Pope Francis on Wednesday said that parents of gay children should offer support instead of disapproval.
QUICK FACTS:
- The Catholic Pope spoke in unscripted comments at his weekly audience in reference to difficulties that parents can face in raising offspring, Reuters reports.
- Francis covered issues including “parents who see different sexual orientations in their children and how to handle this, how to accompany their children, and not hide behind an attitude of condemnation,” he said.
VATICAN APOLOGIZES TO LGBTQ COMMUNITY:
- Last month, a Vatican department apologized for “causing pain to the entire LGBTQ community” by removing from its website a link to resource material from a Catholic gay rights advocacy group in preparation for a Vatican meeting in 2023 on the Church’s future direction, Reuters reports.
BACKGROUND:
- Pope Francis has previously said that gays have a right to be accepted by their families as children and siblings, Reuters notes, also saying that while the Church cannot accept same-sex marriage, it can support civil union laws aimed at giving gay partners joint rights in areas of pensions and health care and inheritance issues.
- The Vatican’s doctrinal office issued a document last year saying that Catholic priests cannot bless same-sex unions.
- There are 1.3 billion members in the Catholic Church worldwide.
- The New Testament describes (here) homosexual acts as an “error” and “shameful,” as well as not being “natural.”
