LGBTQ+ Educators in Catholic Schools

Ish Ruiz's book is evidence once again of St. Irenaeus' dictum: the glory of God is the human being fully alive. LGBTQI Catholics are made in the image and likeness of God. Their work and vocations enliven and bring hope to a world in desperate need. Ruiz identifies the great harm that strident compulsory heterosexist patriarchy does to the work of evangelization and deepening of Catholic vocations in the world. Ruiz's book also suggests that at the heart of the cooked up "culture war" between Catholics and secular culture is the issue of authority, especially the authority of the magisterium. Nevertheless, instead of the scapegoating and dehumanization served up to LGBTQI Catholics, Ruiz advocates the theological principle of Synodality and communal discernment as respectful paths forward for the church.

--Susan Abraham, VPAA and Dean, Pacific School of Religion

Through the process of integrating his own sexual identity, Dr. Ruiz gives testimony to "educating through witness" to investigate the challenges of exercising one's vocation as an LGBTQ+ person in Catholic educational institutions. His experiential witness and critical analysis are essential reading for Catholic educators, employees, lay people, and Church leaders to integrate that witness into Church sexual teaching, ecclesiology, and pastoral sensitivity.

--Todd Salzman, Amelia and Emil Graff Professor of Catholic Theology, Creighton University

In LGTBQ+ Educators in Catholic Schools, Ruiz calls the Catholic Church to deeper realizations of courage and justice in the context of our primary and secondary schools. These commitments mandate that Church leaders must not hide behind religious liberty defenses when there are greater moral goods at stake, the most important of which are honoring the human dignity of LGBTQ+ people as workers; celebrating the contributions LGBTQ+ educators make as excellent teachers and mentors to our students; and remaining open to how their lives witness to the wisdom of a God who uses diversity to propel us to become the Church the future needs us to be.

--Craig A. Ford, Jr., assistant professor of Theology and Religious Studies

Ish Ruiz has given us a wonderfully written, undoubtedly liberating, and remarkably powerful book charting pathways for Catholic education to accept, recognize, hire and promote LGBTQ+ Educators in Catholic Institutions. His book will be a success because, besides being well documented, theologically compelling, and profoundly personal, it is transparent and honest, two virtues often missing when church leaders "address" the same topic. Buy it, he won't let you put it down until you finish it. A work of moral courage.

--James F. Keenan, S.J., Canisius Professor, Boston College

Ish Ruiz's LGBTQ+ Educators in Catholic Schools is a fascinating and illuminating read! It is an impressive and comprehensive exploration of the multilayered and complex history of the presence and response to LGBTQ+ educators and administrators in the U.S. Catholic school system. With both erudition and personal experience, Ruiz invites readers to consider new frameworks for thinking about the relationship between Catholic educational institutions and the LGBTQ+ community while grounding this constructive contribution in the best of Catholic social teaching, contemporary theology, and pastoral practice. This book should be required reading for every Catholic bishop, every Catholic school administrator, and every Catholic teacher!

--Daniel P. Horan, professor of Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Theology, Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame

Writing from within the depths of Catholic tradition, Ish Ruiz offers a broadened horizon for Catholic schools to promote the justice and inclusion that are constitutive of our faith--a prophetic and needed work!

--Thomas Groome, professor of Theology and Religious Education at Boston College and author of What Makes Education Catholic: Spiritual Foundations