This week, Pope Francis, the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide, visits the United States for the first time, in concert with the World Meeting of Families. Next month, Catholic cardinals will gather in Rome for a synod, to conclude a year-long reflection on the mission of the family in the Church and contemporary world. These meetings will most likely influence, among other things, pastoral guidelines regarding gay relationships and their place in the larger church family.When Gerard considered this convergence of events, he felt compelled to offer one more LGBT testimony to church leaders: his memoir.A gay man raised Catholic in rural Western NY, Gerard has been encouraged in recent years by evolving comments from church leadership, hinting at a more inclusive church landscape for LGBT faithful. “In 2013, we heard Pope Francis say ‘If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?’ An early draft of the October 2014 synod document acknowledged that ‘homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community.’ This is a significant shift from what I knew as a Catholic teenager in the 1980s,” Gerard said. “Then came the ‘tragic error’ comment. I’ve been considering this idea for a while. Reading the statement from Archbishop Kurtz got me charged up enough to take action.”

Source: Anticipating Papal Visit, Author Sends Gay Memoir to 278 Catholic Leaders