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Daniel A. Helminiak
(1942 - living) U.S.A.

Daniel Helminiak

Theologian, writer, counselor, and educator

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Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Helminiak was a Roman Catholic priest for twenty-eight years, and has ministered as chaplain to Dignity (the national organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Catholics and their friends) in Boston, San Antonio, and Austin - and has been Assistant Professor for Systematic Theology and Spirituality at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio.

As a psychotherapist, social scientist, and theologian, he is concerned to integrate religion and psychology and thus to suggest what wholesome human living means in a pluralistic and secularized world. Said otherwise, his specialization is spirituality. His areas of special interest are post-childhood development and human sexuality.

Helminiak is an Associate Professor and teaches psychology and spirituality in the Department of Psychology at the State University of West Georgia. He holds a Ph.D. in psychology from The University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston College and Andover Newton Theological School. He is licensed as a Professional Counselor in the State of Georgia and is certified as a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors.

Author of the best-seller What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality, a book for laymen which gathers together scholarly evidence to argue against Biblical literalism and all those who use the Bible to condemn homosexuality; for example, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah:

"The sin of Sodom was hard-heartedness, having abundance and not sharing with the poor. ... There certainly was male-male sex intended there. Let's say "male rape," because that's what was at stake. ... And there's no doubt that that's part of the story. But why is it in the story? The story is about people who were so hard-hearted, they wouldn't welcome anyone in. They wouldn't share. And they were so bad that they were actually going to rape these people. The rape is just in there to heighten the atrocity of hard-heartedness. ... The sin is the hard-heartedness. ... I get absolutely frustrated because it's so obvious that this is not about sex, even though sex is part of it."

In 1995, Helminiak submitted to the Vatican a formal resignation from active ministry. He has thus not been a priest or spokesman for the Catholic Church since 1995.

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His work include:

  • The Same Jesus: A Contemporary Christology (1986)
  • Spiritual Development: An Interdisciplinary Study (1987)
  • What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality (1994)
  • The Human Core of Spirituality: Mind as Psyche and Spirit (1996)
  • Religion and the Human Sciences: An Approach via Spirituality (1998)
  • Sex and the Sacred: Gay Identity and Spiritual Growth (2006)
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