The Pope has again spoken out about criminalizing people who are gay.
Pope Francis spoke to reporters while returning from South Sudan. He was on a flight alongside the leaders of the Church of England and the Church of Scotland. The three clerics had traveled to South Sudan to appeal for peace in the war-torn district.
The Pope told reporters that laws against gay people were a sin and “injustice”, reports Reuters.
“This is not right. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God,” said the Pope. “God loves them. God accompanies them… condemning a person like this is a sin.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice.”
He also said the issue of criminalizing gay people was “a problem that cannot be ignored” and reiterated that the Catholic church would not carry out same-sex marriages, but expressed support for civil unions.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, backed him up. The Church of England leader said, “I entirely agree with every word he said there.”
Iain Greenshields, of the Church of Scotland, also concurred.
“There is nowhere in the four Gospels that I see anything other than Jesus expressing love to whoever he meets, and as Christians that is the only expression that we can give to any human being in any circumstance.”
Pope Francis has offered a far more accepting stance toward gay people than his predecessors. However, the Catholic Church officially still regards same-sex sexual behavior as “deviant”.
When he became Pope in 2013, the Pope suggested gay sex was a sin but that being gay, as a sexual orientation, was not.
He has previously called on parents to love their LGBTQ+ children.
Related: Pope tells parents not to do this one thing if their child is gay
His latest comments arrive a couple of weeks since he last spoke out on the issue. He said in an interview on January 24th, “Being homosexual isn’t a crime.” He also said laws against gay people were “unjust.”
At the moment, 66 countries have laws criminalizing same-sex sexual activity. Around ten having the death penalty.
It was historic for the Pope to travel to South Sudan alongside the leaders of the Churches of England and Scotland. It’s unprecedented for the three leaders to make a blunt, joint condemnation of laws that criminalize gay people. Together, the churches claim over 2 billion followers around the world.
WillParkinson
The man can say what he wants. I don’t trust him or believe in him. He happily talks out of both sides of his mouth.
basils_Herald
Couldn’t agree more. Rome hasn’t done anything to make me believe they’ve done anything to change. Their whole philosophy is to forgive those in charge, lay people give us your money and children. This is just an attempt to habilitate the image of an increasingly irrelevant institution responsible for the worst crimes against humanity in history: crusades, inquisition, doctrine of discovery. It’s going to take more than a mea culpa to restore their credit.
Fahd
His usual style is to say one thing and then do another. It is how he worked his way to the top in the Argentine clergy and eventually to Pope. He’s all modest and everything holy, but when push comes to shove, he’s not reliable. Actions speak louder than words. Meanwhile, don’t hold your breath.
blackhook
Fu*k Freaky Pope Frank, and the entire Catholic Criminal Empire! Gotta admit, though, the archbishop & his entourage of hunky young priests look fabulous as they sashay down the aisle in their finest dresses & party hats, swinging the smoking incense ball. Hocus pocus dominocus!
Ronbo
Wow! Seems the self-victimized contingent can’t stop being victimized – even if their imagined enemy supports them and their legal rights. Gosh, the toughest, most durable survivors, the LGBTQ community, seems to have turned into perpetual victims. We are better than this. Fahid. Well, the people who were around and actively worked to earn equality are better than this.
But Queerty demands that the people who were more comfortable as victims, who see themselves as victims and who want to victimize others are still unhappy with THIS pope. You know, the pope who reversed historic church doctrine to support our dignity and our equality and repeatedly voices support for us (unlike many of our Republican and religious leaders).
Don’t forget that Hillary Clinton was adamantly against marriage equality and supported “separate but equal” laws while she supported anti-gay DADT and anti-gay DOMA and attacking Afghanistan for what Saudi Arabia did! Where is that rage? Sheeple only get angry when told to be angry. Queerty doesn’t seem to know and honor actual history. The Pope took historic action, Hillary only supported our equality when she needed our votes. Channeled hate is never a good thing.
Cam
And the exact same right wing troll account brings out this old screename to ALWAYS, attack the victims of bigotry and defend the perpetrators.
Sweetie, your trolling isn’t just sad and weak…it’s old.
Den
Uh, what exactly does Hillary have to do with any of this?
Why exactly, in an article about the pope should anyone be expressing “rage” (which you seem rather filled with) about someone entirely separate who did certain things years ago that have no relevance to the issue at hand?
How, exactly, did you achieve the age you have while seeming to have no capacity for logic?
Willing to bet that you’d be one of those people (probably have been actually) accusing others of “Trump living rent free in their heads” while you nurse your outdated and uberMAGA obsession with Hillary
LumpyPillows
Yeah, Hillary always supported us, but she and Bill, and Obama all had to play the political game to get elected. Until the tide turned. John Kerry actually said to me “I can’t help you if I can’t get elected.” This was when I pushed him on gay marriage. Opened my eyes. Give you any insight into a lot of my comments?
This Pope is a better pope for us. Same deal. Rombo is right. Finally a Pope goes against centuries of dogma, at some risk to himself, and some people keep whining.
Whatever cam said – the opposite.
still_onthemark
“There is nowhere in the four Gospels that I see anything other than Jesus expressing love to whoever he meets, and as Christians that is the only expression that we can give to any human being in any circumstance.” – So says Iain Greenshields (great name!) head of the Church of Scotland
Well, that sounds nice but unfortunately it’s NOT true. Jesus is pretty goddamn f*cking nasty to divorced people, especially in the Gospel of Mark. And this caused a tremendous amount of misery in the Christian world for centuries, right up until the 1970s even in the US and UK. But the myth of Jesus-as-love endures.
blackhook
Not to mention, His ‘loving’ Father throws temper tantrums & wipes out entire civilizations. In the 21st century, how can anyone with even half a brain believe Christian voodoo, myths & bizarre superstitions?
Cam
And 2 months from now he’ll defend the Church’s anti-LGBTQ positions.
LumpyPillows
Glass half empty. Still he said it.