A large group of gay and transgender Catholics is seeking a meeting with Pope Francis during his first papal visit to the United States, in September, pushing him to take a stand on the issues of sexuality and gender that are increasingly dividing Catholics.
Lui Akira Francesco Matsuo said he was standing in line for communion one Sunday at his Roman Catholic church in Detroit when a fellow parishioner pulled him aside: Didn’t he know that the archbishop had just urged supporters of same-sex marriage not to take communion?
Matsuo, who is transgender, left and never returned to his parish.