Acts of Faith, Acts of Love

Publisher's description: It is widely admitted that Roman Catholic teaching on homosexuality is schizophrenic: morally rigorous but pastorally progressive. Dominican theologian Gareth Moore says the problem stems from the church's focus on "acts" rather than "relationships. Since Vatican II and the Stonewall Riot, there has been an outpouring of lesbian and gay Catholic autobiographies - some book-length, others in the form of essays or even embedded in novels. These autobiographical "acts," argues McKinely, can provide the subjectivity-thick description- that is sorely lacking in the church's understanding of gay people. In Acts of Faith, Acts of Love, McGinely explores the overlap of religious and sexual identities in the stories gay men write about themselves. The autobiographical writings of 40 gay Catholics (or once Catholics) are analyzed. Among the better known are Rafael Campo, Philip Gambone, Andrew Holleran, Fenton Johnson, David Kopay, J.D. McClatchy, Brian Naught, John McNeill, Richard Plante, Richard Rodriquez, Andrew Sullivan, and Jose Zuniga. The work is both literary and theological on the premise that experience constitutes one of the four sources of theological reflection, along with scripture, tradition, and reason.