Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput is rolling out the welcome mat for homosexuals at the World Meeting of Family, but warns that the event is not to be used for protests or to lobby for changes in Church teaching.
The Daily Mail is reporting on the comments made by the Archbishop during a press conference yesterday in which he provided an update on planning for the World Meeting of Families which will take place in Philadelphia from September 22-27 and culminate in a visit from Pope Francis.
The meeting is expected to draw 15,000 people to the eighth World Meeting of Families which was started by St. John Paul in 1994 to address issues relevant to family life.
The Pope’s visit will bring an estimated 1.5 million into the City of Brotherly Love for a papal Mass which will take place on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway – the same venue used by St. John Paul when he visited the city in 1979.
Hosting the event is expected to cost about $45 million which will be used mostly for security, infrastructure, and clean up. Money has also been put aside to help the poor attend the meeting and papal events.
Everyone is welcome to attend, the Archbishop said, including homosexuals.
“We hope that everyone feels welcome and certainly people who have experienced same-sex attraction are welcome like everyone else,” Chaput said.
However, he does not want to see them use the occasion to attack Church teaching.
“We don’t want to provide a platform at the meeting for people to lobby for positions contrary to the life of our Church,” said Archbishop Charles Chaput.
Because homosexuality is a family issue, there will be an event dedicated to this topic. Ron Belgau, a celibate Catholic homosexual and the founder of the Spiritual Friendship Initiative will give a presentation about how gay Catholics can live according to Church teaching. Belgau, a popular speaker and blogger, will speak about how he came to terms with his sexual orientation and the manner in which he embraced the teachings of the Church. His mother will also speak at the event.
Pope Francis will attend the last two days of the Philadelphia meeting which will mark the end of his first visit to the U.S. Preceding his arrival in Philadelphia, the pope will visit Cuba, then New York and Washington DC before returning to Rome.
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