Will Pope Leo forge greater LGBTQ+ inclusion? Chicago-area Catholics pray for ‘reconciliation rather than division.’

Will Pope Leo forge greater LGBTQ+ inclusion? Chicago-area Catholics pray for ‘reconciliation rather than division.’

With a mix of curiosity and a little apprehension, the man stepped inside Our Lady of Mount Carmel in East Lakeview to celebrate Mass on a recent Sunday. It was the first time David Charles of Des Plaines had entered a church in roughly 20 years. During college he felt called to ministry, until his on-campus Methodist pastor in another state discovered he’d been secretly dating a man. “In no unclear terms he said, ‘You either stop this now or th…