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Sitting at the airport waiting to board my flight to go visit the sisters for the next 5 days. Please pray for me during this time!

While I fully recognize this is a forum for discerners, I too think it's important to recognize that not all "matches" between individuals and communities are "made in heaven." IMO, the most important thing to remember is that there's no failure involved, to think of the experience of living in religious life as a learning experience, and to move on in one's spiritual quest. Ultimately, it's one's relationship with God that matters, and there are an infinite number of pathways to tread, just as the theologies of Judaism and Catholicism are radically different, the goals are the same in the end.

Hello! Former ex-con(vent) here. First, thank you for sharing and know you are not alone. While I chose to leave the congregation, I really had no other choice. I was in a community where God was used as a tool to manipulate; where I was immensely overloaded and burned out, but told that the reason I was suffering was due to my selfishness, my refusal to pray more deeply (i often fell asleep praying...or when I sat anywhere for an extended period of time), and being unfaithful to my vows. After I left, I was diagnosed with PTSD. I have worked with two different therapists. Neither was Catholic (or even religious) but both gave me valuable skills and perspective. I tell you this to really encourage you to find a therapist. Any therapist that is skilled in dealing with your issues will work. Many have sliding scales if you don't have insurance, and can meet via skype or over the phone. There are even a few apps that offer therapy for a reduced rate for a while. Look at your budget, and make yourself a priority. You will not regret the healing you can find. Will you still have pain or flashbacks or whatever? Sure. But you will also have the tools to work through it.

Transferring from one religious community to another is something canon law does cover. It's a fairly "normal" thing in the sense that the Church clearly allows for it, even if it isn't terribly common. I've heard of many cases where a Sister transferred successfully. That being said, obviously it's a big decision that needs to be carefully discerned and taken seriously. Generally speaking, usually a prospective transfer Sister spends at least three years with the new community before the transfer can become permanent. Of course there's a lot about your particular situation that we as online strangers wouldn't know, but feeling more drawn to a contemplative way of life seems like a reasonable cause for discerning a transfer. If your present community is decently healthy, my guess is that if you approach your superiors honestly and sincerely, they'll ultimately just want to help you follow God's will for your life, even if that might mean continuing your religious vocation somewhere else. I suspect unsuccessful transfers might be due largely in part to Sisters having problems within themselves that they are subconsciously trying to run away from (which is a dynamic that can happen to the best of us at times!), with these problems of course following them to the new community. So it might also be good to do some very honest soul-searching in this area if it seems like a reasonable concern for you.

Jumping in here because I haven't seen anyone post this yet: if you are experiencing stress and anxiety that is interfering with your mental and physical health, please consider seeing a therapist! There's no shame in seeking help and having a safe space to discuss your feelings and experiences, especially if abuse was involved.

but it's so much easier to just complain....

Fine Josh, I'll be the adult male and I'll contact Tan Books. I'll ask them if they are aware of this trash, and what if anything they'll do about it. So that you can sit here and just talk garbage about trads, right wingers, baby eating maga cultists, and super mega Hitler Trump. If anyone else cares enough to actually do something about it, here is their contact page. Will post other forms of contact if I find them later. https://www.tanbooks.com/contacts/

I totally agree with you that this is clearly racist and never should’ve been believed, let alone published. That being said, why are you maligning a whole group of people as racist for what one Archbishop said and one book company did not edit out? That was a thinly veiled insult. This is something that frustrates me in modern discourse. Someone says or does something bad and we immediately cast them and anyone remotely associated with them as totally bad. I pray that we can be firm against sin but more merciful toward one another. The better thing to do would be to contact TAN and speak with them, asking how they could’ve left this in one of their books and how it made the final edit. If they ignore you or act dismissively, then by all means make stuff like this public knowledge so that they realize how sinful and hurtful it is.

