If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?
– Pope Francis
Quoted in Rachel Donadio's New York Times article,
"Pope Says He Will Not Judge Gay Priests"
July 29, 2013
Quoted in Rachel Donadio's New York Times article,
"Pope Says He Will Not Judge Gay Priests"
July 29, 2013
Related Off-site Links:
Pope Francis Offers Respect for Gay Priests, Signaling a New Papal Direction – Francis DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, July 29, 2013).
Pope Francis on Gays: Who Am I To Judge Them? – Paul Brandeis Raushenbush (The Huffington Post, July 29, 2013).
Pope on Homosexuals: "Who Am I To Judge?" – John Allen Jr. (National Catholic Reporter, July 29, 2013).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Homosexuality and the Priesthood
Officially Homophobic, Intensely Homoerotic
A Fact That Should Be Neither Surprising Nor Derogatory
Report: Homosexuality No Factor in Abusive Priests
Vatican Stance on Gay Priests Signals Urgent Need for Renewal and Reform
Gay Men in the Vatican Are Giving the Rest of Us a Bad Name
Catholic Church Can Overcome Fear of LGBT People
2 comments:
Pope Francis' actual words:
"There is so much being written about the gay lobby. I haven’t met anyone in the Vatican yet who has “gay” written on their identity cards. There is a distinction between being gay, being this way inclined and lobbying. Lobbies are not good. If a gay person is in eager search of God, who am I to judge them? The Catholic Church teaches that gay people should not be discriminated against; they should be made to feel welcome. Being gay is not the problem, lobbying is the problem and this goes for any type of lobby, business lobbies, political lobbies and Masonic lobbies.”
Being inclined that way and lobbying --both in politics and the Church--, isn't that what you do? The Pope thinks it's a problem.
Hi, John! Thanks for stopping by.
I advocate with others for greater understanding of God's transforming presence in the lives and relationships of LGBT individuals, couples, and families. I think if the pope sat down with the many Catholics -- gay and straight -- who engage in such advocacy he'd find we all have much in common, namely an ardent desire to share the good news of God's abundant life.
We see this abundant life in the lives and relationships of many LGBT people. In fact, most Catholics do. I have hope that the church hierarchy will one day catch up with us.
Also, before you start accusing me of "lobbying" you need to inform yourself of the relatively recent activities of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt as they relate to last year's proposed Minnesota 'marriage amendment.' If you're going to label my activities around marriage equality as "lobbying," you should likewise label the archbishop's. Certainly many Catholics here in Minnesota found his activities to be "political lobbying" and thus a major "problem."
Or is it that you're okay with "political lobbying" against gay people's civil rights, but not for them?
Peace,
Michael
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