 |
|
|
|
|
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 »
Next entry »Pope on gays: A shift in tone, not substance
« Previous entryPope to Mass of millions: Get out of church
|
  About this blog
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.  |
|
|
|
This Pope's humility and candor are refreshing.
I am glad to have a compassionate leader of the Church. But since priests take a vow of celibacy, isn't this a moot point? (in a perfect world)
It is not a moot point. Gay people have been persecuted by the church since its inception. The irony is that a huge proportion of their priests are gay. If you were gay living in a catholic home, the preisthood was a sort of a salvation from getting married to a woman.
Wonder how the church gowers are going to feel on sunday, when the gays come rushing in holding hands in church, Its not a sin he said so ! interesting. The young will like this move the OLD bigots NO chance ... when your losing money and people to ISlam you will take anyone .
Church "gowers"??? Your spelling abilities sort of make everything you say moot.
Very happy that they are at church, fully believing in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Any other questions we can help you with?
The Lord said: Love the sinner, not the sin
Thereby falling into the foolishness that being gay is a sin. Sorry, but I don't buy that, on several levels.
Biologically, for one: I've known too many gay people (including my own brother) to believe this "lifestyle choice" nonsense. The VAST majority of gay people are born that way, and, whether they are at peace with it or not, that is what they are.
Theologically, if God made people gay, then how can a just and loving God hate his own creation? Personally, I have met too many gay people to believe that they are any better or worse morally than straight people; some are angels, some are fools, and some are evil. Just like straight people.
Legally: where does it stop? We justify hatred of gays based on religion, what's next, left-handed dentists without tonsils are to be rounded up for internment? Or will we just go after the Jews again?
If god made us in his image...
then why aren't we invisible too?
HE is invisible to you. Not to others.
One of the best responses I have EVER seen! Thank you.
So please give a physical description of God.
LOL! That was funny.
And I suppose life arising from a primordial soup of chemicals is less miraculous to you?
Since that is what happened, I would not call it a miracle, just an amazing happening. I just wonder how many other planets in the universe it has happened on. Since the primary 4 elements needed for this to happen are the 4 most common elements, it is a safe bet that somewhere else, life exists.
Lev 18:22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.
This is GODS law,i wonder why the pope does not teach the law as it is written.This is not judgement of another it is obedience to GOD
because he knows that your bible was written by men, not a god.
Written by men following God's instruction. Nice try.
Where does it say that they were following god's instruction? Where in the bible does ONE single person say, I'm writing this because god told me to????
nice try. LOL!
Up yours
That's because the Catholic church is based more on Tradition than the Bible. They are falling away instead of preaching the TRUTH.
Catholics don't believe the bible is inerrant. Big difference there.
According to Lev 19:19
Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.
Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.
Why are these laws not as important to religious people?
Because they can't use it to justify bigotry.
That's easy, it doesn't fit their agenda!
No bacon, shrimp, or polyester either. Stop trotting out that tired misrepresented bible verse. Jesus changed so much of the Old Testament ways. That's why we don't do animal sacrifices anymore.
Once again, that line from Leviticus is taken out of context. It is in reference to acts done while worshiping a false god. The lesson is also continued in the next book which contains what is known in Christianity as "The Greatest Commandment" – it's not your job to judge others. That's God's job.
Leviticus is one of the most socially conflicted books in the bible. It promotes slavery (including your children), misogyny, shunning of the lame, out-dated ideas about clothing, hair, and punishments. We have accepted ALL of this to be wrong, but this one and only line in that entire book is supposed to be correct? Get real.
"... neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee."
Leviticus 19:19
You better not be mixing fabric types, that's a sin too. To quote Reverend Lovejoy on his thoughts of the bible
"Y'ever sat down and read this thing? Technically we're not supposed to go to the bathroom."
No, no. You're just not supposed to ENJOY yourself when you're going to the bathroom!
Judge not lest ye be judged ... Love thy neighbor ... Let he who is without sin cast the first stone ... The Pope is simply following the word of God and the teachings of Jesus as opposed to doggedly condemning people based on one line in the bible. If it is a sin, then it is up to God to judge, not us.
You are interpreting from a book that was written in ancient hebrew , translated to greek, and then to latin, and finally to English. Suffice to say, a lot of meaning and context are lost in translation. Examples abound. Anyone who quotes from the bible and considers that the literal word of god is a moron.
Do you also take your rebellious son to the elders of the city to have him stoned at the gates? Pick and choose is what you do, you just don't admit it.
Did you make the proper oblation of beeves at the temple this sabbath? If not, you're going to hell...
The Pope is a politician
Thank you. It's all about money. I'll never understand how some people become so brainwashed.
I'm surprised how brainwashed you have become. Always continuing to say that WRONG is RIGHT. If it's wrong, then it's wrong. Just because you and a bunch of other politicians who are hell bound say it's right, doesn't make it right.
I don't judge either. Just feel disgusting.
Follow those beliefs that lead to deeper compassion for yourself and others.
