Talk about being in the right place at the right time.

David Harvie was at a regional meeting in Brooklyn of the Interparish Collaborative, a group of about 15 Catholic parishes in the tri-state area that minister to the LGBT community. He was seated next to Redemptorist Father Francis Gargani and talked about how there are so many beautiful church edifices that deserve to be seen.

"I am a church architecture geek," Harvie said, mentioning, for example, the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark.

Gargani, who resides at the Redemptorist Provincial House in Brooklyn, said he would bring it up to the new Archbishop of Newark, Joseph Cardinal Tobin, also a Redemptorist, who was coming to dinner the next evening.

Soon after, Harvie would get the green light to have an LGBT pilgrimage to the cathedral on May 21, with a Mass that Gargani will say in Our Lady Chapel, followed by a tour of the cathedral.

Harvie immediately created a colorful flier and for the first time used the initials LGBT in relationship to a Catholic institution in the Newark Archdiocese with the blessing of the cardinal.

"I am delighted that you and the LGBTQ brothers and sisters plan to visit our beautiful cathedral,'' Tobin wrote in an email to Gargani approving the flier. "You will be very welcome! The flier is fine; please circulate it."

Harvie was thrilled.

"The fact that Cardinal Tobin was so open and welcoming is a unique experience," he said.

Indeed, it is historic.

Harvie recalled first marching in the annual Gay Rights Parade in Manhattan at a time when a wall of police would separate the marchers from entering St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.

Harvie expects an overflow crowd in the chapel, which can only hold 40 to 50 people. But that would be a wonderful problem to have, he said.

Harvie first got involved formally in Catholic gay outreach and ministry about six years ago with Sacred Heart Church in South Plainfield as a lay leader. He now facilitates the group's activities.

"We want to offer a better sense of community for the LGBT community and validate our membership in the wider Catholic community," Harvie said.

He told the story of one of their members who recently transitioned from male to female. She stayed with the group and was happy to acknowledge that the first group she found acceptance to as a new woman was a Catholic one. They hope to provide good experiences and also a chance for healing. They also welcome parents who can often be upset when they find out a son or daughter comes out and they do not how to respond.

In God's Image, based in South Plainfield, also marches in the Jersey Pride Parade in Asbury Park and offers spiritual retreats at different sites.

"We do not take stands," Harvie said, emphasizing the faith component of their activities.

I first met Harvie and Mark Nebus at St. Aloysius in Jersey City back in the late 1980s. They would often sit in the front benches of the church and during the sign of peace would kiss each other. For the four and a half years they worshipped there, not one staff member or parishioner ever said anything about their exchange of peace.

Nebus, now 59, eventually became a lector.

Today they worship at the St. Francis Cathedral in Metuchen.

Harvie, 57, noted that Bishop James Checchio, their new diocesan bishop, attended the group's Christmas party and stayed for several hours.

Pope Francis ushered in a new era of welcoming gays when he uttered that famous rhetorical question, "Who am I to judge?" And laity, religious, deacons, priests, bishops, and now even cardinals, are taking it to a new level of acceptance.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, 07030, FAX: 201-659-5833; Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; Twitter: @padrehoboken.

If you go ...

LGBT Pilgrimage to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, 89 Ridge St., Newark, on Sunday, May 21, will begin with a 3:30 p.m. Mass in Our Lady Chapel, followed by a 4:30 tour of the cathedral. Freewill offering.

Optional dinner follows in the Ironbound.

Free parking available behind the cathedral.