VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize 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.
Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against LGBTQ people, and he himself referred to the issue in terms of “sin.” But he attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.
In a move that was hailed by progressives and LGBTQ activists alike, Francis said individuals who oppose homosexuality need to be converted,
“These bishops have to have a process of conversion,” he said, adding that they should apply “tenderness, as God has for each one of us.”
Gay rights advocates say new legislation, such as Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education Act”, which forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, is evidence of continued efforts to marginalize LGBTQ people. No, it is an effort to protect impressionable young children from the effects of predatory grooming and sexually abusive material.
The United Nations has repeatedly called for an end to laws that ‘discriminate’ against homosexuality, saying it violates a country’s obligations under international law to protect the human rights of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Declaring such laws “unjust,” Francis said the Catholic Church can and should work to put an end to them. “It must do this. It must do this,” he said.
Taking time off from championing climate change laws and lockdowns, the controversial pope appears to be also championing the LGBTQ agenda.
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“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (Romans 1:26-27).