Arthur David Canales

“ Catholic youth ministry is a commitment to and participation in young people's joys, hopes, and struggles for a full adolescent life, and discernment of God's salvific action in teenagers' personal history. [57] Youth ministry is God's work-in-action, embodied and integrated pedagogically and holistically with critical thinking and theological reflection, and therefore cannot overlook ministering to, with, and for LGBTQ youth. ”

“ RTV has beautifully written pages on advocacy with adolescents and pastoral care with teenagers, but nothing in those sections that specifically address the needs, issues, and dilemmas that LGBTQ youth encounter. RTV really misses a marvelous opportunity to address the concerns that LGBTQ youth experience on a daily basis. ”

“ Advocacy includes educating all adolescents on psychological development and sexual development, especially those teenagers who are thinking about engaging in sexual relations and those who are already engaged in sexual intimacy. Advocacy includes standing up for LGBTQ youth and engaging in policies and practices that eradicate discrimination of sexual minority young people and examine and analyze the practices that alienate LGBTQ youth. ”

“ The Ministry of Advocacy for Catholic Teenagers Advocacy for juveniles is an important part of youth ministry that aids in the fight against economic and social forces that threaten adolescents and their families. ”

“ The Ministry of Pastoral Care to Catholic Teenagers Pastoral care with teenagers is sine qua non for Catholic youth ministry! Without proper pastoral care healing and growth would not take place within adolescents, their peer relationships, and their families. ”

“ A Catholic revisionist/progressive view of sex before or outside of marriage would maintain that sexual encounters cause no unjust harm, involve free consent, mutuality of sexual desire, and equality of personhood, power, and status. ”

“ RTV is the current benchmark and definitive standard for Catholic youth ministry in the United States. All Catholic youth ministries are strongly encouraged to adhere to its content and follow RTV's framework. RTV establishes the criteria and goals for youth ministry, which are expected to be integrated and implemented in Catholic parish youth ministries and Catholic school campus ministries in the United States. RTV is the principal pastoral tool that Catholic youth ministers utilize in their pastoral work with young people ”

“ Conversely, bisexual youth are teenagers who self-identify their romantic and physical attraction, and their emotional and/or spiritual intimacy, toward people of both sexes and genders. [12]
Transgender and queer youth. The term transgender is a broad term that covers various groups. It can include transsexuals, cross-dressers, drag queens, people who are intersex (people born with both male and female genitals) , and straight people. Being transgender is not necessarily a reflection of sexual orientation. All transsexuals are transgender, but not all transgender people are transsexual. ”

“ RTV provides Catholic youth ministers with eight components that are to help shape the youth curriculum and are to be integrated within the youth ministry. The components consist of the following: advocacy, catechesis, community life, evangelization, justice and service, leadership development, pastoral care, and prayer and worship. There are two possible sections in the RTV document where ministering to LGBTQ adolescents could have been integrated: the Component of Advocacy and the Component of Pastoral Care. ”

“ LGBTQ youth deserve, and should expect, proper and competent pastoral care from their parish youth ministry. If the Catholic Church is not careful, it may be criticized as suffering from LGBTQ ephebiphobia (the fear of teenagers) towards sexual minority adolescents. ”

“ These points represent a rudimentary understanding of the church's teaching on human sexuality and homosexuality.
There is nothing unclear about these ecclesial doctrines. The theological quandary and the complexities for practical theology and pastoral ministry are statements such as this: "Basing itself on sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law." ”

“ Pope Francis's remarks above direct attention to some difficult and virtually undiscussed concerns about the way the Catholic Church is to minister to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) youth. Concerns regarding LGBTQ youth range from serious theological disagreements about ecclesial teachings to ignorance among youth ministers about the situations that these adolescents face. LGBTQ youth often experience fear, shame, and the hostility of peers and parents. ”

“ A lesbian youth is an adolescent female who self-identifies as a person who has sexual tendencies, overtures, and attraction toward other females and women. [10] A gay youth is an adolescent male who categorizes himself as a person who has sexual tendencies, overtures, and attraction toward other males and men. ”

“ Seek help for yourself, perhaps in the form of counseling, as you strive for understanding, acceptance, and inner peace. Reach out in love and service to other parents struggling with a son or daughter's homosexuality. ”

“ In this section RTV lists nine points regarding pastoral care with youth, but one point in particular could have dealt specifically with LGBTQ youth, yet does not: "Pastoral care fosters the spiritual development of young people, and the healthy integration of their sexuality and spirituality." ”

“ This would have been a perfect location to address the sexual orientation of teenagers as well as connecting the sexuality of LGBTQ youth to their spirituality. It is certainly not unreasonable to connect sexuality to spirituality. This would have been an excellent place to add something along these lines in this section of the document:
Pastoral Care is concerned about the total person; about the full expression of young people's spirituality and sexuality. ”

“ Every person should acknowledge and accept his or her sexual identity (no. 2333) ; Homosexuality refers to relations between men or women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction towards persons of the same sex (no. 2357) ”