An ACP Member writes about supporting the LGBTQ+ community in a parish…
On Friday, May 15th, in the Parish Hall of a Dublin parish, a Prayer Vigil was held for an end to violence against the LGBTQ+ community. This was not a great newsworthy event, or merited any fanfare. But for the Le Chéile LGBTQ+ Solidarity group, formed in our parish in the autumn of 2023, it was an important milestone.
Our vigil was not held in isolation, but in solidarity with groups all over Europe, based on a common biblical verse. This year’s verse is
“Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name” (Isaiah 43:1)
The vigils began in 2007, an initiative of Kairos, a Christian LGBT group in Florence, as a response to the tragic suicide of a young gay man in Turin. That year prayer vigils were organised in fourteen Italian cities. By 2024, there were events in dozens of cities in Italy, France, Malta, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands. This year vigils were or will also be held in Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Peru and, of course, Ireland.
Here in Kimmage Manor Parish, hosting the vigil marks a milestone along a path we embarked on with rather blind trust. Back in 2023, we didn’t know how our group would develop, we didn’t have any road map to guide us along the way. The only thing that we were clear about was that the exclusion felt by the LGBTQ+ community was unnecessary and unjust and that we needed to do something to change perceptions and show our welcome and inclusion in proactive ways. With the support of our priest, we set up a group and began sharing our experiences and hopes. Our priest’s leadership style is Synodal – listening to and trusting in the parish community. “It’s not MY parish, it’s OUR parish” is his constant mantra. He encourages the co-responsibility of the laity and supports any initiative proposed by parishioners who see a gap in our parish ministries and want to fill it. Without such a parish leader, we would never have been able to get out of the starting blocks.
We were and are an eclectic group of people – some with family members or friends who are LGBTQ+, and some who are allies with no close connections. While we are very open to having non-heteronormative members in the group, as yet, we only have one such member.
The first realisation we came to was that we needed to take our time in discerning the way forward and “going public” as the whole area of sexual diversity has been kept hidden within the church community and any attempt to show support can elicit a neuralgic reaction. We also realised that we, ourselves needed to be educated, as our knowledge of diverse sexualities was very patchy and our understanding of current church attitudes and teachings was scant.
So we set out on a learning curve. We couldn’t find a similar group anywhere in Ireland, a group that was both Catholic and working towards LGBTQ+ inclusion. We reached out to the American group New Ways for a Catholic perspective, and invited support groups here in Ireland, BelongTo, and ShoutOut to speak with us and further our understanding of sexual diversity. We contacted Dublin parishes who had shown support for the LGBTQ+ community and a few of us began to attend a monthly Interdenominational Christian Service.
At the same time, we began to promote our group within the parish – putting notice of our meetings in the parish bulletin and on our website, and providing information about church developments (notably Fiducia Supplicans). The education, training and discernment processes continued throughout 2024 and by spring of 2025 we felt ready to hold an open Information Evening to share our story with the wider community. While the numbers attending were small, they were representative of the groups we had been forming relationship with and helped encourage us to continue to walk ahead. Our outreach continued to ripple out, little by little. Relationships with other groups deepened and we found yet more such groups (or they found us) with whom we could share the journey.
By October of 2025, we were confident enough in our own understanding of how we wanted to continue our journey to speak out “from the pulpit” at weekend Masses. As I said already, none of this would have been possible without the trust and support of our priest. It is wonderful to be able to report that there was spontaneous applause from the congregations at both Masses.
And thus we came to our involvement in the Vigil for an end to homophobia, transphobia and biphobia for 2026. The Italian group, La Tenda di Gionata, who are the coordinators of the Vigil, promoted worldwide by GNRC, were of enormous help in providing resources for the Vigil. We followed the template suggested by Jonathan’s Tent when planning the liturgy. That consisted of Song, Scripture Readings, honest, open testimonies from LGBTQ+ friends, symbolic gesture, and intercessions, both prepared and spontaneous – all interspersed with periods of silent reflection.
As well as careful planning of our liturgy, in which we included the active participation of our friends from other groups in our circle of solidarity, we put effort into providing a warm, friendly atmosphere and our usual hospitality. While our liturgy included the honest recognition of the pain, fear and rejection experienced by our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters, we felt it to be important that all of those who joined us for the evening felt they were in a safe and happy place, among equals, where they belonged, without any judgement.
Each one of the fifty-three people who were with us was as important as each other person, but it gave out a positive message to our LGBTQ+ siblings to know that a bishop, and at least three priests were among us. And likewise, it gave out a positive message to our clergy that representatives of community LGBTQ+ Support groups, such as ShoutOut, Outhouse and LGBT Ireland were with us.
It wasn’t necessary to single out any of those people for special mention during the evening – the buzz of conversation during the tea and coffee afterwards made it very obvious that people were enjoying meeting and chatting with others. Many came as strangers and left with the beginnings of relationship forming.
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The feedback that we received has been wonderful. Here are just some of the things that were reported back:
“It was good to be with you all last – connecting and standing in solidarity!”
“Thank you for being part of the leadership team of a significant evening in Kimmage Parish Hall last night. It was a well prepared liturgy and two moving testimonials.”
“Thank you, Le Chéile & parishioners so much for a beautiful, powerful service last night … for all your prophetic, courageous ministries … especially for bringing us all together. It was good to feel reconnected, especially when the journey at times can feel lonely, isolating, and marginalising … A lovely experience of Synodality in action. How refreshing – a liberating, inclusive parish & parishioners.
The music, singing, lyrics & silences spoke to our depths.”
“Thank you so much for having me! Both the service and the community were an absolute pleasure to be around. I would be absolutely delighted to be kept up to date on the Le Chéile network list…… looking forward to collaborating in the future!”
“We absolutely loved your service on Friday. It was great to be a part of it. I couldn’t believe how your numbers have grown in such a short time. The whole evening was lovely, from the welcome, to the readings, music and the testimonies were powerful. ………. Well done on another wonderful event. Looking forward to seeing you soon. “
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We feel deeply affirmed that the path we embarked on in blind faith and trust almost three years ago is proving to be one that helps to spread the Good News of the all-encompassing love of our Creator, who loves each and every one of us unconditionally and desires our flourishing as we were created . The message that we believe in, and that we wish all our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters to know in their hearts is, in the words of one of the songs we used at the Vigil, based on Psalm 139,
“If you only knew, If you could see
Just for one day the way that He sees you
Would you take heart, could you believe
That you are free to be just you?
To come out of your hiding
Beloved one
You are beautifully, fearfully, wonderfully made
And loved since the very beginning of days
Fashioned with purpose, designed for His praise
You are wonderful, and wonderfully made.”