“Gay-Washed” Bible’s Imprimatur Should Be Withdrawn. Here’s Why. by Peter Wolfgang

By Peter Wolfgang, Catholic Culture, Oct 15, 2025

Peter Wolfgang is president of Family Institute of Connecticut Action, a Hartford-based advocacy organization whose mission is to encourage and strengthen the family as the foundation of society. His work has appeared in The Hartford Courant, the Waterbury Republican-American, Crisis Magazine, Columbia Magazine, the National Catholic Register, CatholicVote, Catholic World Report, the Stream and Ethika Politika. He lives in Waterbury, Conn., with his wife and their seven children. The views expressed on Catholic Culture are solely his own . See full bio.

I am grateful to OSV News for reporting on my concerns about the USCCB’s granting of an imprimatur to the New Revised Standard Version updated edition (NRSVue) Bible. I appreciate USCCB Scripture scholar Father Pablo Gadenz responding directly to my concerns. But I found his responses unpersuasive, and I still think the imprimatur should be withdrawn, for the reasons below.

First, a recap for readers unfamiliar with the issue. The updated edition of the NRSV, the flagship Bible of Mainline Protestantism, was published in 2022. Protestant Scripture scholar Robert A.J. Gagnon (who literally wrote the book on The Bible and Homosexual Practice) immediately flagged it for having “gaywashed” the “clear reference to homosexual practice in the offender list in 1 Corinthians 6:9 (and 1 Tim 1:10 where the same Greek term appears).” I wrote a Catholic Answers article shortly thereafter arguing that the USCCB should not grant an imprimatur until those two verses are fixed. Two weeks ago I wrote a column for Catholic Culture on the announcement that the USCCB had granted an imprimatur to an NRSVue, Catholic Edition, with no change to those verses. …

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