Around 300 Gather in the U.S. for Catholic Mass for LGBT People and Their Loved Ones

A Mass for LGBT Catholics, their loved ones and people who minister to the community took place on October 18, 2026, at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta, Georgia. Organizers estimated attendance at about 300. Outreach assistant director John Consolie described the gathering in a report published on October 22.

The event was organized by Outreach, Fortunate and Faithful Families and the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Restorative Justice Ministries. In Outreach’s August announcement, the liturgy was described as the annual Mass of Belonging. After Mass, participants gathered in the parish hall for a reception.

According to the report, LGBT worshippers participated in every type of lay liturgical ministry, including serving as lectors and altar servers. Drew Denton, director of the archdiocesan Restorative Justice Ministries, shared a welcome from Atlanta Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer calling for unity. The shrine’s pastor, Catholic priest Joseph Morris, spoke about LGBT Catholics’ belonging within the church community.

Consolie emphasized that this was Outreach’s first regional event in the southeastern United States. Outreach, founded by Jesuit priest James Martin, operates under America Media. It publishes resources for LGBT Catholics, their families and clergy, and organizes conferences, spiritual gatherings and regional events.

Urania previously reported on an Outreach pilgrimage in New York visiting sites connected with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and LGBT history.

Photo: Warren LeMay / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. Archive view of the church from March 23, 2019; resized and converted to WebP without cropping.