The Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said he accepts responsibility for the removal of references to same-sex relationships from promotional material for the World Meeting of Families.

He said the decision to remove the images was not his personal decision to do so speaking at a promotional event in Croke Park yesterday.

Asked at the news conference who was responsible, he said: “I must say if it happened in the World Meeting of Families I take responsibility as the person in charge if mistakes were made. I take responsibility for those. But I take that responsibility by ensuring that the main thrust of the Meeting is what it is (to welcome everybody)”.

Images of same-sex couples were removed from a World Meeting of Families (WMF) booklet which was sent to parishes back in January.

The information booklet originally included a photo of a same-sex couple on page 24 and a paragraph which reminded readers that “other unions exist which provide mutual support to the couple”.

However, the new edition, which was issued by Catholic publisher Veritas, no longer contained any images which could be interpreted as a gay couple and have been replaced by depictions of a father, mother and children.

The changes are believed to be a result of lobbying by readers of the conservative catholic website LifeSiteNews, which accused the original booklet of an “explicit promotion of homosexual relationships as a form of family”.

It is still unclear who made the decision to remove the images depicting the same-sex couple with Cardinal Kevin Farrel also denying that he asked for the picture to be replaced.

Despite this unsolved mystery, Archbishop Martin emphasised that everybody will be welcome to attend the World Meeting of Families events.

Father James Martin, who is known for his ministry of LGBT+ catholics, will speak at the World Meeting of Families.

Father Martin will explore “how Parishes can support those families with members who identify as LGBTI+.”