Several groups fighting for the rights of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual (LGBT) community in the Philippines lauded the statement of Pope Francis last Sunday saying that Christians and the Roman Catholic Church should seek forgiveness from homosexuals for the way they had treated them.

This comment came after the recent attack at a gay night club in Florida, which led to the death of 49 people and is now deemed as the deadliest mass shooting in the US.

“We are happy that the Church has admitted that it is not infallible, and there is now an openness to make a rectification through an apology," Tisha Ylaya of the Visayas Coordination of Rainbow Rights Philippines said in an interview with GMA News Online.

However, many are hoping that this statement from the Pope would translate to action within the Church and its members.

The discrimination that continues to affect the LGBT community on a global scale cannot be healed by a simple “forgive and forget,” several groups insist.

“Correcting a wrong in the past would be useless if the Church will not revisit and revise its dogma on homosexuality. The Christian way is not only to ask for forgiveness, but to take active steps to ensure that the wrong committed will no longer happen,” Ylaya said.

Mikee Inton of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association added, “We're sad that it took such a tragic event as Orlando for the Church to realize how harmful their homophobic/transphobic rhetoric can be. We really do appreciate the sentiments behind the Pope's statements, and we realize that he has to work within the structures of the conservative Vatican elite. But we're also hoping that these words and sentiments will translate into concrete action and genuine reform in the Church.”

More than an apology, the members of the LGBT community asks for respect and acceptance.

According to several groups, the fight for gender equality continues for as long as people embrace division because of different beliefs, instead of pushing for unity in diversity.

The Pope himself recalled the Church teachings that homosexuals "should not be discriminated against. They should be respected, accompanied pastorally."

“A call for apology is significant, especially coming from the Pope, but I hope that this is only the beginning. There should also be a call for Christians to respect the rights and uphold the dignity of LGBTQs, even if they have different beliefs, even if LGBTQ lifestyles are against what their religion teaches them,” Cha Roque, head of Dakila Bahaghari Collective, added.

In a conversation with reporters on Sunday, the Pope also said the Church should ask forgiveness for the way it has treated women, for turning a blind eye to child labor and for "blessing so many weapons" in the past.

"I think that the Church not only should apologize... to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologize to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by (being forced to) work. It must apologize for having blessed so many weapons," he said.

Francis has been hailed by many in the gay community for being the most merciful pope toward them in recent history and conservative Catholics have criticized him for making comments they say are ambiguous about sexual morality.

Roque said, “I don't remember any other Pope who has come close to apologizing or reaching out to LGBTQs. The change in the mindset of everyone has always been slow, but now you can see that it is finally happening—little by little.”

“I hope this continues. At the end of the day, we are all human beings deserving of human rights, acceptance and respect regardless of sexual orientation, race and religion," she concluded. —KG, GMA News