By Emily Ford
Contributing writer
Dominican will have its first LGBTQ Mass on Sunday Oct. 31; this is one of the examples of greater inclusion that university ministry is working towards.
The university has been collaborating with Common Ground, also known as PRISM, in various ways. However, an LGBTQ Mass is new.
After building a stronger relationship and finding support of this community the ministry and mission department believes this is a “next right step” in making that relationship stronger.
Olivia Kneip, student president of the PRISM (People Respecting Identities Sexuality and Mindfulness), says that the goal of the mass is to separate religion and sexuality and bring students together in a safe space in the church.
Kneip said, this event will act a steppingstone for the organization as they begin to become more active in the Dominican community.
This Mass is a breakthrough for Dominican by showing that the university is open to what Amy Omi, one of the university ministers, called “radical inclusion” of previously marginalized communities.
Omi and others have working toward this radical inclusion in many areas.
“I am aware of the fact that Catholicism doesn’t have a perfect track record,” she says, “there are things like racism, colonization, white washing, and homophobia in its history that we need to face.”
Omi makes sure to question herself constantly in order to hold herself accountable as a white female faculty member. By doing this she can make sure that a biased perspective that could be rooted in white supremacist framework, does not appear in her work.
“Because we are a Hispanic Serving Institution, I am learning about how to better my work. My focus is white accountability,” she said.
However, though radical events like the LGBTQ Mass are happening, this doesn’t mean that these progressive changes didn’t face some setbacks, she said.
According to Omi, due to mixed opinions from within the church and Catholic tradition at the school, there was some resistance to the creation of the LGBTQ Mass from “higher authority”.
These mixed opinions include conservative opinions in traditional faith that typically do not agree with such changes, she says.
Higher education and Catholicism are very closely linked together and can cause controversy on how the church evolves. This does not exclude universities such at Dominican.
She explained that the tightly knit relationship is critical to how universities create campus culture and what they base their academic curriculum upon.
Statements from major figures in the church like Pope Francis come to great significance in these times because this is how people are able to find resolution in the community.
Claire Noonan, Vice President for Mission and Planning referred John DeCostanza, Assistant Vice President for Mission and Ministry, to speak for the department on behalf of the event.
According to DeCostanza, there was no particular reason for why this the first year that Dominican is hosting this mass. He says it will be a consistent event in the future.
“The foundation of relationship is communication,” he says. “There’s a really important moment toward the end of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), in which he writes ‘Greater possibilities for communication thus turn into greater possibilities for encounter and solidarity for everyone. If we were able to take this route, it would be so good, so soothing, so liberating and hope-filled! To go out of ourselves and to join others is healthy for us.’ This Mass and others like it are an opportunity for encounter, for God’s goodness to enter in and do the rest.”
Precious Porras, Vice President for diversity, equity, and inclusion, brings fresh perspectives since her arrival to Dominican in the spring.
Events such as the upcoming mass and says that only speaks to how things must change and that simply talking about change is not enough says Porras, we need to be the change we wish to see.
“Amy and I are focusing on critical examination by shining the light on discrimination, and racism.”
By embracing all students who attend Dominican, Porras and Omi are working together to seek representation on campus in both space and personnel and in turn, help create events like the mass.
“I believe we are all members in the body of Christ, and we want radical inclusion because the church and the university are for everyone,” Omi said. “Resistance can be racist and luckily we are able to push forward with the LGBTQ Mass.”
Omi said the struggle is ongoing.
“Sometimes there’s more to a solution than physical activism,” she says, “there’s a lot of work to be done at a systemic level.”
eford@my.dom.edu
