Dignity: The organization (homosexuals, Catholic).

This study examines Dignity, a voluntary organization comprised of gay and lesbian Roman Catholics, and their friends. The research project asks how Dignity can survive in the face of hostility from the Church hierarchy. This opposition has been expressed by the 1986 Vatican document, Letter to the Bishops of the World on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, and in the resulting expulsion of twenty-seven local Dignity chapters from their home parishes. Dignity\u27s position on sexual ethics places it in opposition to traditional Church teaching. This study discusses Dignity\u27s position on sexual ethics, examining Dignity documents and position papers, including its Statement of Position and Purpose, and the Dignity Sexual Ethics Task Force, comparing them to related Church documents. In addition, respondents\u27 views on sexual ethics are presented. The personal interviews show that the research project respondents\u27 sexual ethics are in harmony with the position of the national organization. (Abstract shortened by UMI.) Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 30-04, page: 1057. Director: George H. Crowell. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1990