PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic bishop will celebrate Mass at a series of pro-LGBT parish gatherings in Rhode Island while the Diocese of Providence refuses to clarify whether attendees will be called to repentance or offered sacramental confession in accordance with the Church’s moral teaching.

The Diocese of Providence is holding four parish gatherings for “LGBTQ+ individuals, families, and friends” across Rhode Island, where Bishop Bruce Lewandowski will celebrate the Masses and participate in “small group sharing” sessions for “listening humbly to the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals.”

According to the program published on the diocesan website, the pro-LGBT gatherings are divided into three parts. The first section is a “small group sharing” in which Lewandowski and other collaborators will listen “humbly” not only to the so-called LGBT Catholics but also their “families and friends.” The second section is the Holy Mass, celebrated by Lewandowski, and third, “a community dinner provided for all attendees.”

The announcement opens with a well-known quotation from Pope Francis: “Todos, Todos, Todos (Everyone, Everyone, Everyone). That is the Church, the Mother of all. There is room for everyone.”

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The planned events have drawn criticism after the Lepanto Institute reported diocesan officials had declined to answer direct questions about how the events square with Church teaching on anthropology and morality.

The Lepanto Institute contacted Lewandowski seeking clarification on two issues. First, it asked why the diocese adopted the term “LGBTQ+,” arguing that it is not a terminology traditionally used by the Catholic Church to describe the human person.

Second, it requested clarification about the structure of the gatherings, specifically asking whether the sacrament of confession would be available and whether participants would be invited to repentance and conversion in accordance with Catholic teaching.

“As the diocesan bishop, Bishop Lewandowski has the pastoral responsibility to know and understand the spiritual needs of all the souls entrusted to his care,” diocesan communications director Michael F. Kieloch wrote in a response published by the Lepanto Institute. “These listening sessions are just one part of his wider efforts to better know the people of this diocese.”

Meanwhile, in a Monday blog post, Cardinal Jospeh Zen denounced what he called “LGBTQ sins,” declaring that homosexual acts “completely violate the Creator’s plan for humanity” while highlighting the Scriptural description of such acts as an “‘abomination’ in the sight of God.”

Indeed, the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

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