Out in the Mountains

The Splendor
of Truth

Paul Olsen

While many gay men and lesbians struggle
to reconcile their sexuality and spiritual
life, a group of approximately twelve Ver-
mont Roman Catholics have been regu-
larly meeting to celebrate both. Burling-
ton based DignityNermont was formed
two years ago by lesbian and gay Catholics
interested in observing their faith and be-
ing recognized and accepted as full mem-
bers of the Catholic church. -

As the newest official chapter of Dignityl
USA, DignityNerrnont is struggling to
have a liturgical life when much of the
Catholic church opposes the agenda of
Dignity/USA. Dennis Finnegan, Dignity’s
New England Regional Coordinator, char-
acterizes the church's position on gays and
lesbians as “it's okay to be a bird, but
don’t fly”. According to Finnegan, Dig~
nity’s mission is to provide a spiritual
haven for gay men and lesbians who feel
marginalized by the Catholic church. Dig-
nityNermont’s dedication to “eradicating
all restraints on the ascribed roles of wom-
en and men in the Church and society at
large - gay, straight, lesbian, divorced, sep-
arated and, especially those afflicted with
AIDS” places them in the position of be-
ing church dissidents.

The establishment of Dignity/Verrnont has
not been without incident. Shortly after
Dignity mailed Bishop Kenneth Angell a
copy of their monthly newsletter, the priest
who regularly performed mass for the
group stopped attending Dignity meet-

Continued on next page

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