US LGBT Catholics Revisit Vatican Letter on Homosexuality 40 Years On

New Ways Ministry, a US organization serving LGBT Catholics, published an article on November 7, 2026 about the impact of the Vatican’s letter on pastoral care for gay people. The US organization DignityUSA scheduled four discussions to mark the document’s 40th anniversary. The final online meeting is set for November 10.

The letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is dated October 1, 1986. It was signed by the congregation’s prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. The letter was made public on October 30, just before Halloween, giving it the nickname “Halloween Letter”. The congregation held that same-sex attraction was not a sin in itself but described it as objectively disordered and same-sex sexual acts as morally unacceptable. The letter also condemned violence against gay people and called for an end to support for organizations that departed from church teaching.

DignityUSA executive director Marianne Duddy-Burke recalled that dioceses began denying LGBT groups the use of church facilities after the letter appeared. Some people left the Catholic Church, while others continued working in those groups. The conservative outlet LifeSiteNews criticized the New Ways Ministry anniversary series as an attempt to revise Catholic teaching on same-sex relationships.

In May, Uránia reported on a Vatican working group’s report in which two married gay Catholics described their experiences in the Church.