Georgetown University, a Catholic institution run by the Society of Jesus in Washington, D.C., has organized a new edition of OUTober during October, its program of activities dedicated to LGBTQ+ history and community. Among the announced events are a “Mass of Belonging” (Mass of Belonging), scheduled for Sunday, October 25, and a Jewish celebration called Pride Shabbat, set for Friday, October 23.
The university itself confirmed the program in a statement published on October 1, in which it claims to be the first Catholic and Jesuit institution of higher education to create an LGBTQ resource center, inaugurated in 2008. Georgetown presents these activities as part of its commitment to inclusion and the celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community.
A mass in the university chapel and a celebration of Jewish pride
According to the official OUTober 2026 calendar, the “Mass of Belonging” will take place on Sunday, October 25 at 6:00 p.m. in Dahlgren Chapel, located on the university campus.
The activity is part of the LGBTQ Resource Center’s program and includes the participation of Campus Ministry. The published information does not identify the priest who will celebrate the mass or specify its liturgical content.
Two days earlier, on Friday, October 23, Pride Shabbat will be held, organized together with the LJewBTQ group. The gathering will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Makom space and will include a Jewish religious celebration, student interventions, and a dinner at 6:30 p.m., where challah with rainbow colors will be served.
A month of activities on gender identity and sexuality
Georgetown’s programming began on October 1 with a meeting on queer identity and Dharmic religious traditions, with representatives from Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, and Sikhism.
On October 13, the university celebrated National Coming Out Day, a day dedicated to promoting the visibility of LGBTQ+ people, with student activities and the distribution of promotional materials.
For this Tuesday, October 20, an activity organized by the LGBTQ Resource Center and the Women’s Center is announced, offering garments and accessories, including chest binders (chest binders) and special adhesive tapes (Transtape), used by some people to modify the appearance of their chest.
The program will continue on October 29 with the presentation of a book about a non-binary religious minister from the time of American independence. Cultural activities and performances of The Rocky Horror Picture Show are also planned for October 30 and 31.
The Cardinal Newman Society denounces a “Jesuit scandal”
The programming has received criticism from the Cardinal Newman Society, a U.S. organization dedicated to promoting Catholic identity in educational institutions.
Its president, Patrick Reilly, published an article titled “OUTober is a Jesuit scandal” on October 6, in which he questions Catholic universities organizing activities of this kind.
Reilly specifically mentions Georgetown along with other Jesuit institutions, such as Fordham, Gonzaga, Loyola Chicago, Loyola Marymount, Marquette, and the University of San Francisco.
“This is not Catholic education. It is corruption,” states the organization’s president, who believes these celebrations contradict the moral formation that universities with a Catholic identity should offer.
Georgetown’s president and the Church’s teaching
The celebration of OUTober takes place under the presidency of Eduardo Peñalver, who assumed the leadership of Georgetown on July 1 and was officially inaugurated on October 9 as the 49th president of the institution.
Peñalver had already drawn criticism for his public statements on Catholic sexual morality. The Cardinal Newman Society recalled in March of this year that the university president had stated: “I reject the Church’s teachings on homosexuality.”
Georgetown formally maintains its Catholic and Jesuit identity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in numbers 2357 to 2359, teaches that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered,” calls for people with homosexual tendencies to be welcomed “with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” and reminds them of their call to chastity.
For its part, the apostolic constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae, promulgated by Saint John Paul II, establishes that Catholic universities must preserve their institutional identity and ensure fidelity to the Church’s doctrine in their teaching and academic activity.