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July 29th, 2013
08:48 AM ET
Pope Francis on gays: 'Who am I to judge?'By John L. Allen Jr. and Hada Messia, CNN Aboard the Papal Airplane (CNN) - Pope Francis said Monday that he will not "judge" gays and lesbians, including gay priests, signaling a shift from his predecessor and offering another sign that the new pope is committed to changing the church's approach to historically marginalized groups. “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” Francis said in a wide-ranging news conference aboard the papal plane. Though he was answering a question about the so-called "gay lobby" at the Vatican, the pope indicated a change in tone, if not in teaching, in the church's stance towards gays and lesbians more generally. The pope was flying back to Rome from Brazil, where he spent the past week celebrating World Youth Day, an international Catholic event that drew millions. Taking questions from reporters aboard the plane, the pope addressed nearly every hot-button issue facing the Roman Catholic Church: its alleged "gay lobby," Vatican bank corruption, the role of women, abortion, homosexuality and his own personal security. But it was the pope's remarks on homosexuality - the fact that the head of a 1 billion-member church said that it's not his place to judge gays - that caused the widest stir. "Pope Francis's brief comment on gays reveals great mercy," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at America, a Catholic magazine based in New York. "Today Pope Francis has, once again, lived out the Gospel message of compassion for everyone," Martin said. The pontiff spoke for an hour and a half in the back of the plane that was carrying him back to Italy after his first international trip as pope to Brazil, where he was greeted by massive, frenzied crowds at every turn. "I'm happy. It has been a beautiful trip, spiritually speaking; it has been good to me. I'm tired enough but with a heart full of joy," he said. Here are the highlights from his press conference. On the 'gay lobby' and homosexuality The pope addressed the issue of an alleged "gay lobby" within the church. Hints that the Holy See contained a network of gay clergy surfaced last year in reports about a series of embarrassing leaks to Italian journalists. The "Vatileaks" scandal factored in Benedict's shocking decision to resign this year, according to some church experts, as it impressed upon the 86-year-old pontiff that the modern papacy requires a vigorous and watchful presence. "There's a lot of talk about the gay lobby, but I've never seen it on the Vatican ID card!" Francis said. "When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn't be marginalized. The tendency (to homosexuality) is not the problem ... they're our brothers." The problem, he said was, lobbies that work against the interest of the church. In 2005, during the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican issued directives barring from the priesthood men "who are actively homosexual, have deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called 'gay culture.'" Francis' brief remarks seem to signal a sharp shift from that policy. On women The pope also spoke out about the role of women in the church, saying it needs to be deeper and not end. But he brushed aside the possibility of ordaining women as priests, saying the church had spoken on the matter: "The church says no. That door is closed." He did say that more work needed to be done theologically on the role of women in the church. On abortion Pope watchers have noted that Francis said little to nothing about abortion on his trip to Brazil. Abortion is illegal in Brazil, except for cases in which the health of the mother is at risk. Laws were recently changed to allow abortions in cases in which the child would be born with certain life-threatening birth defects. The pope said he had nothing to say on the trip about abortion because the church teachings against it were clear and this trip was the time for "positive" news. On divorce "I believe this is a time of mercy, a change of epoch," the pope said when asked about divorce. He said the group of eight cardinals tasked with reform will explore the issue of whether divorcees can receive Communion, which they are currently barred from doing. On the Vatican Bank The pope conceded he was unsure what to do with the Vatican Bank, which is known by its acronym IOR. "Some say that it would be better if it were a bank, others say that it should be a foundation. Other say to shut it down. These are the suggestions going around. I don't know. I trust the commission's members that are working on the IOR. But I wouldn't be able to tell you how this story is going to end." And as for what was in the black leather bag he carried onto the plane? A razor, a prayer book, a diary and a book about St. Theresa, but, the pope joked, "Certainly not the keys to the atomic bomb!" He said he carried his own bags because, "It's normal, we have to be normal. We have to be accustomed to being normal." CNN's Eric Marrapodi and Daniel Burke contributed to this report. soundoff (3,302 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Who are you to judge? Duh, you are the pope. I thought it was the Pope's right to pass judgment on everything.
No....God says, "judge not, lest ye be judged."
New to the bible NYOD?
And that passage makes perfect sense if you ignore EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE BIBLE.
Well, Carl, that's pretty much true of a good third of everything in the Bible, isn't it? Consistent - it's not.
Bless Pope Francis I.
i agree i love this new pope
amen
All I can say is the Malachi prophecy was correct about this pope.
Dormant dementias of prophetically incurring mass symbolisms girded ever so fancifully are the cat's meow...
