Source: Associated Press

By NICOLE WINFIELD and LEO ENRIGHT

DUBLIN (AP) — One of the Catholic Church’s leading advocates for gays told a Vatican-sponsored conference Thursday that LGBT Catholics deserve to be loved, listened to and welcomed by the church and not ostracized and condemned.

The Rev. James Martin received a standing ovation after his presentation on welcoming LGBT Catholics at the church’s World Meeting of Families, which Pope Francis will be closing out this weekend.

Martin told the audience that LGBT Catholics “have often been treated like lepers by the church” despite Christ’s example of welcoming and loving all those on the margins of society.