MADRID (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal José Cobo called for greater “inclusion” of Catholics who adopt homosexual and transgender lifestyles at a conference for a heterodox LGBT group.
Cobo, who is the current archbishop of Madrid, wrote a letter that was read at the conference in the Spanish capital.
“In addition to welcoming others, we must promote a culture of dialogue, accompaniment, and effective inclusion of those who wish to walk with the Church,” the vice president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference wrote.
To achieve this, the cardinal said that “we are opening new doors and new pastoral attitudes.”
He stated that “the centrality of the person and their dignity should be normative for all Christians.”
For this reason, Cobo called on Christian communities to avoid what he referred to as “all types of unjust discrimination and processes that dehumanize us.”
Cobo’s remarks were clearly addressed to the group that hosted the pro-LGBT event, the “Global Network of Rainbow Catholics” (GNRC). The cardinal failed to mention that engaging in homosexual acts is a mortal sin and that those who commit them need to repent or that homosexuality is “objectively disordered,” as the Church teaches.
One of the organizing bodies responsible for the conference was welcomed by Madrid’s Cobo before the event, after which it stated that “we have shared with him the joy of co-organizing the next GNRC World Assembly and taken the opportunity to strengthen ties. … We continue to build bridges towards a more inclusive Church.”
The GNRC serves as an umbrella organization for LGBT groups worldwide, including New Ways Ministry and DignityUSA.
Addressing conference attendees this week, the joint leaders of the group reportedly stated that so-called “LGTBI rights are human rights and any Christian should understand, and defend, that.”
GNRC’s two co-presidents are Marianne Duddy-Burke and Christopher Vella, both of whom are in separate homosexual relationships.
Although the group identifies as a Catholic umbrella organization, it and its daughter groups advocate for ideologies that contradict Catholic teaching.
Cardinal Cobo is known for his heterodoxy and for towing Pope Francis’s line on homosexual “blessings.” In 2024, he vowed to “fully apply” Fiducia Supplicans, the highly controversial document approved by Francis that purports to allow for the “blessing” of homosexual “couples.” He also announced that he would crack down on any priests opposing its implementation.
Cobo was named the archbishop of Madrid and made a cardinal in 2023 by Pope Francis despite his limited experience.
