Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Brazil, Pope Francis reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church's position that homosexual acts were sinful, but homosexual orientation was not. He was responding to questions about whether there was a “gay lobby” in the Vatican. With regards to priests, probably trying to react specifically, but not in name, to the allegations regarding Monsignor Battista Ricca, the Holy Father said: “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them?” Pope Francis said gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well…It says they should not be marginalized because of this but that they must be integrated into society.” But he condemned what he described as lobbying by gay people. “The problem is not having this orientation,” he said. “We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.”
Note: I totally get what the Holy Father is saying: I believe that his reaction to these questions is somewhat molded by the swirling stories that circle about Monsignor Ricca, the Pope’s nominee to head-up the Vatican Back, who has been accused of having several homosexual affairs. Apparently, the Pope feels these dalliances were in the past; and all must be forgiven. I agree. Although, as someone who has battled with this proclivity myself, and understands what a life-long struggle this entails, I wonder if a position of high-power and responsibility is the best place for the inner-war to take place. For, the interior torments of the mind, body, and spirit always spill out onto the plane of the everyday. In this case, the reputation of the Church may hang in the balance. In the wider view, Francis, I think, is also trying to mix the doctrinal view of homosexuality with the pastoral. Sadly, several gay news outlets are labeling this as a capitulation by the Pope, one even stating: “In an apparent softening of the Roman Catholic Church's staunch opposition to homosexuality…” Only, they perceive what they want to. Forever, holding out the false idol of hope that one day everyone on Heaven and Earth, even God, will blissfully ordain their every action; every sexual deviance. But, one spirit has already done that: the devil. Truly, what the Pope is offering bears the fullness of God’s love: His mercy towards our brokenness and the loving embrace of forgiveness. The Holy Father calls on the clergy and the faithful to forever hold the Truths of what the Church teaches, but also temper this with a loving approach to those who suffer with same-sex attraction. For that, I thank you Pope Francis.