Cardinal Vincent Nichols will celebrate Mass with a “pastoral outreach” to gay Catholics in central London on Sunday.
Same-sex attracted Catholics, along with their families, will attend the Mass at Farm Street Jesuit Church in Mayfair at 6.15pm.
It is the first time a cardinal has celebrated a Mass “welcoming” gay Catholics, according to the LGBT Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council, the group that organises Sunday evening gatherings at the church.
A spokesman for the cardinal clarified that the Mass was not “for gay Catholics”. He said Cardinal Nichols “will be celebrating the usual parish Mass at Farm St at which there will be Farm St parishioners (the Mass does have pastoral outreach for people with same-sex attraction).”
Following an earlier decision by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the LGBT Catholics Westminster Pastoral Council moved its gatherings from the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory in London’s Soho to the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception in March 2013.
Having been unable to sell in churches for well over a year due to the pandemic, we are now inviting readers to support the Herald by investing in our future. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values.
Please join us on our 130 year mission by supporting us. We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching. For more information from our chairman on contributing to the Herald Patron's Fund, click here
Make a Donation
Donors giving £500 or more will automatically become sponsor patrons of the Herald. This includes two complimentary print/digital gift subscriptions, invitations to Patron events, pilgrimages and dinners, and 6 gift subscriptions sent to priests, seminaries, Catholic schools, religious care homes and prison and university chaplaincies. Click here for more information on becoming a Patron Sponsor. Click here for more information about contributing to the Herald Patron's Fund