‘Francis effect’ earns gay rights group VIP seats

The Vatican did something it has never done before by giving a group of US gay and lesbian Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis’ weekly general audience.

But in a sign that the welcome wasn’t all it could have been, the New Ways Ministry pilgrims were identified on the Vatican’s list of attendees only as a “group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto.”

And not even that got announced at yesterday’s audience: When a monsignor read out the different groups of pilgrims attending, he skipped that reference altogether. Francis didn’t mention them either.