"This week, there has been a considerable amount of controversy about a speech delivered by Bishop McManus, a Telegram and Gazette article about that speech, and the school’s subsequent response. Some students are calling for Holy Cross to jettison Catholic values, which are often construed as archaic and regressive. On the other hand, as a Catholic institution, Holy Cross has a responsibility and a mission to uphold the teachings of the Church. Thankfully though, these two goals—to be a place of love and a place that upholds and defends authentic Catholicism—are not in conflict. Unfortunately, many have come to believe that the Catholic Church is guided by regressive hatred, homophobia, and the denial of science. This is a cartoon, a comically false depiction of the Catholicism. In reality, the Church calls for all human beings to be treated with dignity and respect, a point which Bishop McManus made clear in his speech. This love, observes Pope Benedict XVI in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate, must be guided by truth, since authentic love cannot be divorced from absolute truth. In times of confusion and chaos, Catholic teachings are a beacon of clarity and stability that guide, clarify, and enable both individuals and institutions like Holy Cross to love authentically.

For further clarification on the Church’s teachings on gender and human sexuality, there are a variety of resources—including papal encyclicals, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Pope St. John Paul II’s theology of the body—available online."