When leaders disagree in public about a controversial issue, is there ever a winner? This is a final project in my course in Leadership and Diversity at Gonzaga University.

1. GOING ROUGE
When Leaders Fail To Lead: Seeing Red in Conflict
Christopher MacLellan
Gonzaga University
ORGL 506: Leadership and Diversity
July 7, 2015

2. The Catholic Church is a multi-cultural, international organization
which professes loyalty and obedience between hierarchy,
clergy and the laity. This presentation will address the effects of
the disconnection between dogmas, personal opinion and mix-
messaged within Church leadership on critical issues relating to
human dignity and equality for every human being through the
eyes of LGBT Seniors.
PURPOSE
Retrieved from: http://blogs-
images.forbes.com/glennllopis/files/2012/04/Diversity-
Profit-Center.jpg

3. CATHOLICS &
CULTURE
“Most Catholics experience the faith
through a single cultural lens. Yet
people all around the world live and
imagine it in a rich diversity of ways.
Catholics & Cultures is a growing,
changing chronicle of the role of
Catholicism among the people and
within the cultures where it is lived”
(McFarland, 2015).
Confirmation day at Catholic church in Kampala, Uganda.
(Photos courtesy of Catholics & Cultures.)

4. WHEN CULTURES COLLIDE IN AN INTERNATIONAL
ORGANIZATION: WHO LEADS?
Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/catholic-
poll/images/Catholics_3.jpg
“When it comes to the issue of
homosexuality, there seems to
be no point of common
ground, no foundation for a
dialogue or mutual
understanding that might build
bridges and link people”
(Cameli, P. 25).

5. LEADERS AND PUBLIC CONFLICT:
WHO IS IN CONTROL?
“Although some persons are authorized to wield power, everyone engages in power
practices, including those who may be lower in an organizational or society hierarchy”
(Allen, P. 26).
Photo Credit: Unknown Photo Credit: Unknown

6. LEADERS AND PUBLIC CONFLICT:
METHODS
Subjective
“Catholic Church to Discuss
Gays, Divorce and
Cohabitation” (US News and
World Report, 2015).
Retrieved from:
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/23/p
ope-francis-catholic-church-to-discuss-gays-divorce-
and-cohabitation
Objective
“ Its (Homosexuality)
psychological genesis remains
largely unexplained. Basing itself
on Sacred Scripture, which
presents homosexual acts as
acts of grave depravity tradition
has always declared that
homosexual acts are intrinsically
disordered” (Catholic Church, n.
2357, 2012).
Retrieved from:
http://www.feastofmercy.net/images/catechism-
400.jpg
Dogma
Cardinal Raymond Burke: “Gays,
Remarried Catholics Are Just As
Sinful As Murderers” (Kuruvilla,
2015).
Retrieved from:
http://jehoshuathebook.com/uploads/3/1/4
/4/3144426/668174766.jpg

7. CULTURE AND DIVERSITY:
A CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL PROBLEM
• Throughout their life, LGBT seniors have
experienced discrimination solely for being
‘different.’ This discrimination is a result of
Failure in Communication in our society,
resulting in a negative view of the social
systems amongst LGBT seniors. This stigma
has potentially dire consequences as it
prevents many LGBT seniors from seeking
out needed medical attention because of
their fear of discrimination.
Retrieved from:
http://www.akawilliam.com/wp-
content/uploads/2010/04/oldgayprotester-
300x417.jpg

8. CULTURE AND DIVERSITY:
IS IT A SPIRAL OF SILENCE?
Spiral of Silence: A theory by Elisabeth Noelle-
Neumann that is used to explain growth and spread
of public opinion (Griffin, 2009).
“The increasing pressure people feel to conceal their
views when they think they are in the minority” (Griffin,
p. 372).
For instance: LGBT seniors, afraid that revealing their
sexual orientation will hurt their ability to get fair health
coverage, will revert to a spiral of silence and hide
their sexual identity.
Retrieved from:
http://blogs.worldbank.org/files/publicsph
ere/noelle-neumann2.jpeg

9. WHAT DID TODAY’S LGBT SENIOR SEE
WHEN HE/SHE WAS A CHILD OR A
QUESTIONING TEEN?
• Non validating environment
• Legal sanctions
• Hostility toward them considered acceptable in many places
• Judgments of immorality and/or sickness
• Lack of social support from the three pillars: Family, Religion and
Social Circle (work, friends)
Retrieved from: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jtfoo24stAM/0.jpg

