The 2025 presidential inauguration raises new questions about the identity of America, how we arrived at this political moment, and how Catholics are called to respond with faith in action. In a time of profound social and political change, the experiences and insights of LGBTQ Catholics offer a crucial perspective on the road ahead. Join us for a timely and powerful conversation with a panel of young LGBTQ Catholic leaders who will share their unique voices, challenges, and hopes for the future. They will explore Catholic faith in praxis in a rapidly changing world, discussing how our communities can remain steadfast while navigating the tensions of the current political moment. This dialogue promises to be a thought-provoking opportunity for reflection and action as we seek to understand our collective role in shaping the future of church and society.

Nick Fagnant is a queer theologian, educator, and public scholar passionate about fostering justice, relationality, and LGBTQ+ belonging in Catholic spaces. A Ph.D. student in Theology and Education at Boston College's Clough School of Theology and Ministry, Nick bridges Ignatian pedagogy, queer theology, and critical pedagogy to build transformative communities. With nearly two decades of experience as an Ignatian educator, he teaches God, Self, and Society at Boston College, and facilitates conversations with high school and college students on advancing queer and trans* equity within Ignatian education. Nick writes for Commonweal Magazine, Outreach, and New Ways Ministry on queer theology, the radical inclusivity of the Gospel, and the transformative power of storytelling. A lover of speculative fiction and proud dog dad, Nick brings imagination to classrooms, workshops, and public conversations to create spaces where meaningful dialogue inspires change.

Maxwell (Max) Kuzma is a transgender man and lifelong Catholic who advocates for LGBTQ inclusion in the church. He has written about the unique gifts of Queer people and the beauty of diversity in God’s creation for the National Catholic Reporter, Outreach, and New Ways Ministry, and has been quoted by the New York Times and Associated Press in response to Vatican news related to transgender people. Max lives on a farm in Ohio with his partner and a bunch of furry friends.

Flora x. Tang is a doctoral candidate in theology and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, where she writes and researches about post-traumatic theology, queer theology, and decolonial Asian theology. Flora is committed to reimagining God’s love while standing on the margins of the Catholic faith. She is originally from Beijing, China and currently lives in South Bend, Indiana. Flora's public writings or preachings can be found in the National Catholic Reporter, America, New Ways Ministry, U.S. Catholic, Catholic Women Preach, and Catholics for Choice.

Teresa Thompson is a Catholic lesbian writer of Caribbean and Irish origin presently based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has been published by Catholic Women Preach, National Catholic Reporter, Geez Magazine, and Ignatian Solidarity Network and can also be found on her Substack, Liturgy of the Ours. Teresa served as a psychiatric social worker in New York City’s public mental health system for seven years before becoming a therapist in private practice, where her specialties include treating complex trauma and religious trauma. She is a board member of the Metro NY chapter of Call To Action and a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union.

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The Catholic Network for Women’s Equality (CNWE – Western region) and WATER (Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual), with Réseau Compassion Network (RCN), the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM) and the Grey Nuns (SGM) are pleased to invite you to a conversation with Elizabeth Davis, RSM and Phyllis Zagano PhD.

Elizabeth Davis, a Sister of Mercy of Newfoundland, will share her experience of the second Synod session in Rome. She was one of fifty-four women among the 365 voting members who participated in the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican.

Phyllis Zagano, an expert on women deacons in the Roman Catholic Church, will focus on the Synod’s discussion about restoring women to the ordained diaconate. She will offer insights into possible ways forward, challenging as they may be.

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Event hosts, the Women in the Church Working Group of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests (AUSCP), seek to give space for listening deeply to the testimony of sisters and brothers who sometimes experience a judgmental Church instead of a listening and welcoming Church. This call is being hosted in memory of Alana Chen. Our speakers are Yunuen Trujillo, Rev. Bryan Massingale, and Joyce Calvo. Bishop John Stowe will join us for Q and A and prayer.

Yunuen Trujillo is a Catholic lay minister, faith-based community organizer, and an immigration attorney with more than 15 years of experience in young adult ministry and a leading figure for inclusive Catholic LBGT Ministry in the United States. She is a Religious Formation Coordinator (Spanish) with the Catholic Ministry with Lesbian and Gay Persons of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and author of the book LGBT Catholics: A Guide for Inclusive Ministry.

Bryan Massingale is a Catholic priest, author, activist, and professor in Applied Christian Ethics at Fordham University. Fr.. Massingale has authored two books and more than 200 articles, book chapters, and book reviews. He is a co-editor of , All of Us: A New Agenda for Catholic Theology from Queer Catholics of Color (Fortress Press, 2024). He is a leading voice among Catholics advocating the full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in both society and the faith community.

Joyce Calvo’s daughter Alana Chen died from suicide on Dec. 8, 2019. Calvo continues to urge all to “stop rejecting LGBTQ+ children” She hopes her advocacy “will alert Catholic parents to beware of the devastating impact the Church can have on their LGBTQ+ children” and “persuade people speaking for the Church to abandon their misguided and dangerous attempts to alter what God has made.”

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Timothy Radcliffe gave the opening retreats to the Synod Delegates in both sessions, setting a positive tone for the proceedings. Shortly after accepting the APP offer to speak, Pope Francis named him a Cardinal! Among his books is the collection of his first Synod conferences: Listening Together: Meditations on Synodality. If his presentation to us is anything like these talks, we will be overwhelmingly grateful. An example: “Renewing the Church, then, is like making bread. One gathers edges of the dough into the center, and spreads the centre into the margins, filling it all with oxygen. One makes the love overthrowing the distinction between edges and the centre, making God’s loaf, whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere, finding us.”.

Timothy Radcliffe, a member of the Dominican community at Blackfriars, Oxford. He has been a retreat master and was master general of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001. He has traveled extensively in visiting Dominican communities around the world, gathering poignant experiences that he weaves throughout his preaching and writing.

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Artist Laura James is a self-taught painter and illustrator whose work transcends boundaries between the sacred and the everyday. Inspired by the richly symbolic and narrative tradition of Ethiopian Christian art, while inviting new, contemporary perspectives, Laura reimagines traditional Christian iconography, infusing it with diverse representations that resonate with people across cultures.

Join the Sisters of St. Joseph Carondelet as Laura shares about her illustrations in The Book of the Gospels, one of her most well-known contributions. In it, she cultivated this visual dialogue that speaks to the timeless desire for spiritual expression and belonging, blending history with modern identity.

Learn more about the artist and view her artwork at laurajamesart.com.

Register here to attend in-person or via livestream.