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqZc7ZQURMs&w=640&h=360]
Though there be critical ones thinking among the topmost branches of civilizations trees of disparagement offerings: the rooted labyrinths of reasoned deducing ways offers little minded goodness to be availed unto the soulless seekers whose only wisdom is found within travesty's demonic exuberances laying ever wastefully towards all graven worded reconciliations that the demonic do behest against many a Holy Believer in and of God's most unrighteous beneficiaries as being an unholy divider in search of disenfranchised souls to devour and chew upon...
Again, LL is the belief blog pseudo intellect because of their poor writing skills, don't bother reading their posts, just laugh and move on.
LL is his own biggest fan.
Personally I think he suffers from some form of mental illness so I hope for his sake he seeks professional help soon.
HUH?
He'll save his judgement and condemnation for the women and girls of the world.
Who are you to judge? Hmm.....
Well your bible tells you that you should kiII all gays, and unruly childeren, and quite a few other people. You should be judging.
I'm just glad that we dont live by xtian laws. It would be much worse than sharia law.
This pope may be a little more open-minded, but when I saw that sea of old men deciding who was going to be the next pope, it was clear to me that the Vatican has a streak of disdain for women's capabilities and their place in the church. I find it a complete put-off!
Yes, I agree. Most women will. it's wrong.
If the sanct*ty of marriage is so important, then why aren't all you people protesting divorce?
We are
billy, billy, billy...you do nothing but troll these boards.
Because those rules only apply to gay people seeking marriage. Sanctity flies out the window to these hypocrites when it's heteros.
There are times when divorce is appropiate, such as to free children and/or spouse from an abusive situation. The problem is not divorce, but remarriage after a sacrimental marriage is disolved in civil court.
Yeah we could just allow people to pray to god directly for questions about our lives and potential sins but hey love to judge people.
The only person that can judge another is God himself. If you want to know the answer to whether being gay is right or wrong in the Christian religion, read the Bible.
And then keep your judgments to your self, as Christ commanded.
The Bible only rings true if it fits your personal agenda. It's all hearsay.
Judge Judy is qualified and does a pretty good job.
What about the verse that talks about "men who lie with men?" Enough said. Or wait on what some man says about every issue.
What about the verse that talks about shellfish? It makes no difference.
To those people quoting Leviticus and wondering why this pope is saying this.... you can live by Leviticus but he isnt JUDGING people for it. What all you religious kooks dont realize is, even if your religious nonsense were true, its not your job to judge, its "god's" its your job to live by his rules, not police his rules.
"What! Do YOU not know that unrighteous persons will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom." SIMPLE WORDING...no one judges...people can make their own choices but there are the consequences.....read your Bible maybe
Sounds pretty judgy.
Ive read the bible back to back. and what you just posted is completely irrelvant to my point. It is not up to you to judge, it is up to you to make sure you abide by god rules for yourself. If being gay is a sin then god will deal with it upon ones death. its not your business one way or another.
I guarantee I know more about your religion than you do.
Uh, yeah. Wouldn't want to break any egg shells around you, jamiedat! I suspect you've never "sinned." Wait, are you even human?
LOL
Mirror time again?
Don't worry, that's what we have Republicans for
You certainly knocked that one out of the ballpark.
Ha! Lol. Nailed it!
BINGO !
We have a winner.
This Pope certainly seems to be the best example of a Pope in my lifetime. Incidentally, I would attend Mass if it were on the beaches of Rio!!!
And yet the whole concept is still completely r3tarded.
Well,it`s at least a small step forward.....
BCG, "searches for the Lord and has good will" and "Jesus is the WAY..." are consistent statements with very similar meanings.
While I have several differences with the Roman Catholic Church, saying the Pope is wrong when he has said something consistent with your position, is, well, baffling. All the Pope did was use different words. English is a vast language and there are lots of different ways to say the same thing.
Who are progressives going to hate now?
You?
The smelly old pope that's living in luxury in a villa somewhere, hoping that the world will forget that he belonged to the Nazi youth...
He still has not turned over the pedophile priests.
Probably still the Pope, since he still discriminates against women. Or they would, if the liberals were not too PC to publicly denounce a popular religion based in a foreign country.
The Republicans, who are now even less open-minded than a Pope! Pretty pathetic for the U.S. conservatives - looking more and more like dinosaurs every day.
Emos.
sounds like you hate progressives. Better watch that, hating is a no-no
Guess you could then call Pope Francis a progressive! And to think conservative's are following his papacy! Ha! Irony at it's best!