From June 22-25, 2026, the Association of United States Catholic Priests (AUSCP) gathered for its 15th Annual Assembly at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Among the assembly’s listed supporters is Read. Pray. Write. (RPW), a spiritual media platform and community hosted by journalist and author Dr. Jean P. Kelly.
Several official AUSCP Instagram story posts made note of RPW’s presence at the assembly, in the form of a booth for attendees as well as recording an episode of the Read. Pray. Write. podcast with AUSCP keynote speaker, Sr. Kathleen Duffy, SSJ.
The Lepanto Institute has already documented Sr. Duffy’s troubling background, which you can read about here, but suffice to say, RPW is already on shaky footing at best for platforming a dissenting nun. However, as we’ll see, that is far from the worst thing RPW has promoted and facilitated.
Read. Pray. Write.
Read. Pray. Write. describes itself as “Lectio Divina for Modern Life.” Lectio Divina is a traditional monastic practice of reading and meditating on scripture writings, with the intention of fostering greater communion with and knowledge of God. However, as we’ll see, RPW’s Lectio Divina practices are far from any Catholic definition of the term, and certainly are not fostering any sort of holy relationship with Our Lord.
RPW’s founder, Dr. Jean P. Kelly is described on the Read. Pray. Write. website as “a lectio-divina evangelista who teaches that spiritual reading is sometimes the only prayer that works, especially in times of desperation.” The page goes on to say that “She is Associate Professor of Journalism at Otterbein University where she teaches writing, graphic design and podcast storytelling.”
In a Read. Pray. Write. podcast episode, posted on May 26th, 2026, titled “Pride in God’s Love,” Jean Kelly interviewed “Christian Drag Queen” Flamy Grant.
“Flamy Grant” is a cross-dressing 41-year-old man named Matthew, who performs in music and drag artistry at “pride events” across the United States. He has also appeared in a music video for the song “Boys Will be Girls,” by Derek Webb.
In the podcast episode, while on the topic of Grant’s experience attending a “Queer Bible Study,” Grant states:
“The common thread for me that night was hearing everyone say ‘oh my gosh, I know what it’s like to be the queer kid who has no vision of a happy future for myself,’ right? Because everything that you’re told is that that “lifestyle” as they love to call it is going to lead you down dark paths. It’s going to lead you to isolation, and sin, and shame, and sorrow, right? So everybody in the room was like, ‘you know, I now know better.’” (Emphasis added).
In a 2023 interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Grant describes how he wrote the song “Good Day.” He states:
“I went home and the song just poured out of me. We sang it at my church the next week. It’s a song for the people who stay. I’m not advocating that everyone stay. Some folks need to get out and live their best life outside of a church. It’s not our obligation as queer people to stay. But it does make a difference.” (Emphasis added).
In the same interview, on the topic of “Esther, Ruth, and Rahab,” another of his songs, Grant says, “The song is for queer kids growing up in church, to know and see that they have options. Even if their church or parents are grooming them to conform, if they can see that there is a Christian drag queen, I feel like that would have given me hope as a kid.” (Emphasis added).
It should be clear at this point that Read. Pray. Write is not only platforming individuals who promote sin, but are actively making it its mission to spread this same degenerate message. However, what we’ve covered so far only covers the “pray” aspect of the “Read. Pray. Write.” name. So now let’s take a look at what kind of quality writing RPW would like for you to read.
The Modern Saints
In an Instagram story, posted by the AUSCP during the 2026 assembly, the organization highlights new “RPW Community Members” who, as a reward for joining, received a copy of the book “The Modern Saints,” by Gracie Morbitzer.
This book can also be seen in RPW’s Instagram post made to promote the AUSCP 2026 Assembly, clearly advertising that it would be made available to event attendees.
RPW also promotes The Modern Saints book on its own website, even including a link to buy directly from the author.
Read. Pray. Write. has also hosted Gracie Morbitzer on its podcast as well, in an October, 2024 episode titled “Reading, Painting, and Badass Saints.“
It is clear that RPW promotes and advertises this book as recommended reading for its audience, but what exactly is “The Modern Saints?” Well, for that answer, we can simply turn to The Modern Saints website, where a page advertising the book describes it:
“Over the centuries, the rich diversity and relevance of the saints has been whitewashed, their images portrayed as expressionless, and the lessons of their lives watered down. But artist, writer, and modern iconographer Gracie Morbitzer is painting the truth. The Modern Saints is a celebration of the divergence of ethnicities, ages, abilities, and practices of spiritual pilgrims who transformed the world, and an invitation to connect with historical icons whose lives have astonishing and inspiring relevance for our present-day.”
The website’s “About” page also includes quotes from author Gracie Morbitzer, describing her goals with the icons she creates:
“Each image is of a real person that lived and is now called a saint, but is portrayed as they might look if they were living today. I have corrected ethnicities to show the Church’s more widespread, though hidden, diversity. I have given each a character or personality and a real human expression to better relate to them. I have given each a style and a modern twist to show their character.“
Overlooking the insulting notion that somehow we as modern Catholics have to “correct” the ethnicites of these historical figures and re-imagine them as blue-haired, tattooed, cigarette-smoking hippies to relate to them, The Modern Saints has actually made a much more deplorable change to its portrayal of many of its depicted saints.
In a June 2025 website post, Morbitzer posted a new icon she had made of Mother Juana de la Cruz, a Spanish abbess who was beatified in 2024. According to some sources, Blessed Mother Juana believed that God planned to create her as a male in the womb, but Mary intervened, seeing all the good she could do as a female, so God miraculously made her female. Regardless of whether or not this is accurate, a miraculous intervention from Heaven is a far cry from the modernist understanding of transgenderism. Yet, Morbitzer had the audacity to depict the Blessed as an androgynous human with a “Pride Month” sticker displayed beside her.
She also tagged the post with such tags as “Trans Saint,” “LGBTQ Saints,” “Pride Month,” and “Patron Saint of Trans Folks.”
But this isn’t the only such perversion of reality that Morbitzer has posted. She has also depicted early Church martyrs, Saints Perpetua and Felicity in an icon which has been tagged with keywords such as “Queer,” “Pride,” “Progressive,” and “LGBTQ+.”
She also includes a caption with the post saying, “To all of you; we wish a sustaining, joyful, community-filled Pride Month: may our ancestors and role models in the faith be part of our company 💕” (Emphasis added).
Author Gracie Morbitzer has also advertised and taken part in a podcast hosted by FutureChurch, in which her and fellow artist Dani Jimenez would share “images they have created that present Mary as multi-racial, layered, and contemporary.” These images include one depicting the Blessed Mother as shooting rainbows of “queerness” from her outstretched palms.
Conclusion
After seeing all of this, it is certainly nothing less than alarming that Read. Pray. Write. would platform and support such artists at a gathering of Catholic Priests. But even more alarming is the fact that said Catholic Priests would have allowed such a thing to happen under their watch. And make no mistake, the AUSCP did not simply turn a blind eye to the abuse, but rather, promoted both RPW, as well as The Modern Saints book across its various social media platforms.
Faithful Catholics deserve to know what subversive agendas these priests and pastors may be trying to push on them, and this report serves as just another reminder that the AUSCP does not share the Church’s mission of the salvation of souls.
Leave a Reply