Pope Francis and Homosexual People

Last week parts of what Pope Francis said about homosexuality were spread in the media. Below I copy everything he said on this subject on the flight back to Rome after World Youth Day in Brazil.

A journalist asked him: “Brazilian society has changed, young people have changed. You have not spoken about abortion or about same-sex marriage. In Brazil a law has been passed that broadens the right to abortion, and another that allows same-sex marriage. Why haven’t you spoken about this?”

The Pope answered: “The Church has already expressed herself perfectly on that; it was not necessary to come back to it, just as I did not speak about fraud, lying or other things on which the Church has a clear teaching. It was not necessary to speak about that, but rather about the positive things that open a path for young people. Besides, young people know perfectly well what the Church’s position is.”

“But what is your position on those issues?” the journalist asked. The Pope said: “The Church’s. I am a son of the Church.”

At the end of the interview they asked him: “I want to ask you a somewhat delicate question. The story of Monsignor Ricca has gone around the world. I wanted to know how you are going to deal with this matter and with everything related to the gay lobby in the Vatican.”

The Pope answered: “With regard to Monsignor Ricca, I did what canon law requires, which is the preliminary investigation. And this investigation shows nothing of what has been published. We found nothing. But I would like to add something about this. I think that so often in the Church, in this case and in other cases, people go looking for the sins of someone’s youth, for example. And they publish them. But if a person, whether a lay person, a priest or a nun, commits a sin and then repents, the Lord forgives. And when the Lord forgives, he forgets. And this is important for our lives. When we go to confession, the Lord forgives and forgets. And we have no right not to forget, because we run the risk that the Lord will not forget ours. That is a danger. What matters is to have a theology of sin. I often think of Saint Peter. He committed one of the worst sins, denying Christ. And with that sin they made him Pope.

And to answer your other specific question, we carried out the preliminary investigation and found nothing. Then you spoke about the gay lobby. A lot is written about the gay lobby. I have yet to meet anyone in the Vatican who has it written on his identity card. They say there are some. When you meet a person like that, you have to distinguish between the fact of being gay and the fact of forming a lobby, because no lobby is good. If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very beautifully. It says that these people must not be marginalized for this. They must be integrated into society. The problem is not having this tendency. We must be brothers. The problem is forming a lobby: of this tendency, or lobbies of the greedy, of politicians, of Masons… So many lobbies. That is the biggest problem.”

To close, I copy what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about homosexuality:

“2357 Homosexuality describes relationships between men, or between women, who feel a sexual attraction, exclusive or predominant, toward people of their own sex. It has appeared in many forms across the centuries and in different cultures, and its psychological origin remains largely unexplained. Relying on Sacred Scripture (cf. Gn 19:1-29; Rm 1:24-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tm 1:10), Tradition has always taught that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered (CDF, Persona humana, 8). They go against the natural law, close the sexual act to the gift of life and do not arise from a true affective and sexual complementarity. They cannot be approved in any case.

2358 A significant number of men and women have deeply rooted homosexual tendencies. For most of them this inclination, which is objectively disordered, is a real trial. They should be welcomed with respect, compassion and tact, and every sign of unjust discrimination toward them should be avoided. They are called to do God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to join the difficulties their condition may bring them to the sacrifice of the Lord’s cross.

2359 Homosexual people are called to chastity. Through the virtues of self-control that form inner freedom, sometimes with the help of a selfless friendship, and through prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should draw closer, gradually and resolutely, to Christian perfection.”