Fr. John McNeil
1924 or 1925-2015
Father John McNeill is widely revered among gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics as a hero for his scholarly writings to help LGBTQ people accept their own sexuality and defend themselves against what they view to be misguided church teachings.
Born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., McNeill entered the U.S. Army in 1942 and became a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany — an experience that for him was profoundly spiritual and led him to his entering the Jesuits in 1948. Ordained in 1959, he taught philosophy and theology at Fordham University, Union Theological Seminary, and Le Moyne College, where he was a noted peace advocate during the Vietnam War.
McNeill became a practicing psychotherapist, writing once that he wanted to spread the good news among lesbian and gay Catholics. In 1976, after a three-year delay, he published with Vatican consent his seminal work, The Church and the Homosexual (now in its fourth edition). The book was the first attempt by a reputed scholar and theologian to examine and challenge traditional church teachings on sexuality and attitudes toward gay and lesbian Catholics.
Two years after publication, the Vatican rescinded its approval. A year later, he was ordered by the new head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and later Pope Benedict XVI, to enter a public silence. It was a silence he observed for nine years while continuing his private ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics.
In 1988, he received yet another order from Rome directing him to give up all ministry to gay persons, an order, he said, he could not follow in good conscience. He disobeyed the order and this led to his expulsion from the Jesuit order, his home for nearly 40 years.
His radical and provocative views on sexuality were never successfully muzzled by church authorities. He published several major best-selling books on sexuality. He believed that individual conscience needs to be the final arbiter when deciding on sexual matters. He once wrote: “One of the most central teachings of Jesus, without doubt of utmost importance to all Christians and especially to lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender Christians, is freedom of conscience.” He once wrote that his writings had been based on “Jesus’ promise to his followers to send them the Holy Spirit who will dwell in their hearts and lead them into all truth.”