Some people might think that gays and Catholics are polar opposites, but sometimes, those poles are joined.

This semester, the Penn State Catholic Campus Ministry announced the formation of a group called Renew, which works to provide a safe space for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their allies and supporters.

"It's delicate, because you're contending with two communities, which are sometimes at odds," said Jason Lally, one of two students who started the group.

Lally and Jessica Scott, juniors who share the same major (information sciences and technology) and were both raised Catholic, wanted to explore the intersection of faith and sexuality as part of the human identity.

"It's been an issue for me since high school," said Scott. "I was really frustrated that you had to be straight if you were religious, and if you were not straight, you couldn't be religious."

Scott and Lally discussed that question and related issues months ago, eventually meeting with campus priests.

"I feel like I should do something," Lally said last semester, while the group was in its planning stages. "As I'm taught as a Catholic, through the way I live my life, I will be an example to others."

One possibility is that gays who are raised Catholic might avoid church entirely, viewing it as a zero-sum game: gay or Catholic, but not both.

Rather than seeing sexual orientation as a reason to exclude people from the church, Lally views it as just another difference in members of a faith community.

It's "the idea of belonging to two communities rather than just one," said Lally, who also says his coming out strengthened his faith.

Questions of identity

After growing up with a strong Catholic identity, a college student who comes out of the closet suddenly takes on a new identity -- a gay identity, which, in the minds of many, conflicts outright with the religion.

Scott and Lally, however, said they believe the two self-definitions, gay and Catholic, can coexist.

The Rev. Jim Schexnayder contrasted the distanced feeling of gay or lesbian Catholics with that of the physically handicapped. "As we make our church structure and communities accessible for people who are physically challenged in any way, we also need to add people who are spiritually challenged" because they find it hard to return to church and feel welcome, he said.

Schexnayder works with the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries (NACDLGM) as a resource director and consultant for churches.

In a time when gay issues are frequently in headlines, "it's particularly important to have resources and educational programs to help people sort that out, to understand where it all fits together in the context of the lives of gay and lesbian people and also the Catholic community," he said.

With the recent issuing of marriage licenses to same-sex couples in San Francisco and proposals to amend the Constitution to limit marriage to heterosexuals, the media debate has kicked into full gear.

Sometimes just a single negative report can make someone feel unwelcome at church, Schexnayder said.

"My ultimate goal would be that a group like this doesn't need to exist at all, but realistically, there are challenges to being gay and Catholic," Lally said. "Regardless of all these problems, I really feel at home in the Catholic Church."

Churches must recognize that their membership is made up of more than just straight people, said the Rev. Stephen Honeygosky, director of Penn State's Catholic Campus Ministry. Both parishioners and their children and grandchildren could be gay, and churches should ask how they are reaching out to them "to see that they remain faithful, happy and integrated Catholics," he said.

"The important thing is to give it pastoral care according to Catholic tradition and teaching within the Catholic Church," Honeygosky said. "Why? Because these are people who profess that their faith is important."

Past groups

At other colleges, particularly Catholic ones, groups dealing with issues of sexual orientation have met with challenges.

Joe Dickmann, a senior majoring in philosophy and French at the University of Notre Dame, is a board member of OutreachND, a support and meeting group for gay, lesbian and bisexual students at his school.

Because of Notre Dame's Catholic environment, most gay students are not open about their sexuality. Many of them wait until after graduation to come out of the closet.

"It makes for kind of a long road to accepting yourself, I think," said Dickmann, who grew up in a strong Catholic household and did not realize he was gay until his freshman year of college.

Dickmann noted that the membership in a gay and lesbian alumni group -- not sanctioned by the university -- far outnumbers the totals of those who graduate after attending OutreachND meetings.

OutreachND has existed in some form for at least 30 years, but it has never been officially recognized as a university organization. It is open to gay or questioning students, but not the straight community, mostly for reasons of confidentiality.

It serves as a supportive sounding board and social group, but, like Renew, avoids political involvement.

Occasionally, the group bids for club status, but it is denied entry.

"The fact of the matter is, yes there are gay and lesbian students here -- there just are -- and we don't think they are providing enough resources," Dickmann said of the university, which has argued in denying official status to OutreachND that Notre Dame's existing programs already fulfill the need the club would serve.

"There's really no precedent for denying club status to a group like this," Dickmann said, adding that the school has plenty of recognized student organizations with frivolous value, such as a Mystery Science Theater 3000 club. "There's something they're afraid of, and I don't know what it is."

Honeygosky also wondered why people might fear having a faith-based group that openly accepts people of various sexual orientations.

To people who might say that Renew, by existing, promotes homosexual sex, Honeygosky asks about faith-based groups for divorcees. Rather than promoting divorce, these organizations seek inclusion of people who feel marginalized, he explained.

