Christians should apologize for helping to marginalize gays, pope says
Pope Francis answers questions from journalists aboard his flight from Yerevan, Armenia, to Rome June 26. (CNS/Paul Haring)
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
Catholic News Service
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM ARMENIA (CNS) — Catholics and other Christians not only must apologize to the gay community, they must ask forgiveness of God for ways they have discriminated against homosexual persons or fostered hostility toward them, Pope Francis said.
“I think the church not only must say it is sorry to the gay person it has offended, but also to the poor, to exploited women” and anyone whom the church did not defend when it could, he told reporters June 26.
Spending close to an hour answering questions from reporters traveling with him, Pope Francis was asked to comment on remarks reportedly made a few days previously by Cardinal Reinhard Marx, president of the German bishops’ conference, that the Catholic Church must apologize to gay people for contributing to their marginalization.
At the mention of the massacre in early June at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Pope Francis closed his eyes as if in pain and shook his head in dismay.
“The church must say it is sorry for not having behaved as it should many times, many times — when I say the ‘church,’ I mean we Christians because the church is holy; we are the sinners,” the pope said. “We Christians must say we are sorry.
Changing what he had said in the past to the plural “we,” Pope Francis said that a gay person, “who has good will and is seeking God, who are we to judge him?...
O Lord, it's hard to be humble
‘cause I occupy The Holy See
I know there’s been other Popes
But none as merciful as me
I care not a whit about heterodoxy
Its not about Doctrine but me
O Lord, it's hard to be humble
‘cause I occupy The Holy See
265 other Popes came before humble me
But I guess they could not compete
With all of these love starved reporters
Who keep clamorin' at my feet
Well, I probably should act like a real pope
But then they’d not all be in awe of me
Who cares about Catholic Tradition
The Holy See's all about me
O Lord, it's hard to be humble
‘cause I occupy The Holy See
I know there’s been other Popes
But none as merciful as me
I care not a whit about heterodoxy
Its not about Doctrine but me
O Lord, it's hard to be humble
‘cause I occupy The Holy See
I guess you could say I’m Mr. Mercy
A Pontiff squishy and weak
When it comes to Doctrine and Dogma
I surely am not an orthodox geek
Some folks say I’ve a heretical praxis
Hell, I don’t even know what that means
I guess it has something to do with the way
I mess up nearly every damn thing that I say
O Lord, it's hard to be humble
‘cause I occupy The Holy See
I know there’s been other Popes
But none as merciful as me
I care not a whit about heterodoxy
Its not about Doctrine but me
O Lord, it's hard to be humble
‘cause I occupy The Holy See