Board

Christopher studied history and sociology at university and became a history teacher, first at the secondary school level and later as lecturer in a pre-tertiary University College associated with the University of Malta.  While his primary research has been on the history of Malta in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he has recently begun research on LGBT realities there in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He is currently working fulltime as Assistant Secretary general with the Malta Union of Teachers, representing educators in all sectors of Education. He is also Secretary of the Malta Historical Society and is Coordinator of Drachma LGBTI. In 2015, Christopher attended the inaugural conference of the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics in Rome and was elected to the group’s Steering Committee.  Over the next two years, he worked with the committee to create the framework and legal foundation of the GNRC.  In 2017, GNRC was established in Munich as an official Non-Governmental Organization registered in Italy.  Christopher was elected to the GNRC’s first board of directors as one of the two Co-Chairs and was re-elected to the same role both in 2019 and in 2022.

Marianne Duddy-Burke was the Board member representing North America and Secretary of the GNRC Board.  She is the Executive Director of DignityUSA, the largest and oldest organisation of Catholics committed to justice, equality and full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) persons in the church and society.  She has also served as the organisation’s President, Vice-President, New England Regional Director, and President of the Boston chapter.  Marianne received a Master of Divinity degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was an Honours graduate of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Marianne is DignityUSA’s primary spokesperson and has represented the organisation in countless news stories and interviews in national and international media of all kinds.  She speaks regularly at conferences throughout the United States on issues of importance to LGBTQI Catholics and their families.  She was featured in the video DignityUSA: A Conversation with Marianne Duddy, and her work has been included in several books, including, most recently, Catholic Women Confront their Church: Stories of Hurt and Hope. Marianne took part in early discussions with members of the European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups, We Are Church, and other international Catholic networks that eventually led to the formation of GNRC.  In 2017, she served as facilitator of the official meeting of GNRC’s Second Assembly in Munich, where the GNRC’s Constitution was adopted and the organisation was formally established as a Non-Governmental Organization registered in Italy.  In 2019, she was instrumental in bringing GNRC’s Third Assembly to Chicago, in conjunction with DignityUSA’s 50th anniversary national conference. Marianne grew up in a devout Catholic family in New Jersey, where she attended Mt. St. Mary High School, run by the Sisters of Mercy.  She continued her active religious life at Wellesley and was president of the Newman Centre group representing Catholic students there, until she was forced to resign because she was a lesbian.  Fortunately, she found the Boston chapter of Dignity soon after her graduation. Marianne Duddy-Burke has over thirty-five years of non-profit and corporate leadership experience.  In addition to her many years of work for DignityUSA, she has worked in the health care, human resources consulting, and elder care fields.  She lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with her spouse, Becky Duddy-Burke, and their two adopted teenaged children, Emily and Finn.

Paolo Alacqua has represented Acceptance Sydney in GNRC since attending the Second Assembly in Munich in 2017. He joined the Membership and Nominations Committee at that time and served as Chair from August 2018 to August 2022. He also attended the Third Assembly in Chicago in 2019 and is a member of the Constitutional Committee. In these roles, he has become familiar with the policies, procedures and aims of the GNRC. For Acceptance Sydney, he has served for many years as a committee member, public officer, and treasurer. He has organised Masses for the LGBTIQ+ community, retreats, Mardi Gras (Pride Parade floats and other Pride events), and various social events. Paolo has worked for more than 30 years in the airline industry, most recently in commercial management positions. He has experience in managing operational matters across multiple global stakeholder groups; global relationship and partner management; policy design and compliance; business case development and presentations; and project management. Among the current challenges he sees for GRNC are: maintaining a unified voice for LGBTIQ+ Catholics across multiple global regions; focusing on aligned priorities that advance the aims and mission of GNRC; and conducting the affairs of GNRC in an empathetic and consultatory manner. As Secretary, he sees himself as part of a team, focused on supporting the Co-Chairs in managing an efficient and well-organized Board, resulting in outstanding outcomes for GNRC and its members.