I left a cloistered contemplative heavy-on-the-silence order just before I reached solemn vows. It was a process of growing shock for me over the last 2 or so years there as I came to really know in my body, mind, and soul that this was not where I was meant to be. It was in large part to the community present at the time; in looking back through the help of a good counselor, things were quite harmful and downright dangerous in many ways. Those last couple years were really discerning that I did not need the cloister to engage in the internal life I have with the holy ones, or the oversight of what was a damaged system...so I left. It was wrenching in a lot of ways, but really drove home to me that my mystic life is mine, and is best lived with the input of a good spiritual director and that I personally do not need the vows or the cloister to live that out. Once in awhile I dream about being back in the monastery, but it is either an outright nightmare or it is forming a narrative that never existed (nice people, a solid community, etc). I spent a lot of time angry with holy ones because what took me out of the monastery was not of my own design...there was not a way to remain and remain whole. After all, I said yes to enclosure and the vows, and they led me to a community that failed me and then followed that with the church failing me by not being involved in the community and providing appropriate oversight. But...I don't need to be angry and when I am, I can place that at the feet of the holy ones and let them decide what to do with it rather than trying to hold onto it. As much as religious life is a gift for some, it can be a terribly flawed burden, and we are often better for leaving.

I think this is a serious issue. Why you are speaking to me in this way, I have no clue. You know me, at least a little bit and know that I am not down with racism. What you are implying about me is total BS. I think it's serious enough to do something about. Instead of whining about. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Until you brought it up, I had no idea that this kind of thing was still being circulated. I've been reading Tan books because they published things I was looking for such as story of a soul by St. Therese, true devotion to Mary, introduction to the devout life… There's nothing remotely racist in these books. Avid Catholic readers who are African-American have probably read these edition S. ALSO, it is a willfully ignorant generalization to say that African-Americans don't become Catholics especially when there is at least one here who posts. You obviously don't live here in DC as well. No offense, but your post comes off awfully smug. No matter, I love you anyway brother. God bless you and give you peace. E

Complaining about it and contacting them are not mutually exclusive things. The company not racist just because they printed one book that has this croutons theory in it. They print other books too.. I read them. They are not racist books I'm talking about. I mean they have been printing books since day one when they were no other Catholic publishers around. The classics of the spiritual life. I think it's worth reaching out to them. You ever heard the saying, "it's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness?" Maybe nobody brought the issue to their attention? Shine a light on the darkness. Yeah, it's easy to just dismiss something as evil or whatever but harder to do something constructive about it. Also, God doesn't just look at us as hopeless, impossible to change or do anything with… So I won't do that. Take the good, leave the bad… Better yet, do something about the bad so the good shine even brighter. Food for thought man.

I am currently 7 months pregnant with our first child and have been looking into Catholic homeschooling programs because my husband and I are united on the fact that we will not send our kids to public schools or even Catholic schools, which teach liberalism, modernism, and heresy. The person who made the original post actually greatly encouraged me to use Seton Home Study, and I wanted to offer a conservative and traditional voice for those faithful Catholics who adhere to doctrine and breathe a sigh of relief to see Seton's denial of modernist secular culture. Evolution is a heresy. It was condemned by the Church in her wisdom because it directly opposes Divine Revelation and the account of creation history in Genesis. It also teaches people that since we are constantly evolving, it is okay for morals also to change. This undermines the wisdom of two thousand years of Church teaching and basically says that the early saints, apostles, and Christians got it all wrong. But Jesus is eternal and never-changing or evolving, and since He made the Church, He cannot be wrong. If you want more details about how the scam of evolution entered into schools and into modern thinking even for Catholics, there is a great interview on the John Henry Weston show on YouTube with Hugh Owen. Here is the link: I am greatly encouraged to see that Seton does not use texts that were written after Vatican II. If you want more information about all of the radical changes to liturgy that Vatican II introduced to the Church, the incredibly corrupt Bishops and Cardinals behind these changes, and how all of that is linked to the horrific decline in Mass attendance and disbelief in the real presence of the Eucharist, check out Infiltration by Dr. Taylor Marshall. From what I can tell, Seton is traditionally oriented, meaning it is simply authentic Catholicism. It appears that many naysayers are in line with the nouveau theologie modernists, which, by the way, is considered the ultimate heresy of the Church. It is so upsetting that since Vatican II, so many people have been led astray from true faith by the lies, distortions, and alterations made to the liturgy as well as the compromises so many Catholic leaders have made with modern secular culture. Doctrine cannot change. If Seton is promoting a return to orthodoxy in Catholic teaching, I am so encouraged to see this and excited to use the program. I hope these resources are helpful to others. God bless.

