists working for the inclusion of diverse persons to create a world governed by respect and dignity.

Brian is an activist based in rural Kenya where, for the last 15 years, he has actively worked with LGBTIQ asylum seekers and refugees in areas of integration, sustainable livelihoods, and security.

Dr. Michael Brinkschröder (GER) is a Catholic theologian and sociologist who works for Regenbogenpastoral (Queer Ministry) in the Archdiocese of Munich and as a teacher of religious education. He was co-president of the European Forum of LGBTI+ Christian Groups from 2011-2015 and co-chair of the Steering Committee of Global Network of Rainbow Catholics from 2015-2017. He is currently chair of the Roman Catholic Church Working Group of the European Forum.

On Sunday 3rd December we came together to mark World AIDS Day.

This Service took place online and it marked the third and final event of CAPS & PositiveFaith’s 20th anniversary year.

Themed around Hope and Advent, the service, led by Rev Dr Evie O’Brien, beautifully combined music recitings, scripture, and personal sharings. We are deeply grateful to all who shared their reflections, your openness and honesty added a profound depth and sense of togetherness to the service.

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined, making this World AIDS Day a truly memorable one.

What theological lessons have we yet to learn? How is the Gospel Good News for people living with HIV?

On Saturday the 9th of September Douai Abbey welcomed attendees from across the country for our event, Making Faith Sense of HIV, marking the 20th anniversary of our PositiveFaith ministry. The gathering comprised a broad spectrum of guests, including theologians, clergy, and Christian people living with HIV.

The CAPS team was pleased to host a panel of speakers, including Abigail Chakanyuka, CAPS Pastoral Support Worker for PositiveFaith; Sister Gillian Horsfield MMS, who had first-hand experience ministering to people in Nairobi at the height of the AIDS pandemic in the ‘80s; Michael O’Halloran, a former CAPS Trustee, Retreat leader and Spiritual Director; Vincent Manning PHD, Director of CAPS, who been active in leading responses to HIV in the UK and Ireland on behalf of the wider church, since the '90s; Prof. Jim McManus, Director of Public Health and a key contributor to the Catholic Church’s Healthcare Reference Group; Martin Pendergast, a CAPS co-founder, who has been a tireless advocate for the LGBT community; and Father Timothy Radcliffe OP, CAPS Patron and Dominican friar from Oxford who will lead the retreat at the upcoming Vatican Synod on Synodality.

The day’s discussions explored the complex relationship between faith and HIV, examining the church's historical responses and the Gospel message for those living with HIV today. After the talks we shared a celebratory meal.

Our deepest thanks to all who attended, participated, and contributed to the day's meaningful dialogue. Your presence truly amplified our enduring message of support, community, and inclusivity.

The Power of Peer Support

The first of two public symposia to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support (CAPS) charity took place last Thursday June 15th in Stockwell, London. Members of CAPS’ Positive Faith HIV peer support community, welcomed 70 people from the NHS, Public Health & HIV sectors, churches and people living with HIV (PLWH), from across the country.  

At ‘The Power of Peer Support’ Conference delegates heard the recent Chair of the British HIV Association Dr Laura Waters, speak about the important role that PLWH have in helping those diagnosed adjust to the condition. President of the Association of Directors of Public Health and advisor to CAPS’ Board, Prof Jim McManus, spoke about how research shows that spirituality and faith are beneficial for the health and well-being of PLWH.  

CAPS’ Director, Vincent Manning said that “most Churches are unsafe places for PLWH” because of “religiously generated” HIV stigma, and the pastoral and spiritual needs of PLWH cannot be met within the clinical setting. “This is why our Positive Faith peer support ministry began. This is why we are still here” he said. CAPS Chair Lazarus Mungure, Trustee Tyrone Allee and Pastoral Support Worker Abigail Chakanyuka, all members of the Positive Faith peer support community, spoke about how welcome, friendship, and shared lived experience, are at the centre of effective peer support. They spoke about how faith is incredibly important, not least for the many PLWH who suffer additional socio-economic hardship because of immigration status, poverty, poor health, racism and homophobia.

CAPS’ advisor Dr Stuart Flanagan from the Mortimer Market HIV clinic in London, which has the highest number of PLWH accessing care in the country, shared how he encounters Christ in a special way through PLWH and about the Christian responsibility to “be Christ for one another.”

Abigail Chakanyuka concluded her presentation with a Scriptural quote reflective of her experience and that of many PLWH in the Positive faith community:

‘We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.’  2 Cor. 4 v 8-9          

Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP a Patron of CAPS for over a decade, was due to attend, but was called to Rome for meetings about the forthcoming Synod on Synodality. Pope Francis has asked Fr Timothy to lead the retreat for participants in one of the most important global Church gatherings for decades, later this year. In a video message Fr Timothy expressed regret that he was not able to be present. He spoke about the centrality of friendship in Christian life and said that he holds CAPS “dear to my heart because of the friendship that is embodied”. (The full text of Fr Timothy’s reflection is reproduced below).

The Symposium concluded with a shared meal prepared and served by CAPS volunteers. A second symposium ‘Making Faith-Sense of HIV’ is scheduled to take place at Douai Abbey, September 9th 2023.