A PRAYER gathering held for Limerick’s LGBTQI+ community and their family members and allies continues Pope Francis’ “journey of inclusion”.
That’s according to Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy, who was speaking ahead of the gathering taking place this Thursday at the JPII Oratory at the Crescent Shopping Centre.
Bishop Leahy said it is incumbent on all in the Church to walk the late Pope’s “journey of inclusion”, stating that the Pontiff left “many great legacies, including the need for a more inclusive Church”.
Thursday’s prayer gathering is a joint initiative between Limerick and Killaloe diocese, in response to the Universal Synod’s invitation to engage with those who feel “excluded or judged because of their marital situation, identity, or sexuality”.
It is the latest in a series of meetings and talks, which Bishop Leahy said it will be an opportunity to listen and pray together with LGBTQI+ people and their loved ones locally.
“Pope Francis left us many great legacies and one of them is that we must become a more inclusive and listening Church. He was very much a Synodal Pope, a Pope of journeying and brought us all with him on that. One of his key themes on this ‘journeying’ was inclusion, to pay attention to those who have been marginalised or excluded,” Bishop Leahy said.
“LGBTQI+ people are amongst those with whom we are obliged to engage in a more deliberate and meaningful level and our prayer gathering is putting that into action.”
