Archbishop Samuel Aquila
In August 2023, the Archdiocese of Denver and two of its parishes filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado over LGBTQ+ non-discrimination protections. The state had launched a universal preschool program, and it required providers to abide by Colorado’s non-discrimination laws to receive funding. The lawsuit by the archdiocese and St. Mary’s Church, Littleton, and St. Bernadette’s Church, Lakewood, claimed their religious liberty was violated because Catholic schools would not be able to discriminate against LGBTQ+ educators, staff, and parents and still receive funding. More details on the dispute are available here.
Today’s post is a letter from two Catholic parents asking Denver’s Archbishop Samuel Aquila to drop the lawsuit and reverse a highly LGBTQ-negative trend in the archdiocese’s Catholic parishes and schools.
The parents, Beth and Dan Mueller Stewart, have planted their family’s roots in Colorado. They have two children, one of whom attends a Catholic school involved in the lawsuit. The authors themselves attended a cumulative 35 years in Catholic education, including Beth’s masters from the Jesuit School of Theology. Beth, a former contributor to Bondings 2.0, is now a coach, while Dan is a project manager.
The following is their letter to Archbishop Aquila, Fr. Joe McLagan, pastor of St. Bernadette’s, and Avery Coates, principal of the parish’s school, Wellspring Catholic Academy:
Dear Archbishop Aquila, Father Joe, and Principal Coats,
As parents of a preschool child currently attending Wellspring Catholic Academy of St. Bernadette, we write to you deeply concerned with the Archdiocese of Denver’s lawsuit against the state of Colorado regarding LGBTQ non-discrimination protections. While we hope our two children can and will benefit from Catholic education, which we ourselves benefited from for a collective 35 years from pre-kindergarten to graduate school, this possibility seems less certain today. This compels us then to share our concerns with you.
The Archdiocese’s lawsuit on behalf of St. Bernadette’s and St. Mary’s parishes disturbs our consciences at the deepest level, and we ask you to drop it and pursue a more reconciliatory path. As faithful Catholics, we try to live in solidarity with LGBTQ people, and LGBTQ Catholics in particular hold a special place in our hearts. Many of our dear LGBTQ loved ones, friends and family alike, continue to practice Catholicism to the extent they can or are permitted to. We deeply desire their full inclusion in the Roman Catholic Church, for, without them, the Body of Christ is incomplete.
The lawsuit’s impact is already devastating for LGBTQ people and their loved ones–Catholics and non-Catholics alike–as well as the Church itself. The message to these families is clear: you are not welcome. This message counters the simple yet vivid scriptural images of Jesus embracing children, lepers, sex workers, and all those who were socially isolated and considered less-than in first century Palestine.
Today, in Colorado and everywhere, Jesus would embrace LGBTQ people and families—and he asks us to do likewise. As Christ’s representative on earth, the Church has both an opportunity and a responsibility here to care for the most vulnerable. Our hope is that this care means every child and every family who wishes to participate in Catholic education, whether they align fully with church teaching or not, could be welcomed by the Church with a loving embrace.
Since the filing of the lawsuit last August on the first day of school, we have found ourselves in a tough position. The lawsuit forced us to ask: “Do we keep our child at Wellspring Catholic Academy and seemingly support the lawsuit, forsaking our values and our consciences? Or do we forgo Catholic education at Wellspring to stand in solidarity and love with our own LGBTQ loved ones?” Because we both had safe, loving experiences in our Catholic schools, we have desired the same for our children. Steeped in Catholic values over the course of our lives, we know we have the ability to cultivate those values in our home and simultaneously we want support from the faith community in a Catholic educational setting. But, ultimately, because we believe in and uphold the Catholic teachings of the dignity of every human person and the primacy of conscience, we have decided not to re-enroll at Wellspring; we will educate our child with the support of a different school starting in the fall.
As lovers and supporters of the Catholic Church, we question the sustainability of the current path that the Archdiocese of Denver is on. It is rooting out anyone not deemed a“good Catholic.” You have the power to end the suffering that comes from this lawsuit. You have the power to expand love for the people in this archdiocese who most need a safe place to land, including LGBTQ+ people and their families. Please reconsider the current restrictive approach to governing the local Church, and take up a more hospitable stance. Let’s build a longer, broader, and more inclusive table.
As two committed Catholics who are continuing a Catholic legacy through our own family, we offer ourselves as a resource to support you in efforts to build a more inclusive Church here in the Denver area. We hope you receive our words with an open heart and trust that we come from a place of love rather than politics. We would welcome a dialogue with you to support such a shift, for it is never too late for all of us to love our neighbor in the way that Jesus does. In the meantime, we offer our prayers for you and your episcopal and educational ministries.
Sincerely,
—Beth Mueller Stewart, M.Div., and Dan Stewart, May 21, 2024
