Courage International
Courage, a Roman Catholic apostolate | |
| Founded | 1980 |
|---|---|
| Founder | John Harvey |
| Type | 501(c)(3) nonprofit |
| Purpose | "To assist men and women with same-sex attractions in living chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love" |
| Headquarters | Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Website | www |
Courage International, also known as Courage Apostolate and Courage for short, is an approved apostolate of the Catholic Church, founded in 1980 by John F. Harvey as part of the ex-gay movement. It claims it does not practice conversion therapy and instead runs a twelve-step program, similar to that of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aimed at helping gay people remain abstinent.
The organization runs support groups led by a priest to encourage its members to abstain from acting on their homosexual desires and to live according to the teachings of the Catholic Church on homosexuality. Courage also has a ministry geared towards the relatives and friends of gay people called Encourage.
Its approach has been criticized from Catholics who argue that the organization promotes "mandatory celibacy for gays and lesbians". Courage has also received criticism from LGBT advocacy groups, such as New Ways Ministry, which say that Courage's methods are "problematic and very dangerous to people's spiritual health". In 2015, the Southern Poverty Law Center listed Courage International as one of the ten most prominent "ex-gay" anti-LGBT organizations.