We are all made of love, in likeness to our celestial Father. He made us to love and to be loved. Our love comes from Him so to negate our love is to negate Him. Dr. Victoria Rodriguez (she) is a trans mother of 3 children. She has a PhD in Molecular Biology and works as a mathematics teacher in a public high school in Spain. As a bisexual Catholic, she belongs to several Catholic faith groups, such as Ichthys Sevilla, PADIS+G Sevilla, Trans Christians, CLC, Cursillos de cristiandad and the GNRC. Some of these faith groups are exclusive to LGBTQ people, others are diverse, and there are also those where she is the only LGBTQ person. But in all of them, she can be herself openly, share her faith in the community and try to draw closer to God.  Victory: The Good News of the Gospel for a Trans Mother of Three – Crismhom

Hails from India and has lived in England as a Non Resident Indian since the late 1960s. She has worked in media for over thirty years. She set up a training and production company as a co-operative for Asian women in London, England. She worked as a Senior Lecturer at London Metropolitan University, London. Then worked as a free lance trainer and educator in England as well as in India. Ruby previously served on the GNRC Steering Committee in October 2015 and became Co-Chair of the GNRC Board from 2017 till 2022. She served as Chair of Quest, England from 2012 to 2019 Ruby is now Convenor for Quest London South East.  She is current Chair of LGBT+ Catholics Westminster, London England And is Chair of Bridge and Embrace, an apostolate for LGBT& Catholics in India.

Susanne Andre Birke has been part of GNRC since attending the First Assembly in Rome in 2015.  A member of the Theological Committee and Embracing Womyn, she* also attends Spiritual Formation events when possible.  Susanne is a Roman Catholic theologian with additional formation in pastoral counselling, pedagogy, and body therapy. She* identifies as physically female, otherwise agender and women*loving.   Susanne has been involved in LGBTIQ+ grassroots work since she* attended the first conference for Catholic lesbians in Switzerland in 1993.  Since 2002, she* has been working for the Roman Catholic Church.  After coming out as a lesbian in a parish newspaper 10 years ago, she* initiated rainbow ministry at her* workplace, which included family diversity days, blessings around IDAHOBIT, and rainbow pilgrimages.   In 2016, she* started the rainbow ministry working group in the diocese of Basel.  It remains the only diocesan Catholic rainbow ministry in Switzerland, although there is a lot of grassroots support and rainbow ministry on the parish level.  In addition, she* networks with many different Roman Catholic organisations, including the Austrian rainbow ministry.   Susanne for many years also has been a member of the gender issue working group of her* diocese.  Its main task is to prepare a subject for consideration each year by the bishop’s council, which includes all persons in leadership positions in the diocese of Basel.  The group also addresses LGBTIQ issues. In 2021 and 2022 the subject was inclusivity for all genders with trans and non-binary guests. In march 2023 she* will start working in ministry for sex workers.   Aside from GNRC, Susanne has been engaged with LGBTIQ+ ministry and work on an international level through the European Forum of LGBT Groups.  She* is part of the European Forum’s Roman Catholic working group and served on the organising team for the Forum’s annual meeting in Zurich.    She *also served for 10 years on the board of FIZ Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Trafficking, a national NGO based in Zurich.  In that capacity, she* worked with a team of diverse national backgrounds, which serves a religiously and otherwise diverse group of migrants from both within and outside Europe.   Among the main challenges she* sees for GNRC at present are finding enough people to do the necessary work and becoming truly diverse and equal.  As Equality and Diversity Officer, she *plans to engage more people in a way that is workable for them, and especially to reach out to those who are underrepresented.

Gonzalo is the director and founder of the largest youth volunteer organization in Mexico: Fundación Iluminando con Amor. He is also a spiritual companion and currently collaborates with the network of rainbow Catholics in Mexico (REDCAM) and is the Regional Officer of GNRC.