<p>by Jim Smith DignityUSA Associate Director</p> <p>I hear a lot of hope these days from Dignity members across the country. Most of it is rooted in perceptions of Pope Francis. My fear is that those hopes will not be realized and deep discouragement cynicism and separation from all things Catholic will take hold.</p> <p>This Pope has indeed said some things to inspire our hope. My hope included. Yet I&rsquo;m aware that this Church belongs to all of us is all of us including a majority of Catholics who continue to lean toward deeper understanding and true acceptance of their LGBT kin. Our most realistic hope is with these folks on the grassroots level. My most credible hope also lies with the people I&rsquo;ve met in Dignity chapters and caucuses who see themselves as agents of transformation. Not as saints or prophets but as ordinary persons with a grasp of their baptismal grace a belief in their dignity as queer and ally children of God and a conviction of &ldquo;if not us then who?&rdquo; when it comes to planting seeds of justice in the larger faith community.</p> <p>Thank you Dignity Catholics. Whether or not Pope Francis truly rises to the role of agent of real change there are many among the priesthood of believers who are already those agents and many more Catholics in the wings waiting for us to invite them out and give them a role in a cast of witnesses to the core of Jesus&rsquo; life and teachings.</p>