Pope Francis made another landmark move in Vatican history by recently holding a meeting with a Spanish transsexual man and his fiancée.

Pope Francis reportedly invited Diego Neria Lejárraga, a 48-year-old Spanish man who was born with a female anatomy, to a private meeting after Lejárraga wrote him a letter explaining that he was ostracized at his local parish in the western Spanish city of Plasencia.

The man, who has undergone sex reassignment surgery, added that a local priest denounced him as "the devil's daughter," reports the Daily Mail.

After receiving his letter, the Argentine pontiff called Lejárraga on Christmas Eve and set up the meeting, which then took place last Saturday at the Vatican. However, the meeting was not recorded on the official calendar and the Vatican would neither deny nor confirm that it took place.

Lejárraga, however, confirmed that he met with the pope, telling the Spanish newspaper Hoy that the meeting "was a marvelous, intimate and unique experience."

"What happened in that meeting, what was said, is something that will remain between us, the ones that participated, since this is something I want to live with the utmost intimacy," he said.

Gay advocates have also celebrated the papal meeting as a symbolic step towards acceptance of the LGBT community.

"Pope Francis' papacy has been all about encouraging the church to have personal encounters with those on the margins, and that's what this meeting was," said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for LGBT Catholics, according to People magazine.

Although DeBernardo says he does not expect to see any immediate changes in Church teachings in regard to LGBT inclusion, he noted that "the pope's method seems to be for slow and gradual change and his example is going to encourage other church leaders to seek out and have conversations with transgender individuals and others in the LGBT community."

"A pope's influence is more from his personal example than from any doctrinal edits," DeBernardo added. "That's why this meeting is very powerful and can really help to bring about a lot of good."

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