Lgbtq+ rights, Pope responds to conservative bishops: ‘God loves all his children. Use tenderness.

After days of broadsides, direct or indirect, aimed at him, Pope Francis has decided to respond. And he did so by first pointing out that God loves all his children as they are: an invitation to Catholic bishops to welcome Lgbtq+ people into the Church. And, it seems, specifically to German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, who in an interview had reiterated the conservative position that gay couples are against nature: God created man and woman. This is the basis of the faith. And of cardinals and bishops who recognize the value of same-sex unions he had said, There are also bishops who have taught heresies.

The Pontiff’s Vision

The pontiff retorted that bishops who support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the gay community must go through a process of conversion: they should use tenderness, please, as God has for each of us. In an interview with Ap, Francis takes the opportunity to get a few more pebbles off his shoe. The criticism of the pontificate that has come from the bangs close to Ratzinger in recent days, he says, is due to the wear and tear of a ten-year government. Surprise at his election, he says, was followed by discomfort when they began to see my flaws and they didn’t like them. He says he does not condemn the criticism, as its arrival represents in his view a symptom that there is freedom of speech: If not, there would be a remote dictatorship, as I call it, where there is the emperor and no one can say anything to him. No, let them speak because … criticism helps you grow and improve things. The only thing I ask is that they say them to my face, because that’s how we all grow, right? he continued, reiterating his esteem and affection for the recently deceased Pope Emeritus. The pontiff also reassured about his health condition, For my age, I am normal. Despite the return of diverticulosis, for which he had undergone surgery in July 2021. The Pope also revealed that he had a small bone fracture in his knee due to a fall; the fracture healed without surgery after laser and magnet therapy. He added, I could die tomorrow, but it is under control. I am in good health.

Messages to Ukraine and Brazil

At the Pan-Ukrainian Council of Churches, Francis then addressed a thought to the Ukrainian people, Do not doubti, I pray for you. And again, I carry you in my heart and ask God to have mercy on this brave people. The Pope recounts that his sympathy began when he was a child serving Mass to a Ukrainian priest. From that moment, he added, sympathy with Ukraine has grown, and this makes me feel even closer to you. He then asked everyone to pray silently but together for Mother Ukraine. Stressing that the Council has gathered different faiths, from Christians to Jews via the Orthodox and all the faiths present in the country. All together for Mother Ukraine, all together and this shows the fabric of your race, as well as being an example in the face of so much superficiality that we see in our culture today. The Pope, in his Portuguese-language greetings at the general audience, then made a special appeal to the faithful of Brazil: I encourage you so that, banishing all semblance of indifferentism, confusion and hateful rivalry, you may cooperate with all Christians for the love of Christ.

Eloise Bouton

Eloise Bouton is a French independent journalist, feminist, sex life coach, author, a specialist in LGBTQI+ issues, founder of the website Madame Rap, co-founder of the House of Consent project, and former activist of the Femen movement.