Pope Francis: "Who am I to judge gay
people?"
Quote:
ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis, in some
of the most compassionate words from
any pontiff on gays, said they should not
be judged or marginalized and should be
integrated into society, but he reaffirmed
Church teaching that homosexual acts are
a sin.
In a broad-ranging 80-minute
conversation with journalists on the plane
bringing him back from a week-long visit
to Brazil, Francis also said the Roman
Catholic Church's ban on women priests
was definitive, although he would like
them to have more leadership roles in
administration and pastoral activities.
Francis defended gays from discrimination
in what was his first news conference
since being elected pontiff in March, but
also referred to the Catholic Church's
universal Catechism, which says that while
homosexual orientation is not sinful
homosexual acts are.
"If a person is gay and seeks God and has
good will, who am I to judge him?" the
pope said.
"The Catechism of the Catholic Church
explains this very well. It says they should
not be marginalized because of this
(orientation) but that they must be
integrated into society," he said, speaking
in Italian.
"The problem is not having this
orientation. 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," he said.
Francis was answering a question about
reports of a "gay lobby" in the Vatican.
"You see a lot written about the gay lobby.
I still have not seen anyone in the Vatican
with an identity card saying they are gay,"
he joked.
Addressing the issue of women priests, the
pope said, "The Church has spoken and
says 'no' ... that door is closed." It was the
first time he had spoken in public on the
subject.
"We cannot limit the role of women in the
Church to altar girls or the president of a
charity, there must be more ...," he said in
answer to a question during a remarkably
frank conversation with Vatican
journalists.
"But with regards to the ordination of
women, the Church has spoken and says
no. Pope John Paul said so with a formula
that was definitive. That door is closed,"
he said referring to a document by the late
pontiff which said the ban was part of the
infallible teaching of the Church.
The Church teaches that it cannot ordain
women because Jesus willingly chose
only men as his apostles. Advocates of a
female priesthood say he was acting
according to the customs of his times.
Many in the Church, even those who
oppose a female priesthood, say women
should be given leadership roles in the
Church and the Vatican administration.
Francis arrived back in Rome on Monday
after a triumphant week-long tour of Brazil
which climaxed with a huge gathering on
Rio de Janeiro's famed Copacabana beach
for a world Catholic youth festival which
organizers estimated to have attracted
more than 3 million people.
http://news.yahoo.com/pope-says-
gays...110838664.html

add ur comment to the Pope's view. Do you support him?