Sixty members of the Italian group L'anello perduto ("The Lost Ring") had sent a letter to the Pope to share their experience of divorce.

"In separation we have suffered abandonment, betrayal, the break-up of families, the collapse of the deepest values we believed in, the loss of identity and of all the safety, [our] confidence in God and at times the faith," the group wrote in the letter.

"In this traumatic context, the Church has proven to be generally indifferent, or even hostile, and God seemed distant and aloof," they told the Pope.

But the group praised L'annello perduto, which came from an initiative of the Italian diocese of Fossano, aimed at outreach to those in "irregular unions".

The members said the initiative helped them participate in Mass and other celebrations in way that allowed them to find a place within the Church.

But the project does not permit divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion.

Last month, Francis phoned Deacon Paolo Tassinari, the coordinator of the project along with his wife Alessandra Rosano.

Francis and Mr Tassinari spoke on the phone for several minutes about the diocesan programme, launched in 2008 at the request of Bishop Giuseppe Cavallotto.

Mr Tassinari told the diocesan paper La Fedeltá about Francis's call, saying he found it hard to believe that the Pontiff was interested in "our little project".

A date has not yet been set for the private audience.

An apostolic exhortation from Pope Francis, following on from two synods of bishops, is forecast to be released possibly in late February or early March.

Sources

• Crux
• Image: Emotional Mojo

The Pope called Franco Rabuffi, who was sick, to comfort him.

As he usually does when calling people who are suffering, the Pope opened by saying "Hello, I'm Pope Francis".

On the third papal phone call, Mr Rabuffi was speechless after he realised it really was the Pope.

Pope Francis reportedly told Mr Rabuffi he was amused.

Mr Rabuffi and his wife were invited to the Pope's public audience on Wednesday in St Peter's Square.

There, Francis hugged them and assured them he really did call the man's phone.

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Fifty members of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights, made a pilgrimage to Rome.

Their requests for VIP seats at the weekly audience were forwarded to Rome by the Vatican's ambassador to Washington and San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

The group was invited to sit in the front row at the audience by Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the prefect of the papal household.

Sr Jeannine Gramick, the co-founder of New Ways Ministry, said their treatment was "a sign of movement that's due to the Francis effect".

"Pope Francis gives me hope," she told The Associated Press.

"To me, this is an example of the kind of willingness he has to welcome those on the fringes of the Church back to the centre of the Church."

The group's executive director, Francis DeBernardo, said New Ways Ministry had tried unsuccessfully under the previous two popes to get VIP seats for its Rome pilgrimages.

On their previous pilgrimages to Rome, they were ignored by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, the pilgrims told media.

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he permanently prohibited the New Ways Ministry co-founders, Sister Jeannine Gramick, and the Rev. Robert Nugent, from ministering to gays.

In 1999, the CDF determined that New Ways didn't sufficiently adhere to Church teaching on the "intrinsic evil" of homosexual acts.

Rev. Nugent abided by the directive and died last year.

Sr Gramick has continued her ministry, changing religious orders to the Sisters of Loreto, and was at Wednesday's audience.

But the Vatican's list of attendees only identified the New Ways Ministry pilgrims as a "group of lay people accompanied by a Sister of Loreto".

When a Vatican official read out the list of groups of pilgrims at the audience, he skipped over the group altogether.

Pope Francis didn't mention them, either.

"We didn't get the shout-out, but we were very, very close," Mr DeBernardo said.

As the Pope passed by, the group sang "All Are Welcome," a hymn symbolising their desire for a more inclusive Church.

Sources

• Associated Press
• Reuters
• Image: Reuters