I greatly appreciate Thomist mentioning this. Many of us experienced similar situations. I frequently refrained from saying so, because I knew there were those on this forum who would insist they never saw such a thing, and don't relish being called a liar. I am by no means referring only what happened to me personally. Some of the superiors in this category were not mentally ill or lacking in any conscience. They could have traits amplified by believing they were the voice of God, or that their abuse was 'good for your soul,' or that they were showing some heroic example. I spent years trying to 'do penance', because I'd been convinced I was proud and worldly (in many ways, I still am a total innocent about the world - and I have the scars to prove this - so how anyone could think me worldly would be a joke, were it not so damaging.) The worst superior in my own life was horrid to other Sisters - yet she would say outright "See how I am! That comes of a deep relationship with Christ!" She was constantly enraged, and, if she misunderstood, and someone tried to explain what really happened, she's sneer, "Well, that MIGHT have happened." I could understand her hating me - I didn't need to say so for her to realise I did not have the adulation for her that she expected. But there were simple, innocent Sisters, whom I cannot imagine offending anyone, whom she would have in tears.

I've heard this type of thing before I'm quite surprised it appears here as well. Ham is the father of the Egyptians… While they were enemies of Israel, they were redeemed and converted after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. St. Mark evangelized Egypt and there have been great Egyptian saints. The curse of Ham doesn't even exist anymore.(or curse on Canaan… The Canaanites come from him as well.) Just took a solid Old Testament class and there was nothing remotely like that racist claim. Also, I don't think that this book represents Tan as a whole. Do they really publish it still?

"Passionist Nuns' Monastery in Ellisville, MO February 4 at 11:52 AM · Another little job for the new kid...picking up dirty silverware and other used dinnerware after each meal! Postulant Caitlin, in a new look, prepares to get a cart and go to work at a recent noon meal. Hand in hand with the Blessed Virgin Mary, she is doing very well, all around! She wishes to give everyone this message, which is our motto, "May the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ be always in our hearts! " Caitlin entered on February 2, 2020. From the Carmelite Monastery of the Holy Cross in Iron Mountain, Michigan:

