Seattle Catholics Join Appeal For Gays

Mon., Jan. 1, 2001

From Staff

Two Roman Catholics from Seattle will be among 20 gay and lesbian Catholics headed to Rome to appeal to the church to change its approach to homosexuals.

Pat Roche and Judy Osborne will be among a group of protesters who will make daily trips to St. Peter’s Square, bringing gifts each day through Jan. 6, the church celebration of Epiphany.

“I want the church to accept me for all of who I am,” Roche told KING-TV on Sunday.

The group’s goal is to meet with a cardinal to negotiate change. They want to be able to officially participate in the Catholic Church, which recognizes homosexuality but regards it as an “objective disorder” and denies communion to practicing homosexuals.

The National Conference of Bishops earlier declined to help arrange a meeting between members of the gay and lesbian group and Pope John Paul II. In a letter, a bishop told them church officials “believe sincerely that sexual activity is not to occur outside of the marriage of one man and one woman.”

The group plans no demonstration because Italian police would not issue a permit.

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Seattle Catholics Join Appeal For Gays

Jesse Tinsley

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