Honeygosky said that those who would seek to sever gays from religion have a misunderstanding of Catholic and Christian teachings.

"I just can't believe that Jesus Christ would say that these people have no place in the worshipping family," he said.

Church teachings

"Always Our Children" is a statement developed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1997, mainly for parents of gays and lesbians. Many groups draw from the statement when forming ministries and programs like Renew.

The document explains the church's teachings on homosexuality, including that it is not a choice, and that one should not assume gay Catholics are sexually active, which would be a sin within the church.

"By itself, therefore, a homosexual orientation cannot be considered sinful, for morality presumes the freedom to choose," the document reads.

Lally said such documents are "below the surface" of Catholic teaching, because many people are not familiar with them.

"Every person has an inherent dignity because he or she is created in God's image," the statement from the bishops reads.

In the official Catholic teaching, a gay person is welcome in the church but should remain chaste, because only sex within wedlock is permissible under church teaching, and gay marriage is not allowed by church -- or even governmental -- rules.

This is the main point of contention between gay rights groups and the church.

"Always Our Children" and a 1999 pastoral letter from the bishop of Penn State's diocese were both looked to for guidance in creating Renew.

"All that I am doing is following the teachings" of church authority, Honeygosky said.

One important thing to note about the document, Honeygosky said, is that it does not recommend that gay people should change their sexual orientation.

"You can't take sexuality out of any relationship because the sexual is part of our human incarnation," Honeygosky said, adding that a gay or lesbian pair could possibly have a deep, loving friendship and relationship more stable than some marriages in which there is abuse or adultery. Honeygosky also is careful to explain that "sexual" does not have to mean genital, and that the group is not dating service.

The letter is not meant to be considered an endorsement of a "homosexual lifestyle," which Honeygosky interprets as meaning a "casual expression of sex and promiscuity."

In Catholicism, straight people have limitations on intercourse as well, and these are usually not noted in the debate about gays and the church. "Everyone is called to chastity, which is self control and modesty," Honeygosky said.

Creating the group

Dickmann, who was Catholic when he started at Notre Dame, has since left the church. Though people might think it is because of his sexuality, he said philosophy classes led him to stop believing in God at all.

"While it's a part of where I come from -- my family's very Catholic -- it bothers me to no end to think of the number of people who are hurting and who feel guilty and who are led to dislike themselves because of what the church says," he said.

"I think it's really unnecessary how hard they make it on people who are gay who already have so much to deal with," Dickmann added.

However, Scott and Lally said they have no intentions of leaving their faith, and Renew, they hope, is allowing others to grow stronger in their religious beliefs.

The two met with Honeygosky last semester to discuss their desire for the group.

The easy route, Honeygosky said, would have been to tell Lally and Scott that there would not be a group. Instead, the Catholic Campus Ministry has helped launch Renew and backs the organization, with Honeygosky acting as a moderator for meetings, giving support and advice.

"Why all the attention on this? Because this is a challenge in our society," he said. Honeygosky offered to moderate the group because of the "potential delicacy of the issue."

The priest has fielded questions and held discussions with students concerned about the nature of the group, such as one whose home parish would never have allowed such an organization. However, there has been no negative backlash. Instead, there have been messages of support.

For instance, the acronym LGBTA, which refers to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and its allies, can seem politically charged, so the campus ministry will not use it.

"This isn't a group to advocate for changes in the Catholic Church directly. It's more directed to changing people's perception of sexuality and religion ... that's not just homosexuality, it's heterosexuality," Lally said.

Part of the group's role is to create a dialogue on those issues.

"People just don't know or care," Scott said, explaining that many people have never stopped to think about the obstacles faced by non-straight Catholics.

Renew has had two meetings after missing two others because of snowstorms. A listserv has kept discussions alive despite the weather.

"I was so excited after [the first meeting]," Scott said. "So many thoughtful, caring, open people. It was just amazing."

Lally said that the group, through the listserv, has been developing on its own. As it grows, there will probably be service and social activities in addition to weekly discussion and prayer meetings.

The name Renew came into being after much brainstorming. When finally deciding on it, the rationale was how the word linked to the group's mission: "to renew the sense of faith ... the sense of respect. ... All the values of this group can be summed up in the ideal of 'renew,' " Lally said.

Renew meets on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. in 212 Eisenhower Chapel, including tonight. Meetings, which last about an hour, consist of prayer and discussion. Renew is open to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students of all faiths, as well as allies and those wondering how to support gay friends.

"Is it possible to be holy and human and sexual and honest?" Honeygosky asked. "I think it is, and I think God asks nothing less from the individual and from the church."