Bergoglio to parents with LGBT children: “The Pope loves them as they are because they are children of God”

A message of love not like the others in the desperate days of the death of Maria Paola Gaglione, from the hand of his brother who did not accept his relationship with a trans boy, Ciro Migliore. “The Pope loves his children as they are, because they are children of God,” the pontiff said Wednesday morning, at the end of the audience, welcoming a group of parents with LGBT children from the association. Jonathan’s Store. There were about 40 fathers and mothers present, Avvenire reports in its online version. An emotional encounter just the day after the funeral of the 18-year-old from Caivano.

Mara Grassi Vice-president of the association together with her husband Agostino Usai, gave Pope Francis the brochure ‘Fortunate Fathers’ – translated into Spanish for the occasion – which summarizes the ecclesial experiences, not always easy, of these families along with some letters with requests, hopes but also protests from people for too long considered undesirable by ecclesial communities. “Our association – said Mara Grassi referring to the speech addressed to the Pope – wants to make dialogue between the Church and families with LGBT children. Following the example of the title of the book that we present to you, I explained that we consider ourselves lucky because we have been forced to change the look with which we have always looked at our children. What we have now is a new look that has allowed us to see in them the beauty and love of God. We want to create a bridge with the Church – continued the vice president of the Tenda di Gionata, which is part of the Regina Pacis Parish Group of Reggio Emilia and the Davide Group of Parma – so that the Church can also change its gaze towards our children, no longer exclude them but fully welcome them “.

Francesco’s response was reassuring and cordial: “The Church does not exclude them because she loves them deeply “. The Pope also received a t-shirt in the colors of the rainbow with the words “In love there is no fear” (1 Jn, 4, 18). “He looked and smiled – concludes Mara Grassi, who has four children, of which the oldest is homosexual – a moment of deep harmony that we will not forget.” The Pope has received some letters from parents describing sometimes painful paths of acceptance. Also because, feeling unloved or even rejected, these children often left their homes and moved away from their dearest loved ones. Although in the case of Caivano, Ciro’s mother said: “It took me a while, but the children are accepted as they are.”