Pope Francis walks as he arrives to lead the weekly audience in Saint Peter's Square.

Gay Catholics Get VIP Treatment at Vatican

Share:

A prominent American Catholic gay rights group was given VIP treatment for the first time at an audience with Pope Francis on Wednesday, a move members saw as a sign of change in the Roman Catholic Church. 

“This is a sign of movement that’s due to the Francis effect,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights in the 1.2 billion-member Church. 

Gramick and executive director Francis DeBernardo led a pilgrimage of 50 homosexual Catholics to the audience in St. Peter’s Square. 

They told Reuters in an interview afterwards that when the group came to Rome on Catholic pilgrimages during the papacies of Francis’s predecessors John Paul and Benedict, “they just ignored us”. 

This time, a U.S. bishop and a top Vatican official backed their request and they sat in a front section with dignitaries and special Catholic groups. As the pope passed, they sang “All Are Welcome,” a hymn symbolizing their desire for a more inclusive Church. 

A list of participants released by the Vatican listed “a group of lay people accompanied by a sister” but did not mention that they were a gay rights organization. 

“What this says is that there is movement in our Church, movement to welcome people from the outside closer to the inside,” Gramick said in St. Peter’s Square. 

Several months after his election, Francis made his now-famous remark about how he could not judge gay people who are have good will and are seeking God. 

But he so far shown no sign the Church will change its teaching that while homosexuality is not sinful, homosexual acts are. 

Last October, bishops from around the world meeting in Rome to debate questions concerning family issued an interim report calling for greater acceptance of gays in the Church. 

That passage was watered down in the final version of the report after conservative bishops complained. A second and final meeting on family issues is scheduled for October. 

DeBernardo said Catholic gay and lesbian couples and other non-traditional families should be invited to the meeting, known as a synod, to speak to the bishops about their faith and their sexuality.

 © 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.

+ posts
Share:

Leave a Reply


More Spiritual Content
Pete Hegseth’s Opening Statement at Confirmation Hearing: ‘All Glory… to Jesus Christ’
Kathryn Krick: God’s Warning Through the L.A. Fires
Troy Brewer Issues Severe Warning to the Church in 2025: ‘Repentance Isn’t Optional’
Cloud Seeding, Mars and AI: What You Need to Know
Christian Apologist Tells Joe Rogan God Is Doing Something Big ‘Behind the Scenes’
Did a Prayer Supernaturally Save a Man from ISIS?
2025: The Year to Battle and Build
Will Our Pets Join Us in Heaven?
Kim Clement Prophecy: From Fire to Revival
Morning Rundown: Year of Fire: Prophetic Warning for 2025 Coming to Pass
previous arrow
next arrow
Shadow

Most Popular Posts

Latest Videos
91.3K Subscribers
1K Videos
9.4M Views

Share