On Sunday, Pope Francis has urged that the Roman Catholic Church and Christians should ask forgiveness from homosexuals for mistreating them. As he spoke with reporters aboard the plane, taking him back to Rome from Armenia, journalists wanted to know if the Pope agreed with recent comments by a German Roman Catholic cardinal that the Church should give an apology to gays.
Francis looked forlorn when asked if an apology was made more urgent by the incident at a gay club in Orlando, Florida that killed 49 people this month. He remembered that the Church teaches that homosexuals “should not be discriminated against. They should be respected, accompanied pastorally.”
Pope Francis also added, “I think that the Church not only should apologize… to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologize to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by (being forced to) work. It must apologise for having blessed so many weapons.” The Church’s teachings’ states that homosexual themselves are not sinful but homosexual acts are, and that they should strive to be chaste.
Francis reqouted a more further explained of the now-famous “Who am I to judge?” comment he made on the first foreign trip, after his election in 2013, about gays. “The questions is: if a person who has that condition, who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?”
Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican’s spokesman stated that the pope, by saying “has that condition”, did not suggest a medical condition but “a person in that situation”. In Italian, the word “condition” can also mean “situation.” And said that, “We Christians have to apologize for so many things, not just for this (treatment of gays), but we must ask for forgiveness, not just apologize! Forgiveness! Lord, it is a word we forget so often!”
It is no surprise that Pope Francis has been welcomed by people from the gay community since he is considered the most merciful pope towards them in recent history, but was criticized by conservative Catholics for making statements they claim to be ambiguous about sexual morality. He told reporters on the plane “there are traditions in some countries, some cultures, that have a different mentality about this question (homosexuals)” and there are “some (gay) demonstrations that are too offensive for some.”
But suggested that those were not the norm nor the standards for discrimination or marginalization of gays.
Along the pope did not give a clear explanation on what he intended by seeking forgiveness for the Church “having blessed so many weapons”, but was seemingly a reference to a few Churchmen who actively support wars in the past. In other parts of the conversation, Francis commented that he hoped for another form would be made in the European Union after the United Kingdom decided to leave. “There is something that is not working in that bulky union, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water, let’s try to jump-start things, to re-create.”
On the other hand, He had also denied reports about former Pope Benedict, who resigned in 2013, claimming to be still exercising influence inside the Vatican. Though said, “There is only one pope.” And praised Benedict for “protecting me, having my back, with his prayers”. Stating that he heard about some Church officials had gone to complain to Benedict that he was too liberal, Benedict “sent them packing.”
Source: ABS-CBN
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