Pope Francis waves prior to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican on Sept. 16, 2020, during the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. Image: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP
When Pope Francis met with Christian parents of LGBTQ+ kids, he reportedly assured them that God loves their children.
The pope had a dialogue with 40 Italian parents at a courtyard in the Vatican on Sept. 16, La Repubblica via Jesuit-run magazine America reported on Sept. 17.
The parents were from the group Tenda di Gionata (“Jonathan’s Tent”), which gives support to LGBTQ+ Christians and their families.
The group’s vice president, Mara Grassi, and her husband presented the pope with the booklet “Genitori Fortunati” (Blessed Parents). The booklet, which is set to have an English language version, details the experiences of parents with the Catholic Church as they struggle to find acceptance for their children in church communities.
A video of the encounter between Grassi and Pope Francis was shared by the group on Facebook.
Grassi told Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, that she told the pope, “We wish to create a bridge to the Church so that the Church too can change its way of looking at our children, no longer excluding them but fully welcoming them.”
The pope said in response, “The Church does not exclude them because she loves them deeply.”
Grassi told Pope Francis that her eldest son is gay and that he left the Church because he did not feel accepted. She said that her experience with her son made her take a different perspective and view herself among “fortunate parents.”
She recalled that the pope told her and the rest of the group, “God loves our children because they are all children of God.”
According to Grassi, she appealed that the Church change as not to exclude anyone. She said that Pope Francis responded, “The Church loves our children as they are.”
Before they parted ways, the association handed the pope a T-shirt with a rainbow heart that read, “In love there is no fear.” Niña V. Guno /ra
RELATED STORIES:
Love, queer and constant: 3 LGBTQ+ couples triumph over lockdown
‘Filipinx,’ ‘Pinxy’ among new nonbinary words in online dictionary