Dublin, Ireland, Mar 5, 2018 / 13:00 pm
Ahead of the upcoming World Meeting of Families in Ireland this August, a government minister has warned that the event should not express "intolerance" of LGBT groups or same-sex couples.
"There should be a welcome for all. And never again should public statements or remarks which seek to isolate certain families be tolerated," said Katherine Zappone, the Irish Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, according to the Irish Times.
Zappone continued to say that she hopes the World Meeting of Families will "not be used as a platform for remarks which exclude, isolate or hurt any family."
She criticized the absence of LGBT families in promotional literature for the Church-sponsored event, calling it a "source of serious concern," and denounced that Ireland's former president, Mary McAleese, was prohibited from speaking at a Vatican conference, apparently because of her stance on LGBT issues.