ATLANTA—The first gathering of a pastoral council to help church leaders serve the LGBTQ+ community is scheduled to meet this month. 

It will draw on the insights and lived experiences of clergy, gay Catholics and families with children who identify as LGBTQ+. It is hosted by the Restorative Justice Ministry in the Office of Life, Dignity and Justice with a mission to better understand the realities and pastoral needs of the community.  

Writing about this initiative of Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., was one of my most consequential assignments in 2024. 

Through these stories, I shared the broad dimensions of what it is to be gay and Catholic. I interviewed men who had left long-term same-sex relationships who felt drawn to Courage, the official church ministry to women and men who have, as the organization describes “same-sex attraction.” They talked about the trials of losing friends and the rewards they felt being part of the international Catholic ministry.  

I spoke with a leader at Fortunate & Faithful Families Atlanta. This local group, started by a mother, supports families with LGBTQ children to navigate loving their children with commitment to the faith. Additionally, gay Catholics shared with me their faith journeys, some of which included civil marriage, starting a Bible study for their community and serving as a lector at Mass. 

Before Pope Francis made the culture of encounter a foundation of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI proposed a framework for dialogue between non-believers, believers and the whole church: “the Courtyard of the Gentiles.”  

Historically, it was part of the Temple of Jerusalem where “there was a space in which everyone could enter, Jews and non-Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, members or not of the chosen people, people educated in the law and people who weren’t,” as the Vatican Dicastery for Education and Culture puts it.  

Pope Benedict envisioned it as a model where meaningful conversation could bridge differences.  

The new council with its range of experiences about being both gay and Catholic may face sensitive conversations, however, guided by the insights of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict, the council has the potential to foster understanding and unity across divides. I hope to share those stories too.