Pope Francis, Cardinal Dolan send greetings to Father Martin’s LGBTQ conference
June 20, 2023
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CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York sent messages of support to a Catholic LGBTQ conference organized by Outreach, led by Father James Martin, SJ.
“Again, thank you, thank you for your witness,” Pope Francis wrote in a handwritten letter, dated May 6, to Father Martin.
In his June 18 keynote address, Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean abuse victim and a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said that he had spoken with the Pope by phone that day. He contrasted “certain bishops who perpetuate harmful rhetoric and prejudiced doctrines” with “Pope Francis’ call for acceptance and love.”
“The Pope was very pained when the CDF [Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith] published a letter, not signed by him, saying same-sex couples cannot be blessed,” Cruz reportedly said. “You’ll have to trust me when I say those people are no longer working in the CDF.”
(The 2021 CDF document to which Cruz referred was published with the Pontiff’s approval.)
Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe celebrated the conference’s closing Mass.
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