Date of Award
Summer 8-23-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Religious Studies
Organizational Unit
Joint Ph.D. Program in Study of Religion, Religious Studies
First Advisor
Miguel de la Torre
Second Advisor
Albert Hernandez
Third Advisor
Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi
Fourth Advisor
Deb Ortega
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Catholicism, LGBTQ, Lived experience, Miguel de Unamuno, Queer, Teresa of Avila
Abstract
This dissertation explores the lived experiences of LGBTQ Catholics in contemporary Spain, focusing on how participants describe their experiences of ethnicity, religion, spirituality, gender, and sexual identities in relation to a distinct ethos. Drawing from 4 months of ethnographic work conducted at CRISMHOM – an LGBTQ Christian community in Madrid – this study integrates semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and focus groups to examine how Spanish LGBTQ Catholics navigate spirituality, faith, identity, and institutional belonging.
Through a genealogical analysis of queerness, this project traces the history of queerness in Spain, emphasizing its connection with Roman Catholicism particularly in recent decades. This informs how contemporary Spanish LGBTQ Catholics navigate the intersections of queerness and faith.
To illustrate the processes by which participants address their experiences of ethnicity, religion, spirituality, gender, and sexuality and their effects at the intra and inter-personal levels, this dissertation introduces two original analytical frameworks: the Transformative Path (TP) and the Pre-Transformative Path (P-TP). The TP articulates processing of identity reconfiguration and affirmation. By contrast, the P-TP describes states of dissonance, recurrent unresolved shame and guilt, and identity tensions.
The study is grounded in two Spanish authors: Miguel de Unamuno and Saint Teresa of Avila. Unamuno’s religious existentialism echoes the ethical and existential iii dimensions of participants’ struggles when navigating complex identities. St. Teresa of Avila’s spirituality and mysticism resonate with the affective nature of the spiritual and religious practices of Spanish LGBTQ Catholics.
This dissertation contributes to scholarship in the fields of religion, spirituality, queer studies, Hispanic and Spanish studies, and mysticism. By offering two frameworks (i.e., PT and P-TP) by which contemporary Spanish queer Catholics navigate their identity, this work evinces that identity (re)negotiation is complex, fluid, and non-linear. It shows how Spanish LGBTQ Catholics inhabit a space of liminality in which they neither fully assimilate nor reject normative Roman Catholicism.
Copyright Date
8-2025
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Gregorio Peña-Camprubí
Provenance
Received from ProQuest
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
388 pgs
File Size
3.9 MB
Recommended Citation
Peña-Camprubí, Gregorio, "Queer Spanish Catholicism: Miguel de Unamuno, Teresa of Avila, and the Contemporary Lived Experiences of LGBTQ Spanish Catholics in Madrid, Spain." (2025). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2648.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/2648
Included in
Catholic Studies Commons, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Commons, Queer Studies Commons