A congress of Catholic homosexual associations from 16 countries is to take place in Portimão in October.
Representatives from the 28 associations will attend the first World Congress of Gay Catholic Associations from 6 to 8 October and Pope Francis then will be sent an official letter asking for more inclusion for gay Catholics.
José Leote, the coordinator of Rumos Novos the host association from Portugal, said that the meeting in Portimão will produce a document to be delivered to the Vatican in time for the Synod of the Family taking place in Rome between 5 and 19 October.
The structure of a future World Organisation of Associations of Catholic Homosexuals also will be discussed.
In the letter to the Vatican, the associations will be calling for a greater inclusion of gay believers in the Catholic Church, including "their integration at all levels of the Church and the possibility of working in parishes without the stigma of sexual orientation," explained Leote who referred to the difficulties that gays have in becoming godparents as an example of current discrimination.
The Pope already has stated that the Catholic Church should not dismiss gay marriages but should study them, in a softening of his stance on this and other tricky social issues.
The Pope wants senior Church leaders to “look into” the issue and to scrutinise the reasons why many countries have legalised same-sex marriages.
The investigation into new types of family that the Vatican has initiated in every diocese in the world includes questions about Catholic homosexuals and their role in the modern Church.
See: http://rumosnovos-ghc.pt.vu/
http://portugalgay.pt/lang_uk.asp