Today's Gospel lesson is a continuation of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Matthew obviously had some purpose in mind as he produced his edition of Jesus' teaching. The Sermon on the Mount, establishes Jesus' authority as a teacher. The community for whom Matthew was writing were Jewish Christians, Jews who believed the Gospel. These Jewish Christians were being persecuted by other Jews: charged with heresy and beginning to be expelled from the synagogues. It is possible that some in Matthew's community were beginning to believe that their critics were correct that the Jews who followed the teacher Jesus had abandoned the Torah of God, which made a Jew a Jew. Countering this belief Matthew emphasizes that Jesus did not put aside the Law, rather Jesus says: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil...For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (5:17, 20). Jesus now quotes the Law and then comments on it. He quotes the commandment on murder, on adultery, on bearing witness. But in his commentary, he expands it: one kills not just in the act of taking a life but whenever one is angry or levies abuse and insults. Likewise, one commits adultery not just in the physical act, but whenever one lusts after another, even if only in the imagination of the heart. It is not good enough that one not bear false witness but at all times a person's word must be truthful In short, Jesus commands his followers to go beyond merely observing the Law. They must expand their observance of the Law into all aspects of their lives, inwardly as well as outwardly so that their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, in order that there be no grounds for the charges that the Jewish Christians had abandoned the Law, the basic religious and moral code of Jewish society. What has that got to do with us? Is this teaching applicable in our situation? Just as those first century Jews -Christians to whom Matthew was writing had to live by a moral standard above and beyond what was legitimately expected by their contemporaries, so too, we 21st century Christians are called to live by a moral standard above and beyond that expected by our society. And this striving for perfection must affect every facet of our lives, from the way we deal with our anger to the value people can put on our speech, knowing that whatever we say, whenever we say it, is truthful. But then you say, "That's impossible, I can't be perfect. Besides, are you telling me that I have to work my way into heaven?" None of us can achieve on our own that perfection to which we are called. We do it because of Jesus. Jesus has called us to share the perfect life of the Kingdom of Heaven with him. And we strive for that perfection knowing as Paul tells us and the Corinthians in today's Second Reading, that God gives us the ability to grow, to grow into the full, mature stature of the sons and daughters of God, to be transformed bit by bit by the grace of God into the perfect life of the Child of God, Jesus our brother. That is our calling: to be transformed daily in the way that we live inwardly and outwardly in order to reveal to the world around us that in Jesus we have found something. We have found a new way of living. It is a way of living marked by a desire to make peace with those whom we have wronged or who have wronged us. It is a way of living marked by a respect for others for who they are not as mere objects. It is a way of living marked by a commitment to the truth so strong that our "Yes" means "Yes" and our "No", "No". Above all it is a way of living made possible only through the Grace of God, who loves us, who has redeemed us from sin and death and who makes us Holy.

It's been many years, but the pain never is completely gone - and it was terribly intense. If Kim has PTSD that is rooted in her experience of religious life, I would imagine she had experiences far worse than most. I intend no disrespect to anyone on this forum in saying this, but believe it deserves a mention. Those who have been thrown out of religious communities, but who still intend to pursue the vocation elsewhere (even if, as happened to me, it ends up being as a solitary - I've been in private vows since 1982), may be pained by some of the 'stock answers' many offer. Joining a third order, for example, does not involve consecrated life (probably few in such groups live a vowed life), and recommending 'you can still be a Secular Franciscan' only makes the pain worse. Some left and chose to marry - not a problem for them, but it's terrible when someone knows she is called to vowed chastity, and others reassure her that God will send her a husband. All of us know the 'correct' answer - oh, I wasn't in final vows; it's only a time of discernment; it's what God wants, not what we want that matters... But how can those who are in a situation such as the one I described not feel that tearing pain, and the sense that no-one understands or will be supportive? If Kim has no interest in entering religious life again, but still is having PTSD, I can't imagine what she went through with her community (and I'm not asking.) But there indeed are dysfunctional superiors, and it is possible (I could cite a few cases I've seen) that they can view their own odd ways as special holiness or example. They can hide behind that they supposedly are the voice of God.

Thank you, BarbaraTherese, for kindly welcoming me

I know several sisters who have transferred--some from one active community to another, and some from active to contemplative. I believe that the usual practice would be for you to ask for exclaustration from your current community as you discern your future. Is there a particular contemplative order or monastery that you are attracted to? Perhaps you can do a live-in. Exclaustration, of course, means that you would still be vowed in your original (current) community. They would be oblliged to take you back should you decide to return. Transferring is not easy, but it is often what people are called to do. Blessings to you as you journey.

Dear BuGa, I can't comment on the success of Sisters transferring. I would presume that it is easier within a tradition-- like a teaching Dominican to a cloistered, active Franciscan to Poor Clare, etc. I can say that the guilt and shame that you may feel is not of God. I don't think that you led your community on. You did not make vows with the intention to stay until something better came along. You followed the lights as the presented themselves. The community's obligation is to help you follow God's will. I would hope pettiness wouldn't get in the way, although I know it does happen. I hope you have a good spiritual director. Do you have a friend in your community that you can bounce ideas off of as you explore this? I will be praying for your courage in this discernment.

