More than a dozen organizations that advocate on behalf of LGBT Catholics met in Rome over the past weekend.

The Maryland-based New Ways Ministry, DignityUSA and 11 other groups that are part ofthe Global Network of Rainbow Catholics took part in the coalition’s inaugural meeting from Oct. 1-4. The European Forum of LGBT Christian Groups, the Christian Association of Gays and Lesbians of Catalonia in Spain, LGBT Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council in the U.K., the Dette Resources Foundation in Zambia and Pastoral de la Diversidad Sexual in Chile are among the other organizations that attended the gathering.

New Ways Ministry Executive Director Frank DeBernardo told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview from Rome the meeting caps off efforts to launch the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics that began two years ago. He said these groups “felt it was time for an international organization since there are so many of us.”

Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, and former Irish President Mary McAleese, who has a gay son, are among those who spoke at a conference in Rome on Oct. 3 that focused on “pastoral care” for LGBT Catholics and their families.

-more at Washington Blade