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Gay Catholics get Vatican welcome with VIP seats at pope's audience, but no papal shout-out

Associated Press
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Pope Francis loses his skull cap as he arrives for his weekly general audience, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) (The Associated Press)

Sister Jeannine Gramick, left, and Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of Catholic gay rights group New Ways Ministry, pose for a photo in front of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, after attending Pope Francis' weekly general audience, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015. The Vatican did something it has never done before by giving a group of U.S. gay and lesbian Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis' weekly general audience. But in a sign that the welcome wasn't all it could have been, the New Ways Ministry pilgrims were only identified on the Vatican's list of attendees as a "group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto." (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) (The Associated Press)

Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director of Catholic gay rights group New Ways Ministry, poses for a photo in front of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, after attending Pope Francis' weekly general audience, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2015. The Vatican did something it has never done before by giving a group of U.S. gay and lesbian Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis' weekly general audience. But in a sign that the welcome wasn't all it could have been, the New Ways Ministry pilgrims were only identified on the Vatican's list of attendees as a "group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto." (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) (The Associated Press)

The Vatican did something it has never done before by giving a group of U.S. gay and lesbian Catholics VIP seats at Pope Francis' weekly general audience.

But in a sign that the welcome wasn't all it could have been, the New Ways Ministry pilgrims were identified on the Vatican's list of attendees only as a "group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto."

And not even that got announced at Wednesday's audience: When a monsignor read out the different groups of pilgrims attending the audience, he skipped that reference altogether. Francis didn't mention them either.

New Ways Ministry officials were nevertheless pleased that they had been invited to sit up front by Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, the prefect of the papal household who dispenses the coveted reserved tickets.