{"id":47394,"date":"2015-09-07T19:26:19","date_gmt":"2015-09-07T23:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=47394"},"modified":"2015-09-09T01:04:03","modified_gmt":"2015-09-09T05:04:03","slug":"obama-invites-gay-catholic-to-white-house-for-popes-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2015\/09\/obama-invites-gay-catholic-to-white-house-for-popes-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama invites gay Catholic to White House for pope’s visit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

A Marquette University grad\u2019s poignant note to President Barack Obama about his hopes as a gay man and a Catholic have garnered him an invitation to join the president when Pope Francis comes to the White House on Sept. 23.<\/p>\n

\"MJS<\/a>Aaron Ledesma, 23, who has been chronicling his return to the church\u00a0in a blog titled The Gay Catholic<\/a>, first thought he was being punked when he answered a call from a blocked number on Aug. 13.<\/p>\n

It was the White House tendering its invitation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI broke down crying as soon as I hung up the phone,\u201d said Ledesma, who graduated from Marquette in 2014 and now works as communications manager at the national headquarters of his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, in Richmond, Va. \u201cIt was that moment of realizing how far I\u2019d come, and seeing that all of those years \u2014 when I thought things were tough or I felt scared \u2014 that it was all leading me to this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pope Francis will visit the White House later this month on his first visit to the United States, a three-city tour that will culminate with a Mass in Philadelphia that is expected to draw more than 1 million people.<\/p>\n

Like many Catholics, Ledesma was deeply moved by Francis\u2019 now famous response in 2013 to a reporter\u2019s question about gay clergy: \u201cIf someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Pope Francis said that\u2026I thought, you know, if every Catholic practiced that, I\u2019d have nothing to fear. I\u2019d have nothing to worry about,\u201d Ledesma said.<\/p>\n

\u2026In addition to Pope Francis, Ledesma credits his mother, Patti McNeil \u2014 his rock, his hero, he calls her \u2014 with bringing him back to the church.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read more.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read some of Ledesma\u2019s blog, which offers\u00a0us his perspective:<\/p>\n

\n

Some Catholics believe that there are only two choices when being gay:
\nLive a life of celibacy OR Live in sin & go to hell.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I realize that some Catholics urging the LGBTQ community to be celibate are doing it out of love and concern, and then there are others who hide behind their religion as a justification for their bigotry.<\/p>\n

For the ones who are truly concerned with my soul and my relationship with God, this is how I try to explain it:<\/p>\n

There are heterosexual, married, Catholic couples who use contraception.<\/strong>\u00a0They don\u2019t plan on stopping the use of contraception, and don\u2019t really believe they are sinning. How do they reconcile that choice with God and their faith?<\/p>\n

There are heterosexual Catholics who have gotten a divorce and remarried legally without getting an annulment from the Church.<\/strong>They still receive communion. They don\u2019t plan on pursuing an annulment and don\u2019t really believe what they\u2019re doing is wrong. How do they reconcile that choice with God and their faith?<\/p>\n

There are heterosexual couples, even married ones, who have sex for pleasure only.<\/strong>\u00a0Some watch porn and give little thought to the gift of intimacy. How do they reconcile those choices with God and their faith?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Photo: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel \/ Family photo<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:\u00a0 A Marquette University grad\u2019s poignant note to President Barack Obama about his hopes as a gay man and a Catholic have garnered him an invitation to join the president when Pope Francis comes to the White House on Sept. 23. Aaron Ledesma, 23, who has been chronicling his return to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[378,38,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gay-rights","category-politics","category-pope"],"yoast_head":"\nObama invites gay Catholic to White House for pope's visit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:\u00a0 A Marquette University grad's poignant note to President Barack Obama about his hopes as a gay man and a Catholic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2015\/09\/obama-invites-gay-catholic-to-white-house-for-popes-visit\/\" \/>\n<meta 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