re: -Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Brazil, he reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s position that homosexual acts were sinful, but homosexual orientation was not.
“If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?”
-His remarks on gay people are being seen as much more conciliatory than his predecessor’s position on the issue.
“The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well, it says they should not be marginalised because of this but that they must be integrated into society.”
“The problem is not having this orientation,” he said. “We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.”
Ok, I’ll say up-front that I am not Catholic, but so far I’ve appreciated Pope Francis’s strong stand on Christian doctrine and his living a consistent, Christ-like witness before the world.
I also know that the media can frame quotes in a way that does not say what the original speaker ever meant to say.
With all that in mind, and giving Pope Francis the benefit of the doubt, but, assuming these quotes are accurate, I’m very confused as to what he means by, “. . .they should not be marginalised because of this but that they must be integrated into society”?
And, “. . .The problem is not having this orientation, we must be brothers”?
When he says “who am I to judge” in regard to gays, I understand that he may be talking about “judging” in the sense of condemning someone to hell and how that is NOT our concern - only God knows the hearts of people well enough to make that kind of judgement. But, if Pope Francis is simply saying that we cannot “judge” others acts as being wrong or right - THAT is a misunderstanding of Jesus’ words that we are not to judge.
Anyway, I pray that Pope Francis is not equivocating on the clear teachings of the Bible in regard to homosexuality.
I think the Pope (and the Catechism, for that matter) are referring to the duty not to impose unjust discrimination or isolation on people who are, through no fault of their own, struggling with a sexual disorder.
I had a guy in my RCIA class (adults preparing to be received into the Catholic Church) who I thought might be gay or post-gay or gay-curious or something. I thought this because I noticed a couple of gay-themed book on the back seat of his car (not porn, but what's almost worse, Andrew Sullivan) and then I looked up his Facebook page and there was more circumstantial evidence. Just innocent chat, but looks like he's in a somewhat gay social milieu.
"Matt" never brought up sexuality in our class discussions, but he knew what the Church teaches. He once said, rather obliquely, that some of his friends think he's crazy for wanting to join the Catholic Church, inasmuch as "if he had been a 'cradle Catholic,' he'd have left it by now."
I always make sure my RCIA students know what Christ teaches us through Divine and Natural Law about sex, gender, love and marriage. But I didn't think it my quasi-pastoral duty to initiate the subject with him individually ("Hey Matt, d'you like males or females or what??"), any more than I would interrogate our married converts personally on whether they use contraceptives, --- any more than I would research any of my students about his or her psychiatric history or arrest record.
"Matt" entered the Church two Easters ago, and though he moved out of state, I have kept in touch from time to time. I went to his Facebook page today, and guess what he had there?
Pope Francis on gays: "Who am I to judge any person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?"
I put in my own "like" and added this comment:
That "like" of mine is multi-tasking: I "like" the Pope, the Catechism, Blessed Mary Ever Virgin, the recent extravaganza at Copacabana, and you.
And just one minute ago --- I kid you not! --- he shot back with a "like."
:o) Just another person of good will who seeks the Lord!
It would be wrong to subject him to unjust discrimination, e.g. saying he can't receive the Sacraments (which are good for us all, especially regular Confession) or saying he can't be in the choir or some such thing.
He is, as far as I can see, progressing toward perfection. This is being transformed in Christ. We all have a ways to go.