10. WHAT PROFESSIONALS ARE SAYING
Holly Deni, Registered Financial
Gerontologist, Elder Life
• “This same generation of LGBT seniors
do not often ask for help and are afraid
of going to the doctor because they
do not want to reveal certain things.
For this generation, these stigmas do
not go away, they linger and help form
their decisions” (Deni, telephone
interview, July 3).
Sherrill Wayland, Executive Director,
SAGE St. Louis.
• “For the LGBT community, there has
been so much misinformation
communicated to the general public
about homosexuality that it is often
hard to get beyond the social stigmas”
(Wayland, telephone interview, July 3).

11. CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND LEADERSHIP:
RESOLUTION
Theological
Father Robert Barron on SCOTUS
Ruling: “Present Teaching In A Positive
Way” (Barron, 2015).
Pastoral
“The rapid social changes signaled
by the Court ruling call us to mature
and serene reflections as we move
forward together. In that process, the
Catholic Church will stand ready to
offer a wisdom rooted in faith and a
wide range of human experience”
(Sun-Times, 2015).
Retrieved from:www.Chicago Sun-Times.com
Spiritual
"Brethren, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control; against such there is no
law....Let us have no self-conceit, no
provoking of one another, no envy of
one another“ (Galatians, 5:22-26; 6:1-
2 , The New Oxford Annotated Bible).
Retrieved from: https://p.gr-
assets.com/max_square/fill/books/1390355967/20381
8.jpg
Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XULEzTUua8U

12. “ONCE THE DICHOTOMY
AND HIERARCHICAL
SUPERIORITY IS
ESTABLISHED, THE
OBVIOUS STEP IS FOR
MALES, WHO ARE MORE
POWERFUL, TO WANT TO
SUBJUGATE AND
CONQUER THE OTHER
HALF”(D’MELLO, P. 48).

13. Sometimes ‘The Other Half’ are the best Theologians!
Retrieved from: www.dollymania.net Retrieved from: www.quotedhd.com

14. CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND LEADERSHIP:
CONCLUSION
The Roman Catholic Church has been astonishingly successful and
holds the world's record for longevity for any organization. However,
like most corporations, the Church has difficulty handling change.
Dogmatic and ridged, yet loving and kind, today’s Catholicism
struggles to be a universal church, spanning widely disparate
cultures who have opposing and rapidly evolving beliefs with
reference to democracy, human sexuality, abortion, immigration.
However when Church leaders fail to lead and engage in public
conflict, goes directly against their ordination vow of obedience to
the bishop and his successors.
Culture and diversity are about building bridges, not putting up
walls of conflict because , “the conduct of Church leaders, both
public and private, has the potential to inspire and motivate God's
people, or to scandalize and devastate their faith” (Diocese of
Tulsa, n.a.).
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https://mulestudy.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/diversity1.jpg

15. Retrieved from: https://meetville.com/images/quotes/Quotation-Elizabeth-Gaskell-obedience-power-
justice-loyalty-wisdom-inspirational-Meetville-Quotes-225716.jpg
Cultural Diversity and Leadership:
One Final Thought

16. McFarland, S.J., M. (Ed.). (n.d.). Catholics and Culture. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
Cameli, L. (2012). Catholic teaching on homosexuality: New paths to understanding. Notre
Dame, Ind.: Ave Maria Press.
Allen, B. (2010). Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity, 2nd ed. Longrove, IL:
Waveland Press.
Welsh, T. (2015, June 23). Church to Discuss Gays, Divorce and Cohabitation. US News and
World Report.
Catholic Church. (2012). The Dignity of the Human Person. In 2nd ed., Catechism of the
Catholic Church (1262). Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
Kuruvilla, C. (2015, March 15). Cardinal Raymond Burke: Gays, Remarried Catholics Are Just
As Sinful As Murderers. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
Griffin, E. A. (2009). A first look at communication theory (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
REFERENCES

17. Barron S.J., R . (2015, June 3). Fr Barron on the SCOTUS Same-Sex Marriage Ruling. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XULEzTUua8U
Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich calls for compassion toward gay people.
(2015, June 29). Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved July 5, 2015, from
http://chicago.suntimes.com/religion/7/71/729530/chicago-archbishop-
blase-cupich-calls-compassion-toward-gay-people
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa (Tulsa, OK). (n.d.). Retrieved July 6, 2015.