“Pope Francis has sent a beautiful letter on the occasion of the Outreach LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Webinar, which happened yesterday, expressing his support for this ministry and encouraging us to imitate God’s ‘style’ of “closeness, compassion and tenderness,” Father James Martin, SJ, tweeted on June 27.

In his handwritten letter, Pope Francis said that Father Martin is “trying to imitate this style of God. You’re a priest for everyone. I pray for you so that you continue this way, being close, compassionate and with a lot of tenderness.”

“Though at no point in the five-graph letter does Francis mentions the LGBTQ+ Catholic community, the priest said it comes as a response to an email in which the Jesuit, who’s also editor-at-large of America Magazine, shared with the pope some personal information, particularly about his nephew, and the Outreach conference,” Crux reported.