Greenbelter Frank DeBernardo was received by Pope Francis at the Vatican, along with colleagues from New Ways Ministry, Loretto Sister Jeannine Gramick, Associate Director Robert Shine and staff associate Matthew Myers.
DeBernardo wrote to the Pope in April 2021 to explain the mission and work of New Ways Ministry, a group that “educates and advocates for equity, inclusion and justice for LGBTQ+ persons” in Roman Catholicism. New Ways Ministry was founded by Father Robert Nugent and Sr. Jeannine in 1977; they took the name from “new ways to communicate the truth of Christ,” a phrase in Bishop Francis Mugavero’s 1976 pastoral letter, Sexuality: God’s Gift.
Pope Francis sent a handwritten note congratulating Sr. Jeannine on her 50 years of LGBTQ+ ministry, and has sent other handwritten notes to DeBernardo and Sr. Jeannine, which they have found to be cordial and affirming. This fall, Pope Francis invited Sr. Jeannine to meet with him, and she requested that DeBernardo, Shine and Myers might come along. DeBernardo and Shine were already in Rome for the Synod of Bishops, because ministry to LGBTQ+ Catholics was among the topics being discussed by the bishops.
The meeting with the Pope is important because it represents a new openness in Catholicism toward LGBTQ+ people. Pope Francis has condemned the criminalization of LGBTQ+ people wherever those sorts of oppression occur. In October 2020, he made his first public remarks in support of civil unions for same-gender couples. “It was a big thing,” DeBernardo said. “We had this dark cloud of ‘censure’ hanging over us, that we should not be considered a Catholic organization.” They were censured in 1999 by John Paul II and again in 2010 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, for supporting legal civil marriage for same-gender unions. “And so I started to think, we were censured for a position that the Pope now holds,” said DeBernardo. So I decided to write to the Pope, and I told him all about our work, and I told him about our history of criticism by the Bishops and the Vatican. I was very forthright. Much to our surprise he wrote back. The first letter we got was on official Vatican stationery. The rest of the correspondence has been hand-written notes.”
DeBernardo, originally from Brooklyn, began volunteering at New Ways Ministry in the early 1990s while he was getting a master’s degree in English from the University of Maryland. By 1996 he was executive director. He moved to Greenbelt from Hyattsville in 2004, and worships with the Catholic Community of Greenbelt. He decided to move to Greenbelt after seeing the friendliness among its people. “I’d come to the movie theater and read the News Review and think, this seems like a great community to live in,” he said.
As executive director, DeBernardo runs programs for New Ways Ministry, including education and advocacy, workshops for Catholic parishes, high schools and universities, retreats and spiritual development programs including ones for lesbian nuns and gay priests. Their website has a daily blog about LGBTQ+ news, opinion and spirituality that has run for 12 years without missing one day.
DeBernardo has been asked to write two books for Liturgical Press. Mychal Judge: Take Me Where You Want Me to Go (2022) is part of a series about contemporary Catholics. A Franciscan priest, Fr. Judge had ministered to AIDS patients, and as a fire department chaplain he died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, the first registered death of 9/11; it was revealed after his death that he was gay. DeBernardo’s 2023 book, New Ways and Next Steps: Developing Catholic LGBTQ+ Parish Ministry, is part of a series on contemporary parish leadership. “I just sat down at the computer and kept typing everything I’ve ever said at a workshop for the last 30 years,” he said.
DeBernardo is one of eight siblings, and has a rescued Jack Russell/boxer mix he named Adonis, “Because I knew he was frightened and anxious, I knew he needed a big name and he was beautiful.”