On Sept. 13, 2016, during a morning meditation in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, he renewed this invitation, encouraging us to “work for this culture of encounter, in a simple way, as Jesus did”:
“…not just seeing, but looking; not just hearing, but listening; not just passing people by, but stopping with them; not just saying, ‘What a shame, poor people!,’ but allowing yourself to be moved with compassion; and then to draw near, to touch and to say: ‘Do not weep’ and to give at least a drop of life.”
In light of this calling, I joyfully received the invitation extended to me in Oct. 2025 by the presidency of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) to serve as the reference bishop who will accompany the activities of the National Network of LGBT+ Catholic Groups in our country. Faced with what I see as the need to increasingly be a church that goes forth and promotes encounter, I immediately accepted this mission. The process of pastoral accompaniment is much more a journey of pastoral formation that develops methods, adapted to the demands of a true culture of encounter, than properly a theological innovation from the standpoint of Christian Morality.
The process of pastoral accompaniment is much more a journey of pastoral formation
In this sense, it means offering, as a bishop, a form of dialogue marked by welcome, attentive listening and discernment, always in light of the teachings of Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium handed down through the centuries.
In Brazil, the network is made up of Catholic groups of LGBT+ persons and allies who seek to live out their baptism within the pastoral and communal life of the church, committed to the principles and values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a church that goes forth (see Evangelii Gaudium, No. 26), in the building up of the Kingdom of God.
The network is organized at both national and regional levels, with groups in the North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South. Together, these structures connect Catholic LGBT+ groups and collectives across the country. I have the joy of being the first bishop appointed to accompany this network, which has existed for more than 15 years. The network is linked to the National Commission of the Laity of Brazil (CNLB), a body of the bishops’ conference responsible for representing and coordinating lay Catholics in Brazil.
LGBT+ persons are a social group that suffers deep prejudice and discrimination, giving rise to many forms of violence. Brazil has tragically high rates of violence against these persons. Homophobia kills. Not few are the homicides perpetrated against LGBT+ people, motivated by hate speech and religious fundamentalism. Any religious discourse that incites violence against the human person, wounding their dignity as a child of God, is a contradiction of the Gospel.
The suicide rate among LGBT+ youth is five times higher than among heterosexual youth. Sadly, homophobia is also present within our Christian communities. I will never forget a young gay man who, after recounting his painful experience of discrimination within his faith community, concluded: “The best thing that ever happened in my life was leaving the church.” If, for some, the presence of our LGBT+ brothers and sisters in the church is a cause for scandal, an even greater scandal is to exclude and marginalize them.
Any religious discourse that incites violence against the human person, wounding their dignity as a child of God, is a contradiction of the Gospel
In this sense, the pastoral accompaniment to be exercised must be guided by practices of attentive looking, listening and closeness. This is precisely what Pope Francis wished to highlight when he referred to the account of the son of the Widow of Nain (Lk 7, 11-17), as cited above.
It is not a matter of being weighed down by legalistic arguments that can reduce the church’s evangelizing action to a set of norms or rules detached from their time. Legalism, when inflamed by the algorithmic dynamics of social media, can contribute to an increase in violence. Rather, it is a matter of stopping before the human person and their pain, of touching the wounds opened by indifference and hatred, of allowing oneself to be affected by compassion and mercy.
This work marks out a different pedagogical approach, characterized by listening, discernment and the proclamation of the Good News that reaches the ears of LGBT+ people as a sign of hope, never resorting to a language of condemnation.
This is what I consider a pedagogy of encounter: a pedagogy that allows reality to present its demands; a pedagogy that incarnates [embodies] the pain of the world and does not avert its gaze from it; a pedagogy that leads us, as pastors, to insist on the message of life in abundance against every form of exclusion and death.
Of great importance is the message left by Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia, reiterating that:
…not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium. Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it. (Amoris Laetitia, No. 3.)
The synodal path reaffirmed by Pope Francis and continued by his successor, Leo XIV, calls us to an attitude of attentive and disarmed listening. It is an interpretive stance that does not avert its gaze from reality but places itself alongside it—as a Samaritan church—at the side of those who suffer. This is a pedagogical path of encounter with the marginalized, wounded by the trials of history. Thus Francis exhorted us:
During the Synod, we discussed the situation of families whose members include persons who experience same-sex attraction, a situation not easy either for parents or for children. We would like before all else to reaffirm that every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, particularly any form of aggression and violence. Such families should be given respectful pastoral guidance, so that those who manifest a homosexual orientation can receive the assistance they need to understand and fully carry out God’s will in their lives. (Amoris Laetitia, No. 250.)
In this way, the church, attentive to the signs and demands of its time, understands itself as called to secure this accompaniment. It must provide the means so that each family and each human person may discover the meaning of their humanity, re-signified in Christ, and come to see their own sexuality from the perspectives of gift and grace—that is, in light of what they can contribute to the world.
It is in this sense that pastoral accompaniment with the National Network of Catholic LGBT+ Groups will unfold: a path to be walked together with those who are willing to set out along the paths of the Kingdom. It is a demanding Kingdom, one that calls for renunciation and the courage of truth—a truth that is found only in an authentic and sincere encounter with the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
To guide each member of the faithful, regardless of sexual orientation, to choose this path is what I understand as a pedagogy of encounter. Together, we will walk the paths of affection, joy and listening. Together, we will be graced with the presence of the One who drew near to us, as he did to the widow of Nain, and said: “Do not weep.” The One who never abandons us.