102: Maria Michonski and How Catholicism Won't Let Go of Her

Maria identifies as queer and pansexual, and has grown up Roman Catholic. She shares with us her experiences coming out within her campus ministry in undergraduate and seeking out a new community of worship with her husband. Maria now studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School, pursuing her Masters in Divinity.

During our conversation a few terms came up that some listeners may want a second look at:

Cisgender (or Cis) - "used to describe a person whose gender identity aligns with those typically associated with the sex assigned to them at birth."
Transgender (or Trans) - "An umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation. Therefore, transgender people may identify as straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc."
Pansexual - "Describes someone who has the potential for emotional, romantic or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily simultaneously, in the same way or to the same degree."
Definitions provided by the Human Rights Campaign.

A few other topics came up regarding Catholicism, specifically, which you can learn more about below:

Jesuit Spirituality (or Ignatian Spirituality) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatian_spirituality
Jesuit Education - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Jesuit_Colleges_and_Universities
Pope Francis' 2015 remarks on gender theory - https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/francis-strongly-criticizes-gender-theory-comparing-it-nuclear-arms
Independent Catholicism - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Catholicism
Ecumenical Catholic Communion - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecumenical_Catholic_Communion

Finally, Maria mentions a new initiative at Vanderbilt Divinity School, the Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative. Check it out!

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Music for this episode: Acoustic Meditation 2 by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: http://audionautix.com/