A number of spokespersons from various catholic organisations have criticised the World Meeting Of Families (WMOF) organisers for using “gay affirming language” in their latest booklet.

In their volunteering booklet, it states that the only requirement for being a volunteer is a respect for the catholic ethos:

“We want volunteers from all walks of life from across the island of Ireland. We value and embrace diversity and seek volunteers from a range of communities and backgrounds. We only ask that our volunteers are sensitive and respectful of our Catholic ethos.”

The wording of this call for volunteers has resulted in WMOF being accused of pushing the ‘gay agenda’.

Lepanto Institute President Michael Hichborn said “the issue of ‘diversity’ strongly implies sexual perversity as the LGBT lobby has long used this term in seeking acceptance within the Catholic Church.

“Given the use of homosexual images in previous WMOF-Ireland literature, it is reasonable to conclude that the term “diversity” implies the same in this brochure for volunteers.”

WMOF are attempting to be more inclusive after they made a decision which saw images of same-sex couples removed from a WMOF booklet which was sent to parishes.

Many notable figures, including Mary McAleese, expressed their dissapointment at the move. Mc Aleese spoke about the event being historically exclusionary but she is hopeful that Ireland can do better.

When asked about this change a spokesperson from WMOF told the Irish Independent that the event “has always been understood as a meeting open to all. This remains the position of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin.”

This latest development in the grey area of LGBT+ inclusion at WMOF comes a week after Pope Francis had some comforting words for gay sex abuse victim, Juan Carlos Cruz.

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Cruz said that during their meeting the subject of his sexuality came up as he had been targetted by press who called him a pervert and a liar about his abuse.

“He told me, ‘Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like this and loves you like this and I don’t care. The pope loves you like this. You have to be happy with who you are,’” Cruz said in the interview, as translated by The Guardian.