@Kim, Teaching should provide you with health insurance, which should include counseling in what is covered. And if you are a unionized teacher, that should also be a source of support. If your 3 months in religious life is still troubling you to this extent so long afterward, I have to say I agree that counseling is likely an important support to your healing.

Hello All. When researching discernment it seems like phatmass vocation station has a lot of people here with wisdom about this topic so I thought I’d sign up and ask here. First off, I don’t have a spiritual director right now but I’m in touch with a priest friend who is in Rome but that isn’t much help right now. I thought maybe those with more experience can maybe just throw out some words of wisdom! So I’m 31 years old and I have attempted religious life two times within the past 10 years. After my second time I just figured door closed and not for me. That was tough to get through but I moved on and went to school and a lot of good things have happened for me thanks be to God for His mercy. Well I started to get more involved in deepening my relationship with Our Lord and that’s something I kind of pushed away for a few years now. Well I’ve been thinking of all my plans and wondering what route to take. In my growing desire to know His plan for my life, the desire for religious life has come back. Ahhhhh!!!! Lol. Well, I didn’t expect that one!!! It’s kind of scary having done this before but I have a deep joy about it also. I think I always desired it but pushed it away thinking it wasn’t for me. I am happy. Well, it’s tricky because I’ve done this two times before and that will come up again and may cause some difficulties in discerning with communities. I pray God opens the doors that are meant to open. Here’s the catch. I’ve been thinking of a community that I wouldn’t have considered before because it’s a foundation from one of the two communities I was in before. It’s bizarre but I can’t stop thinking about writing them and hoping for a visit. Could this be from the Holy Spirit if it’s something I wouldn’t have considered but keep thinking about? Should I send a letter? Prayers please too!! Thank you!

I still live a consecrated life, though as a solitary (though I'm not enclosed.) I previously belonged to a Franciscan religious community. Leaving was not my choice - I was not what they wanted. I'll add that, years later, I did look into entering another congregation, but it wasn't until I 'lived in' with them for a little while that I realised I did not want to be in community life again. My original community had so much of a common schedule (no privacy, no time for one's self, anti-intellectual) that it was stifling, and I found that, though the other community I visited were nowhere near as strict, they, too, had too much common life for me to take - the more since, with reduced numbers, they had too many apostolates for each individual. A Sister who was 70 well might be teaching all day, then working with youth groups at night, then involved in more on the weekend. It is horribly painful to be rejected from a congregation. Nor can one find much understanding - either it's a glib 'it wasn't God's will', or people think one is relieved, or others think one came to one's senses. In my case, I had entered when I already had an MA in music. I was sent to another house, under the impression that they needed a music teacher - which was a lie. (I was treated terribly - I suppose those in the other house had to prove I was terrible.) I had nightmares for years of the letter I received soon afterwards, "Easter is coming. New dawn, new resurrection. You will be going home, and can rejoice in knowing God's will for you." Since my spirituality is centred on the Incarnation and our deification, the resurrection is central in my thought - yet it was years before I could hear the world 'resurrection' without cringing. It does not matter that, with hindsight, I knew that it would have ruined me had I stayed with them. There still was that tearing pain. In my case, it wasn't only nightmares about how I was treated at the end. I sometimes dreamt of the 'sunny side' of religious life, and thought that I was back in the community. Religious communities become like one's family (and we probably don't agree with - or even like - some of our family members.) It seems unthinkable that a family would cast one out - not a farthing, no preparation, and so forth. Fortunately, my parents were alive, so I had someplace to go, but even they drove me mad - 'there must be something you're not telling us' How would they dismiss you, with how they need people today?" (In later years, it was 'they don't even throw out paedophiles!') To have my family and friends thinking I must have done something terrible to be rejected only made it far worse. If you still feel a calling to religious life, do look into the possibility of pursuing it again. (This despite nonsense about not 'shopping around,' or how 'God would have led you to it by now.') The foundress of the congregation where I once was had been dismissed from her own community at one point.

