By Lisa Zengarini, Vatican News - Pope Francis responds to a letter from Fr. James Martin, SJ, whose pastoral ministry involves the LGBTQ community, and encourages Catholics to foster a “culture of encounter” that “shortens distances and enriches us with differences.”... Referring to LGBTQ Catholics who experience rejection from the Church, the Pope reiterated that: “The Church is a mother and calls together all her children.” A “selective Church, one of ‘pure blood’, is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect,” he said.