The pontiff calls for a “conversion process” of his wishes so that priests who support these laws grant a dignity equal to all and welcome homosexual people in their churches.
MO12345lemonde with AP
In an interview with the Associated Press agency (AP) broadcast on Wednesday January 25, Pope Francis judged “unfair” the laws that criminalize homosexuality, sexual orientation which remains a “sin” in his eyes. He called priests who support such laws to welcome homosexual people in their churches, while judging that their point of view is based on cultural contexts, and called a “conversion process” for these priests to grant a dignity equal to each and to each.
“Homosexuality is not a crime”, according to Pope Francis, who considers that the Church must participate in the repeal of such regulations. He cited the catechism of his Church, according to which homosexual people are welcome and must not be marginalized.
At AP, the pope maintained that in his eyes homosexuality remains a “sin”, just like “lacking charity towards someone”. According to the Catholic Doxa, homosexuals must be treated with respect but this orientation remains “intrinsically disorderly”.
“Who am I to judge?”
François did not reform this approach, while doing the handless hand to the homosexual community a marker of his pontificate. In 2019, activists expected the Pope a declaration against the penalty of homosexuality during a meeting with human rights defenders specializing in these laws and “conversion therapies”. In fact, they had only maintained themselves with number two of the Vatican, the Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, who had reaffirmed “the dignity of any human person” and had pronounced “against any form of violence “.
In 2013, questioned about a priest deemed homosexual, the pope had asked: “Who am I to judge?” As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he had encouraged legal protections in favor of same-sex couples, As an alternative to homosexual marriage prohibited by doctrine. On the other hand, it had been criticized by the LGBT community for a decree of 2021 whose terms prevented the Church from blesing a homosexual union.
The Vatican had refrained from signing in 2018 a UN declaration calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality, on the grounds that the text was overflowing its initial perimeter and mentioned “sexual orientation” and ” gender identity “, expressions he judged problematic. At the time, the Vatican had enjoined the nations to avoid “unjust discrimination” against homosexual people.
“don’t say gay”
Sixty-seven countries criminalize homosexuality, among which eleven provides the death penalty, according to AP, which quotes the NGO Human Dignity Trust. The laws penalizing homosexuality are widespread in Africa and the Middle East, dating from the British Empire or inspired by Islamic Law.
In the United States, a dozen states have laws against sodomy, despite a decision of the Supreme Court dating back to 2003, declaring anticonstitutional. Homosexual rights activists denounce these old texts such as new, like the Floridian law nicknamed ” Don’t Say Gay “ (” Do not say homosexual “), which prohibits Teaching questions relating to sexual orientation and gender identity until the third grade of elementary school – the equivalent of CE2. The United Nations long requires the deletion of laws criminalizing homosexuality.