On Wednesday, Pope Francis urged that parents of LGBT children should not condemn them, but rather encourage them.
He made unscripted remarks before his weekly audience about the challenges that parents encounter when raising children.
“Parents should recognize diverse sexual orientations in their children and how to handle it,” Francis added. “Know how to accompany their children and not hide behind an attitude of condemnation.”
He has previously stated that gays have the right to be recognized as children and siblings by their families.
While the Church cannot embrace same-sex marriage, he has stated that the Church can support civil union legislation that provide gay spouses joint rights in areas such as pensions, health care, and inheritance.
Last year, the Vatican’s doctrinal office issued a statement stating that Catholic priests are not permitted to bless same-gender marriages, a decision that angered homosexual Catholics.
In certain countries, such as the United States and Germany, churches and ministers have begun to bless same-sex unions as a substitute for marriage, prompting calls for bishops to de facto institutionalize them.
Conservatives in the 1.3 billion-member Church claim that the pope is sending inconsistent messages on homosexuality, confounding some of the faithful. The pope has issued notes of appreciation to priests and nuns who minister to LGBT Catholics.
In preparation for a Vatican summit in 2023 on the Church’s future path, a Vatican department apologized for “causing grief to the whole LGBTQ community” by removing a link to reference material from a Catholic homosexual rights advocacy group from its website.
Gays should be treated with dignity, according to the Church, and while same-sex activities are evil, same-sex tendencies are not.
