The Church in India's Kerala state has formed a group of priests, nuns and laypeople to respond to the pastoral needs of transgender people.
Formed in Cochin under the aegis of Pro-Life Support, a global social service movement within the Church, the ministry is significant as it is one of the few outreach programmes for the transgender community by the institutional Church in India, ucanews.com reports.
"The whole Church has a big role to play," said Fr Paul Madassey, who is in charge of Pro-Life Support for the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council. He noted Pope Francis had talked about the need to give "pastoral care to the LGBT community."
