Are we to be a church that welcomes people or pushes them away? In his words and actions, Pope Francis has shown his commitment to a church that welcomes those who have felt alienated and excluded. Reports indicate that Pope Francis has once again applied this approach by meeting with and embracing a transgender man from Spain, Diego Neria Lejarraga. CNN reports:

Neria was born as a girl in Spain and raised as a devout Catholic.

But after his sex change operation eight years ago, many people scorned him in church in his hometown of Plasencia in western Spain. Neria recalls heated discussions with a parish priest and some others in town. Afterward, he started staying away from Mass.

“I’ve never lost faith, ever,” Neria says. “But the other thing is the rejection.”

He wrote to Pope Francis last year, saying his local bishop helped get the letter noticed. Next, according to Neria, came two phone calls from Francis. And then, a discreet audience on a Saturday evening, January 24, at the papal residence, Casa Santa Marta.

Pope Francis is once again showing what it looks like to lead with love.