The conflict that led to hundreds of demonstrators to walk out of Mass at a Dutch church on Sunday appears to have come to an end.
Dutch gay rights groups have called for a halt to protests against a Catholic church southwest of Amsterdam after it said it would no longer seek to bar homosexuals from taking communion, the Associated Press reports.
The Sint-Jan church in Den Bosch -- also called 's-Hertogenbosch -- says it will leave it up to believers to decide whether they are ready to receive communion, according to the AP.
Activists staged the walkout to protest a priest's refusal to give communion to a practicing homosexual. Having foreseen the protest, the church had decided not give communion to anyone.
The dispute began in February, when a priest in nearby Reusel refused communion to the openly gay carnival prince of that nearby town, the BBC reports. Same-sex marriage is legal in the Netherlands, but the Catholic Church teaches homosexual acts are sinful.
Thanks to BankStreet for sending us a heads-up.