<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Washington DC &ndash;</strong>&nbsp;DignityUSA finds the proposed document from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)&nbsp;<em>&quot;Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care&rdquo;&nbsp;</em>to be deeply flawed. Therefore DignityUSA has joined with some other members of Catholic Organizations for Renewal (COR) to ask the bishops not to approve any such guidelines without further consultation with the faithful &ndash; especially those LGBT Catholics who are most affected.</p> <p>DignityUSA&rsquo;s involvement in the pastoral care of LGBT people dates back to its founding in 1969. In 1987 DignityUSA issued its&nbsp;<a target=_blank href=http://www.dignityusa.org/1986-pastoral>first comprehensive letter on pastoral care</a>&nbsp;and is today releasing the following&nbsp;<a target=_blank href=http://www.dignityusa.org/content/dignityusa-letter-pastoral-care-lgbt-people-2006-draft-1-november-12-2006>updated draft of this letter</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Sam Sinnett president of DignityUSA further announced the beginning of a process to solicit feedback and comments on this draft. We encourage anyone interested in these guidelines to review and provide comments to&nbsp;<a href=mailto:info@DignityUSA.org?subject=Pastoral%20Care>info@DignityUSA.org</a>&nbsp;(with Pastoral Care as subject) or in writing to our national office at 1500 Massachusetts Avenue NW Suite 8 Washington DC 20005 before May 15 2007. A final version will be released at the DignityUSA biennial Convention in Austin TX July 5 &ndash; 8 2007.</p> <p>Vatican II and the Code of Canon Law encourage Catholic faithful to make known to their pastors items of urgent concern in which they have special competence. It is in this spirit that these guidelines are updated and this open process of comments is being begun.</p> <p><em>DignityUSA is the nation's foremost organization of gay lesbian bisexual and transgender Catholics their families friends and supporters. Founded in 1969 it is an independent nonprofit organization with members and chapters across the country.</em><em>DignityUSA works for full inclusion of gay lesbian bisexual and transgender people in the life of the Church and Society.&nbsp;<a href=http://www.dignityusa.org/>www.dignityusa.org</a></em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>