ROME — Pope Francis on Friday selected an American Jesuit who leads an outreach ministry for LGBTQ Catholics to be among the participants in a major gathering of bishops and laity at the Vatican later this year.
The Vatican has released the names of the bishops, priests, nuns and lay people who will take part in the week-long meeting the pope has called for October. Among those chosen is the Rev. James Martin, who has long been a leading advocate for greater inclusion of the LGBTQ community in the Catholic Church.
Official Catholic teaching considers any sexual act outside of marriage between a man and a woman to be sinful.
Before the meeting, known as a synod, there was an unprecedented gathering scrutiny of Catholics around the worldwhich found that the faithful want to see concrete steps to promote women to decision-making positions, as well as a “radical inclusion” of the LGBTQ+ community in the church.
After the Pope, in an interview with The Associated Press in January, denounced laws criminalizing homosexuality as “unjust” and declared that “being homosexual is not a crime,” Martin, who is a Jesuit like Francisco, asked for clarification, given the teaching of the church on the subject. Francis then clarified that he should have said that any sexual act outside of marriage is a sin.
Throughout his 10-year papacy, Francis has upheld Catholic teaching on sexuality, but has made outreach to LGBTQ people a priority.
Earlier this year, the Pope Francis decided to give the women the right to vote at the meeting, which will be held October 4-29. That reform reflected her broader hopes to give women greater decision-making responsibilities and enable the laity to have a greater say in the life of the Catholic Church. .
Among those who expressed gratitude to the pope for his attention to women’s roles was Sheila Leocádia Pires, a journalist with experience in Catholic media who was appointed secretary of the information commission at the synod.
“Certainly, as an African woman from Mozambique living and serving the Church in South Africa, I think Pope Francis is giving a good sign to all women in the global south, especially in Africa,” she said in a written statement on Friday.
The synod process continues in 2024 with a second phase. After its conclusion, Francis is expected to issue a document considering the proposals that have been presented to him by delegates.
