Pope welcomes Sister Gramick, New Ways staff to his residence

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis welcomed Loretto Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, and members of the ministry's staff to his residence Oct. 17, spending 50 minutes with them, New Ways said.

New Ways Ministry, a LGBTQ+ outreach, described the meeting in a press release as "a moment once unimaginable."

Sister Gramick, who has been ministering to and with gay Catholics for more than five decades, began written correspondence with Pope Francis in 2021.

She previously had been investigated by the U.S. bishops and by the Vatican. In 1999, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a notice barring Sister Gramick and New Ways co-founder Salvatorian Father Robert Nugent from further pastoral ministry to homosexuals, saying they advanced "doctrinally unacceptable" positions "regarding the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts and the objective disorder of the homosexual inclination."

New Ways said the meeting with Pope Francis "represents a new openness to the pastorally-motivated, justice-seeking approach which Sister Jeannine and her organization have long practiced."

"The meeting was very emotional for me. From the day he was elected, I have loved and admired Pope Francis because of his humility, his love for the poor and for those shunned by society. He is the human face of Jesus in our era. Pope Francis looks into your heart and his eyes say that God loves you," Sister Gramick said in the statement.

The meeting took place during the assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which was examining ways to promote an atmosphere of co-responsibility and welcome in the church, including for LGBTQ+ Catholics.