Zimbabwean News You Can Trust.
Pope Francis has endorsed homosexuality, criticising laws that criminalise it as “unjust”, saying God loves all his children just as they are, and calling on Catholic bishops who support the laws to welcome LGBTQ people into the church.
In an interview on Tuesday, Pope Francis said, ““Being homosexual isn’t a crime.”
He acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalise 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 recognise the dignity of everyone.
Although the Pope’s remarks only addressed homosexuality and did not expressly mention transgender or nonbinary individuals, supporters of broader LGBTQ inclusiveness in the Catholic Church lauded the Pope’s remarks as a significant step forward.
New Ways Ministry, a Catholic LGBTQ advocacy group, said:
“The pope is reminding the church that the way people treat one another in the social world is of much greater moral importance than what people may possibly do in the privacy of a bedroom,”
In 2020, Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as Pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which had its premiere at the Rome Film Festival.
“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it,” Pope Francis said in the film, of his approach to pastoral care.
“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way, they are legally covered,” the Pope said. “I stood up for that.”
Francis’s comments, which were hailed by gay rights advocates as a milestone, are the first uttered by a pope about such laws.
However, some 67 countries or jurisdictions worldwide criminalise consensual same-sex sexual activity, 11 of which can or do impose the death penalty, according to The Human Dignity Trust, which works to end such laws.
Experts say even where the laws are not enforced, they contribute to harassment, stigmatisation and violence against LGBTQ people.
