The pews fill up quickly each Sunday at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, a Roman Catholic parish in Midtown Manhattan, with worshipers who travel from all corners of the city to attend what it markets as its gay-friendly 5 p.m.
Mass. A similar dynamic plays out each Sunday at a handful of other churches across New York City, including the Church of St.
Francis of Assisi in Midtown, the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on the Upper East Side and the Church of St. Francis Xavier in Chelsea, whose parishioners march in the Pride Parade each June. “I had to set aside my sexuality when I was in Catholic communities, and it means a lot to not have to do that here,” said Kevin McCabe, 37, a theologian and teacher who travels each Sunday to St..