South Africa Archives

Gay Catholic priest reveals his journey in cartoon-style memoir “My Life” by Jan Haen

A gay Roman Catholic priest reveals his adventurous life and ministry in the cartoon-style memoir “My Life: as a Boy, Priest, Gay Man, and Artist” by Jan Haen. During more than a half-century of priesthood, Jan Haen found surprising ways to unite his inclusive...

Sally Gross: Intersex priest led legal reform after being defrocked

by Kittredge Cherry | | Oct. 15-31, Saints

Sally Gross was an intersex South African anti-apartheid activist who became a Catholic priest — but was stripped of clergy status after revealing that she identified as female in the 1990s. She became an intersex activist, winning legal recognition of intersex...

Desmond Tutu: Anti-apartheid Archbishop who stood for LGBTQ equality

by Kittredge Cherry | | Dec. 16-31, Oct 1-15, Saints

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a Nobel Peace Prize-winning South African activist for racial and LGBTQ equality. He was born Oct. 7, 1931 in Klerksdorp, in the South African state of Transvaal. Tutu famously fought apartheid, but he also worked passionately to support...

Remembering Sally Gross, incandescent intersex trailblazer: “You certainly could not ignore her”

by Kittredge Cherry | | Saints

Vivid personal memories of intersex priest Sally Gross are shared by a queer clergy colleague who recalls her as “incandescent” and “a legend.” Gross was defrocked as a Catholic priest in the 1990s when she revealed that she identified as female. Here she is...