Jesus needs to come back pronto. This world has gone absolutely nuts...

KatherineH, I was a member at that time. As far as I know, nothing was publicized beyond the internal communications within the Holy See. There was nothing so concerning that the media would have been interested, as with the accusations with Regina Laudis. Mother Mary was elected as SG after Mother Mary Quentin was forced to step down. You can ask about it, but I would be shocked if you were told anything other than it was a misunderstanding. I expect that they will say it was a deliberate effort to unseat Mother M. Quentin, who is often painted by the community as a modern Catherine of Siena. Also, many of the Sisters do suffer from burnout. They are either ignored and told that they are not being generous enough in prayer, or they are sent to do psychological work with their own Sisters (which is very strange. A physician would never treat a member of his family, especially not as a therapist). It is also very interesting that of the Sisters who left after final vows, a fair number were psychologists, who were trained to diagnose and resolve the tension that they were forced to cooperate in creating.

Jesuit college boots Catholic student for defending Catholic teaching on homosexuality Melbourne’s prestigious Newman College is showing open support for LGBT students while actively discriminating against those who uphold the Church’s teaching on sexuality. Mon Feb 10, 2020 - 9:30 pm EST By Kathy Clubb February 10, 2020 (Family Life International) — Melbourne’s prestigious Newman College is showing open support for LGBTI students, while actively discriminating against those who uphold the Church’s teaching on sexuality. Newman College is a residential campus for Catholic University of Melbourne students and was established more than a hundred years ago. The Jesuit-run college, which charges fees of around $25,000 per year, created a ‘Diversity Committee’ in 2019, complete with a ‘qwerty representative’ and the new Dean has been lauded by students for promoting the college as being ‘a safe space for qwerty students.’ The dean’s efforts included holding a ‘diversity dinner’ during the second semester of 2019, featuring Newman’s first openly-gay president and LGBTIQ+ activist, William Kabira, as a speaker. Kabira’s speech, on the topics of diversity, ‘coming out’ and ‘qwerty’ representation at the college, was witnessed by at least two Priests, the Dean and other members of the Newman faculty. The event was publicised on social media and in the college student newsletter. Additionally, Melbourne University’s student newspaper [1] applauded the dean for her pro-gay stance in a June 2019 article entitled, “Further supports for qwerties at Newman College”: The University of Melbourne’s Newman College has taken steps towards greater inclusivity of its qwerty students, with efforts being made to improve their wellbeing and representation. The Dean of Newman, Genevieve Leach, has been a resident counsellor at the college for over a year, and oversaw the formation of a qwerty group for Newman students. She was also involved in updating the college’s student conduct policy. The article includes details of a controversy in which a student who queried the college’s pro-qwerty stance was thrown out of a student Facebook group for ‘homophobic’ behaviour. However, the article made no mention of the extreme discrimination perpetrated by members of the LGBTIQ+ lobby against conservative students. By far the most egregious example of this discrimination is Newman’s treatment of Arts student, Riley Soares. Riley lived at Newman College from 2017–2019 while studying at Melbourne University. He experiences same-sex attraction, but faithfully abides by the Church’s teaching in this matter. After publicly taking a traditional stance on marriage and sexuality that conflicted with the views of Newman College, Riley was denied residence at the college for the current study year, 2020 and his scholarships were not renewed. Riley’s conflict with the Newman gay lobby goes back to 2017 when he took a stand for traditional marriage during the debate on the redefinition of marriage. For simply upholding the Church’s unchanging teaching on the nature of marriage, Riley was harassed and bullied by other students, subjected to accusations of homophobia and insults such as ‘flower’ and ‘brainwashed Christian’ on social media. Then in September 2018, Riley was the subject of discrimination by another student on the basis of being a Charismatic Catholic. He made complaints to the dean and was told it would be followed up if there was another incident. The insulting behaviour continued and Riley made a further complaint in writing, complete with screenshots. The dean instigated an informal investigation which resulted in an apology being