Pope Francis is urging parents not to condemn their children if they are gay. During his weekly general audience Wednesday, the pope advised parents to accompany their children during difficult times, including “difficult sexual orientations.”
He went on to say “never condemn your children.” It’s his latest gesture of outreach to the LGBTQ community, which has long been marginalized by the Catholic hierarchy. Official church teaching calls for gay men and lesbians to be respected and loved, but considers homosexual activity “intrinsically disordered.”
In 2020, Pope Francis endorsed civil unions while being interviewed for the documentary “Francisco.” He said, “homosexual people have the right to be in a family.” Official church teaching calls for gay men and lesbians to be respected and loved, but considers homosexual activity “intrinsically disordered.”
Francis, though, has sought to make the church more welcoming to gays, most famously with his 2013 comment “Who am I to judge?” The Argentine Jesuit also has spoken of his own ministry to gay and transgender people, insisting they are children of God, loved by God and deserving of accompaniment by the church.
Francis has also made several gestures of outreach to the gay Catholic community and their advocates, including a recent letter congratulating an American nun once sanctioned by the Vatican, Sister Jeannine Gramick, on her 50 years of LGBTQ ministry.
That said, Francis also allowed the 2021 publication of a document from the Vatican asserting that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions because God “cannot bless sin. ” Francis recently transferred the Vatican official widely believed to have been behind the document.
