Did the pope say ww should not judge gays

Pope Francis says it is not his place to judge homosexuals

Pope Francis says it is not his place to judge homosexuals and they should not be marginalised, but the pontiff also condemned the gay lobby as a "serious problem".

The remarks - made to journalists as he flew back to Rome from a trip to Brazil - appeared to be more conciliatory towards homosexuals than his predecessor Benedict XVI.

"If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with excellent will, who am I to judge?" he said.

"The problem is not having this orientation, it is lobbying. That's the most serious problem I think."

Pope Francis had to field questions about Battista Ricca, who was appointed by the pontiff to a key position at the troubled Vatican bank, but is embroiled in allegations that he had queer relationships with male prostitutes.

If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?

The Pope said he had ordered a "brief investigation but we found nothing on him".

"I have not seen anyone at the Vatican who is registered as gay on his culture card. We acknowledge that there are (gays)," he said.

Nevertheless, "the catechism of th

Pope Francis and homosexuality: an analysis

"Who am I to judge gay people?" Pope Francis reportedly said to journalists on a flight back to Rome from Rio de Janeiro after a resounding World Youth Day in July 2013.

Seven years later, the pontiff has returned to the controversial subject of homosexuality in the Catholic Church. In Francesco, a brand-new documentary film about the pope by Evgeny Afineevsky, he says: "Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it."

Nobody? Even Catholic priests and believers? What's certain is that the Catholic Church's approach to homosexuality is entire of contradictions and double standards. After all, the same pope who has now endorsed same-sex civil unions is against homosexual marriage. The same pope who says that people should not be made "miserable" because of their sexual orientation is against gay men joining the clergy.

At least the pope is consistent in his inconsistency. When he was serving as the archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013, he campaigned for same-sex civil unions — but mainly so he could assist prevent

Pope Francis: Who am I to decide gay people?

His remarks on gay people are being seen as much less judgemental than his predecessor's position on the issue.

Pope Benedict XVI signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests.

But Pope Francis said gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.

"The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well," Pope Francis said in a wide-ranging 80-minute drawn-out interview with Vatican journalists.

"It says they should not be marginalised because of this but that they must be integrated into society."

But he condemned what he described as lobbying by male lover people.

"The problem is not having this orientation," he said. "We must be brothers. The challenge is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of avaricious people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem."

On the role of women in the Church, he said: "We cannot limit the role of women in the Church to altar girls or the president of a charity, there must be more.

"But with regards to the ordination of women, the Church has spo

‘We are all children of God’: Pope says homosexuality not a crime

Pope Francis has criticised laws that criminalise homosexuality as “unjust”, saying God loves all his children just as they are and called on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church.

“Being homosexual isn’t a crime,” Francis said during an interview on Tuesday with The Connected Press.

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Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalise homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ collective, and he himself referred to the issue in terms of “sin”.

But he attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds and said bishops in particular necessitate to undergo a process of transform to recognise the dignity of everyone.

“These bishops have to have a process of conversion,” he said, adding that they sho

Pope Shifts Church's Tone on Gay People

July 29, 2013 -- Pope Francis departed from his predecessors' remarks on gay people, telling reporters today that he was not in a position to judge people based on their sexuality.

"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has great will, who am I to judge?" Francis asked reporters aboard a plane returning to Italy accompanying his first trip abroad as pope to Brazil.

The remarks caused a stir with some gay Catholics wondering if the newly elected pope, a Jesuit who made a career ministering to the penniless and marginalized, was signaling a shift in Church doctrine.

In 2005, Francis' predecessor Pope Benedict XVI signed a document calling for a purge of queer priests and during his papacy equated gay people with pedophiles.

"It is extraordinary and a decided alter in tone from the past," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor-at-large of America magazine. "It's probably the most positive expression that a pope has ever made about gays and shows great mercy and compassion."

The comments constituted a shift in tone, Martin said, but that trickles down to changes in po did the pope say ww should not judge gays