The Vatican has instructed members of the Catholic Church to be polite to people with “homosexual tendencies”, while continuing to work to oppose equality.

Documents released ahead of the Church’s Family Synod quashed hopes that the Church would make any move to relax its anti-gay policies – despite fears it is becoming rapidly out of touch.

Plans to ‘reach out’ to gay couples were abandoned at last year’s Synod following a humiliating climbdown from the Pope. Despite hopes similar proposals would return this year, a working paper released for this year’s synod fails to include the issue of how the Church should reach out to homosexual couples as a key topic.

However, despite no plans for outreach or relaxation of anti-LGBT policies at the gathering of Catholic bishops, which will be held at the Vatican in October, the document did urge “respect”, in a section titled “Pastoral attention to persons with homosexual tendencies”.

It says: “Every person, independently of their sexual tendencies, is respected in their dignity and should be received with sensibility and delicateness, both in the church and in society.

“It would be desirable that diocesan pastoral projects reserve a specific attention to the accompanying of families with persons of homosexual tendencies, and of the persons themselves.”

Despite a recent PR blitz attempting to bolster his gay-friendly image, the Pope is yet to lift any of the actively homophobic and transphobic policies of his predecessors.

He has also rallied against same-sex marriage, inviting representatives from listed hate groups to a ‘traditional marriage’ conference last year, and recently urged Slovakians to vote against equal marriage.

The Catholic leader has also compared transgender people to nuclear weapons.