Kerrigan, Páraic and Pramaggiore, Maria
(2022)
Queering the pulpit: catholic clergy and media celebrity in the Republic of Ireland.
Celebrity Studies, 13 (1).
pp. 73-89.
ISSN 1939-2397
Abstract
This article examines the unlikely ways that media celebrity enabled priests and nuns in Ireland to make gay and lesbian identities visible. Despite the fact that sex among men was criminalised in Ireland until 1993, Catholic priests and nuns during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s used their mass media celebrity to make same-sex desire and LGBTQIA+ identities visible in popular media, especially through the public service broadcaster RTÉ. The article examines three case studies in which priests and nuns ‘queered the
pulpit,’ harnessing their public personas to affirm LGBTQIA+ identities across various Irish media platforms in ways that were surprisingly tolerant, given Catholic orthodoxy. The article speaks to the paucity of research regarding religious personalities as celebrities. The omission of religious figures from the celebrity studies literature is noteworthy, particularly in the Irish context, where broadcast media has been a potent site for cultivating clergy celebrity. The article’s focus on religious celebrities who gave voice to LGBTQIA+ lives and concerns in the Irish context also reframes the traditional
narrative of the relationship between media and Catholic clergy, which has often been characterised solely in terms of scandal
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Additional Information: |
Cite as: Kerrigan, P. and Pramaggiore, M., 2022. Queering the pulpit: catholic clergy and media celebrity in the Republic of Ireland. Celebrity Studies, 13(1), pp.73-89. |
| Keywords: |
Clergy celebrity; catholic celebrity; media celebrity;
Irish media; Irish celebrity |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Arts & Humanities > School of English, Media & Theatre Studies > Media Studies |
| Item ID: |
16689 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2020.1842775 |
| Depositing User: |
Maria Pramaggiore
|
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2022 11:59 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Celebrity Studies |
| Publisher: |
Taylor & Francis online |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
Repository Staff Only(login required)
 |
Item control page |
Downloads per month over past year
Origin of downloads
Altmetric
Altmetric