For the first time ever, a group of homosexual Catholics were given the VIP treatment during an audience with Pope Francis in Rome this week, Reuters reported.
Fifty gay and lesbian Catholics from the group New Ways Ministry were allowed to sit with dignitaries and other noted religious groups in a front section in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday, an act the group's organizers called a sign of change in the centuries-old Roman Catholic Church.
Sister Jeannine Gramick, New Ways Ministry co-founder, called it the "Francis effect."
"What this says is that there is movement in our church, movement to welcome people from the outside closer to the inside," Gramick told Reuters.
The group, which promotes diversity in the Church and caters to homosexual Catholics, has made previous pilgrimages to Rome when John Paul II and Benedict were popes.
But "they just ignored us" during those trips, Gramick told Reuters. An American Bishop and Vatican official approved their request this time around.
The group's next hope is to be invited to an October meeting of bishops around the world at the Vatican, called the synod, to participate in a discussion on family issues in the church.
There have been signs of a slow shift toward more acceptance of homosexuality in the church for a while. Pope Francis, who already has a reputation as a progressive pope, made waves in 2013 when he suggested perhaps gay people who are also good people should not be judged.
"If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?" he said.
Last year, the Vatican released a document also saying the church should be less judgmental of homosexuals.
While the church may not consider homosexuality as outright sinful, acts of homosexuality still are considered sinful by the church, Reuters reported.
