PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Administrators at The University of Scranton have spent the last few years grappling with a dilemma familiar to many religious institutions.

They wanted to add more resources for gay and lesbian students, but they also needed to remain consistent with the school’s Jesuit and Catholic ideals.

Now, the small college in northeast Pennsylvania is putting the finishing touches on a campus-wide support program for its gay and lesbian students. Under the “Ally” program, scheduled to begin next fall, interested students, faculty and staff will be trained — though it’s not clear by whom — to listen and sensitively respond to concerns and questions from gay and lesbian students.

“Our role will be to do all we can to minimize issues of discrimination and homophobia,” said Vincent Carilli, the university’s vice president for student affairs. “We’re not going to be dealing with issues of advocacy.”

The distinction is crucial for Scranton and other Roman Catholic schools that say they welcome gay students but, because of church policy, refuse to condone their sexual practices. Many Jesuit schools already have in place programs like “Ally” that are warmly accepted on campus, provided they don’t advocate positions contrary to the church.

At Boston College, for instance, the former head of the student body met for nearly a year with the university president, William Leahy, about a group that would support gay and lesbian students and openly discuss issues of sexual orientation. The program, “Allies,” was formally approved last month with a mandate — “to advance understanding of issues, concerns and needs regarding sexual orientation” — nearly identical to the group at Scranton.

“We’re trying to be true to our mission, and our mission is 2000 years of church teaching and 460 years of the Society of Jesus’s existence,” said Boston College spokesperson Jack Dunn. “We’re always trying to be respectful of that tradition, while addressing the relevant issues of the day.”

Many “Ally” programs are initiated by students seeking to educate their peers about issues of homosexuality and don’t contradict religious dogma.

Liz Pascal, who co-founded the “Ally” program at Marywood University, a small Catholic school also located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, said she drew up an educational manual for prospective “allies.” She estimates that a few hundred people have undergone the requisite training, which includes discussions of gay stereotypes and homophobic attitudes.

And despite some setbacks — one flyer advertising the program was tossed in the toilet, another was defaced with the words, “Not at our school” — Marywood students and administrators have been generally receptive, she said.

“It gives exposure to the hidden minority, to the invisible minority,” Pascal said.

Another “Ally” program at St. Michael’s College, in Colchester, Vermont, has a mailing list of about 200 people and between six and 12 active members, said Linda Hollingdale. The group, which rose out of a similar gay support group formed in the 1980s, has hosted speakers such as the mother of Matthew Shephard and Danny Roberts, a gay cast member from MTV’s “The Real World.”

But conflicts do happen. Administrators at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles initially balked at student efforts to bring a transgender speaker to campus. And certain issues — same-sex unions in particular — have sparked fundamental disagreements.

“There may be topics or issues that make some folks uncomfortable, but there’s an underlying belief that there’s a space for it all,” Hollingdale said.