Christopher Sale, a former homosexual who turned into a Catholic brother, wrote an open letter to the church, thanking the latter for welcoming him back despite living in sin for 43 years.

"As a former homosexual man who came back to the church seeking God, I want you to know that you owe me no apology. Never, not once in my 43 years in the homosexual lifestyle did I feel marginalised by the church," writes Sale, founder of the Brothers of Padre Pio. "The church never abandoned me. I abandoned the church. Never did I feel like an outcast. It was I who outcast myself."

When he was still a homosexual, Sale never stopped to think how offensive his behaviour was to God, and he felt guilty for driving a wedge between him and his Saviour.

"How could this have happened? Very simple. I used the excuse card. Insisting I had no self-control over my sinfulness, I reverted into a mindset that maybe, just maybe a loving God is okay with me," he explains. "Whatever the actual reason, I found it all far much easier to tuck all my guilt into the far corner of my conscience. And so for 43 years all that sin and guilt remained unrepentant and cluttered with dust."

Sale admits it was he who offended God, His church and His teachings when he embraced the homosexual lifestyle. He ignored God's truth so he can live a life of sin.

It was only in 2008 when he contracted AIDS that "the floodgates of my conscience opened," he recalls.

"It was that day when I realised how much I needed you. It was time for me to drag all my dusty sinfulness through that open door that had been open to me for so many years," he says.

Sale hopes that other people belonging to the LGBT community will learn from his mistakes and return to God's loving embrace. "You see, the church does not owe homosexuals an apology. The door is open. Accept the truth in charity and know that God will always help you carry your cross. Pick up your cross as I did. God is waiting. Do not be afraid. The church is not your enemy," he says.