given to Riley by the offending student orally, but no written apology. Riley accepted this fairly inadequate apology, but the mockery continued nevertheless until the offending student left the college. In mid-2019, after the Farrago newspaper published its article on the ‘Diversity Committee’, Riley shared a video on his personal Facebook page about James Parker — a well-known Catholic activist who has rejected his former gay lifestyle. President William Kabira accused Riley of homophobia online and commented on the video saying that it was ‘ BS’. Kabira then falsely accused Riley of saying ‘gays are going to hell’ and also falsely accused him of supporting “gay conversion therapy” which he misunderstood as involving electro-shock therapy. In response, Soares created an online petition against bullying experienced at Newman by those opposed to the ‘Diversity Committee’, as well as against the numerous Pride activities that were taking place at the college. The petition, while expressing respect for individuals choosing to identify as LGBTIQ+ and opposing discrimination against LBGTIQ+ individuals, pointed out that promoting that lifestyle was against Catholic teaching. A member of the Newman Students Club retaliated by making their own petition and was encouraged by members of Newman’s General Council. The petition contained defamatory remarks about Riley that were so extreme that the company hosting the petition, Change.org, had the petition removed. Change later sent an email to Soares, apologising and stating that the petition had violated their community standards. Things came to a head in November of 2019, when the college Provost, Sean Burke, held a meeting with Riley. At the meeting, he expressed the college’s decision to discontinue Riley’s scholarship and residency. The Provost noted that Riley had ‘been hurt and that he had hurt a fair few in this community’ and drew his attention to the conflict with the so-called ‘Diversity Committee’. Sean Burke allegedly told Riley that it was in his best interests not to return to the college and that he needed to become ‘more independent.’ When asked how he felt about his treatment at the hands of the ‘Diversity Committee’ and Newman faculty members, Riley Soares commented: It’s been frustrating that Newman would put me in this position and blatantly refuse to address the members of Newman Students Club and General Council’s defamatory and bullying petition against me, which one could find for many months in the first 5 results when they googled my name. It affected me in a number of practical ways: for instance, at this point, I haven’t been able to find any secure housing for the year. Also when I’ve tried to apply for jobs, employers have done a google search on me and found the defamatory change.org petition against me as a concern and have denied me employment. I feel very disappointed that a Catholic College would expel me for defending the Catholic ethos on the grounds of questioning whether it was appropriate that the College promotes the homosexual and qwerty lifestyle. The College administration sees me as a threat because although I am a student who struggles with same-sex attraction, I refuse to bow down to the radical LGBTIQ+ agenda. I follow the Church’s teaching and the biblical stance on homosexuality and I will never compromise. What is their message by kicking me out? It’s to set an example for other students. Don’t you even dare to question whether some of the actions and views of these people pushing these things are a little extreme, otherwise you’re going to be labelled a homophobe or transphobe, or gasp, even a bigot. Don’t you dare be courageous and speak out, otherwise we are going to take away your reputation, your standing among your peers- even perhaps your scholarship and right to residence at our very welcoming Catholic College. How diverse are we? The Human Rights Law Alliance have been assisting Riley for apprehended unlawful discrimination and are yet to decide whether they will make a legal challenge. With the memory of Wilson Gavin so fresh in our minds, FLI prays for Riley’s situation and wishes him the best . For chaste, same-sex-attracted Catholics raise the ire not only of the secular world but most especially of liberal Catholics. Those who claim that Christ’s teaching on sexuality is an impossible goal have yet to learn the value in carrying their cross and denying themselves in order to find true freedom. [1] http://farragomagazine.com/2019/06/24/further-supports-for-qwerty-students-at-newman-college/?fbclid=IwAR3dClLcJ7r5o9SPf7riUcI5OkZmDxoAm1eXHLVVL9MoHktf7T5BNjdf58A Published with permission from Family Life International. Source https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/jesuit-college-boots-catholic-student-for-defending-catholic-teaching-on-homosexuality