New Ulm Bishop John LeVoir to speak at Catholic "chaste away the gay" conference in Illinois

While happy same-sex couples put the final touches on finally-legal nuptials, New Ulm Bishop John LeVoir will be speaking at the annual conference in Mundelein, Ill. for the Catholic ministry organization Courage Apostolate.

Josh Moniz reports in Bishop LeVoir to speak at Courage Apostolate conference:

Bishop John LeVoir of the Diocese of New Ulm will be a guest speaker Friday at the annual conference in Mundelein, Ill. for the Catholic ministry organization Courage Apostolate.
Started in the 1980s, Courage Apostolate argues that people with same-sex attraction must lead "chaste lives," or lifetime abstinence in terms of same-sex interactions, in order to lead a life following the Catholic Church's teachings. Support group meetings use a slightly modified version of the 12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous, with the goal of same-sex abstinence. The group is open to all denominations.

LeVoir's speech is entitled "What Does it Mean to be a Human Image of God?" He said it focuses on man and women being "in God's image" and that Jesus revealed "sexual love should be expressed only between a man and a woman who are married to one another."

"[Jesus] taught that any sexual act outside of marriage is not an act of authentic human love," said LeVoir in an e-mail. . . .

Levoir helped establish Courage's Minnesota chapter, Moniz writes, and acted as its first chaplain from 1997 until 2007 through the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, shortly before he became bishop.

According to Moniz's article, Courage members may may asked to "chaste away the gay" but they're not required to submit to "pray away the gay" therapy:

Courage neither requires its members to change their same-sex attractions nor encourages them to seek that change. Check said they do not address the controversial practices of "reparative therapy" or "conversion therapy," which seek to change a homosexual individual's orientation to heterosexual, and their policy prohibits facilitating members that seek these programs. These therapies are widely rebuked by gay rights organizations and by the American Psychological Association, which calls them "harmful."

One fan of Courage and Bishop LeVoir who touts pray away the gay therapy? Glenn Gruenhagen's "ex-gay" friend, Kevin Petersen. His bio on the website for the Pro Marriage Amendment PAC that he founded with the Glencoe state representative notes:

As a "gay activist" Kevin fought for many causes including a radical redefinition of marriage called “gay marriage.” Well, thanks in no small part to Outpost – the local chapter of Exodus – and Father John Harvey's Courage group, Kevin left that whole lifestyle by the mid 90’s. With the wonderful help of Bishop John LeVoir (then pastor of Holy Trinity in South Saint Paul) Kevin worked with Archbishop Flynn in getting a Courage group formed in the St. Paul/Minneapolis archdiocese!

There's nothing online in which the Bishop returns the admiration or the credit.

The Chicagoist reports that Thousands Call For Cardinal George To Cancel Appearance At Gay Conversion Conference, but little pushback is seen in New Ulm,where the entire population is less than the number of petitioners urging Bishop George to skip it.

Photo: The conference will take place at University of Saint Mary of the Lake, also called Mundelein Seminary, the principal seminary and school of theology for the formation of priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, governed from Chicago, Illinois in the United States.

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