It is good to have an open mind on issues, and I thank Pope Francis for his merciful and understanding approach. Jesus didn't spend time with the self-righteous. He welcomes sinners – that includes us all. God bless you Pope Francis.
Except that you don't know hardly anything about the bible. Those were edomites. Yeshua said that whoever sins is a slave to sin, and slaves to it will be cast out of the kingdom. This pope is gay, that is why he can't judge.
Finally a pope that gets it. We have no right to judge others when we ourselves sin. That is a message directly from Jesus.
We are told to judge ourselves and put ourselves to the test. Meaning, use discernment in all that you do so that you do not violate God's word – REGARDLESS of someone speaks against what you are doing or not. To speak against it or for it or to remain silent, does not make it any less offensive to God. Don't live to hear feel good messages so that you can continue to do what feels good to you, but maybe a stinch in God's nostril.
sin is a sin and this pope has to say this just to defent thousand of Roman Catholic that molested kids maybe the pope might say next that Michael Jacson was a saint
nothing new here. this is church doctrine. paraphrased as 'love the sinner, hate the sin'. Pope Francis is just saying it in a different way and the media goes crazy.
Yes, there is something new. He is saying it. Others would not do that.
If Christianity makes a comeback, thank this guy. He appears to be the real McCoy. When the Pope says things that make the hard-liner evangelicals cringe, he's moving in the right direction!
As a catholic, I really love this Pope.He is also the saint which I recognize. St. Francis. the saint for those who are impoverished. He is a real Humanitarian. He understands that No man is to be worshipped. He understands that no one is to be judged by others. Only God. As for all you Atheist on here, we don't care about your nor believing in God. Please find another article to spew your hate for any religion.
This article left out the comment that the Pope made AFTER he said he wouldn't judge gays....that hom ose*ual acts are still a sin. Um...what a hypocrite! LOL! People, don't buy into this ridiculous man that is trying to pull the catholic church out of it's mire.
Again, I put out a post that was ignorant and immature. I apologize to all.
The Pope is not trying to do anything. If you want to place blame, blame this news story for trying to twist his words to fit their agenda. You don't have to agree with the Pope, but it isn't his fault CNN has an agenda.
This organization will die, nice pope or no. Women have had enough of men, none of whom are in any kind of real relationship with women, but who wear dresses, telling us how to act so G*d will love us. It will take time; deprogramming takes a couple of generations. But, it is on its way out.
Actually it says in the Bible that the Pope uses in 1 Corinthians 5 12-13 It isnt my resposniblity to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning 13. God will judge those on the outside; but as the scriptures say " You must remove the veil person from among you"
Imagine the "infallible" leader of the worlds largest Christian church says gays and atheist are "okay" ... oh man should he beef up security.
Actually he did not say that at all. He said it was not his place to judge which is established doctrine. Not judging someone is not the same as approving. People are reading way too much into it simply because he didn't get all fire and brimstone.
It is the same church, blithely rolling into the 19th century.
"Pope Francis on gays: `Who am I to judge?'"
If it's good enough for the Pope, it ought to be good enough for the Republican Party.
GOP is mostly Protestant.
GOP is a mockery against religion. I don't know what religion teaches racism against the President of the US or anyone. GOP are hypocrites. The Bible says we are to help our neighbors who are in need. The GOP says differently. They don't want to help create jobs so that their neighbor will be able to help themselves. The GOP stands against everything their religion speaks for.
Same Christ, though. Keep that in mind...
My comment is in reply to this assertion:
>GOP is mostly Protestant.
This is a wonderful pope with a good heart. He recognizes that it's time to move toward God and away from politics. I also predict he will die mysteriously very soon.
Wow!
Religious figures have a tendency to rewrite the bible with opinions. Catering to the masses feelings and emotions and pocketbooks. It is much easier to pick up the bible (the real TRUTH) and read what it says about EVERYTHING, since the word is what the people need to hear. If the pope is not going to be the "judge" of them, and in acknowledgment of that, doesnt the pope believe people should hear what the one that will judge them has to say – about EVERYTHING. Being in a position of power and influence giving opinions is a form of standing in the way of the real truth. Doesn't this mean that the Pope is now judging God's word to not be good enough? Or maybe he thinks that the people are better than God's word? Are these people so afflicted that the prefer a feel good message instead what is really going to help them. If one can stand up among millions and give opinions – then he has stood "in judgment" of God's very word to say to that God's word is not good enough for you, listen to me instead. Makes no sense. One would have to be Catholic or gay, I guess, for it to all make sense – or not.
Well said.
Or you could be utterly clueless like yourself. I find it hard to believe you can understand the Bible when you cannot understand a couple of sentences.
The Bible states that God, and only God, is the judge. It is not for you to judge people. It is not for the Pope to judge people. It is not for your mother's cousin's half-brother to judge. God will do the judging. He was merely pointing out the obvious.
All your other rantings are based on a complete misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Pope's comment. Frankly way too many people are getting excited or upset simply because the Pope stated the obvious.