(January 11, Rome)  The Vatican is refusing to comment on a demand for a gay patron saint by an Italian GLBT rights group.

Dionysios Arcigay said it is time the church recognized the role of gays and lesbians in the church.

It is proposing the name of Alfredo Ormando, a gay man who set himself on fire in 1998 to draw attention to church's treatment gay people.

Ormando, an Italian intellectual set himself ablaze in St. Peter’s square.  Vatican police put out the flames and rushed him to hospital.  He died 11 days later.

The Holy See has never publicly commented on Ormando's death.

Dionysios Arcigay is calling for a GLBT rally Sunday in Piazza San Pietro at the Vatican to appeal for Ormando's beatification, the first step toward sainthood.

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