Why Did Pope Francis Change His Stance on Homosexuality?

On January 25 and 27, 2023, Pope Francis of Rome issued two separate statements about his support for homosexuals, which paved the way for the possible Catholic Church’s “legitimization” of homosexuality.

He called for the first time to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide on January 25, claiming that “[homosexuality] is not a crime, God loves all his children.”

He was thus defending the criticism of “gay Catholics” after a decree issued by the Vatican in 2021, in which the Church affirmed that it “cannot bless abnormal marriages.”

In a historic interview with the American Associated Press, he said that the laws criminalizing homosexuality are unfair, and being gay is not a crime, but it is a sin, and it is important to distinguish between a crime and a sin.

Because this is the first time that any pope has issued such clear statements on this sensitive issue in the Catholic Church, homosexuals welcomed Francis’ declaration, but it troubled conservative priests in Africa and the West and disturbed Arab churches.

 

Rolling Ball

Later on January 27, 2023, the Pope returned to clarify more of what he said and reaffirmed his support for homosexuals, as if he was sending a final message to the representatives of the Catholic Church in the world to stop considering homosexuality as a mistake and to abandon the renunciation of homosexuals.

He wrote a letter, in his own handwriting, asserting that “people who criminalize homosexuality are wrong,” in an attempt to further clarify his earlier comments about homosexuality being a “sin.”

Pope Francis pens a letter to Jesuit Fr. James Martin explaining his recent comments in an interview with AP that “being homosexual is not a crime.” saying he was referring to Catholic doctrine that teaches that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin. According to him, criminalizing homosexuality is “neither good nor just.”

“I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin,” he wrote.

“I would tell whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong,” he wrote. “In a televised interview, where we spoke with natural and conversational language, it is understandable that there would not be such precise definitions.”

The Pope’s message was translated from Spanish into English and published on January 27, 2023, by Outreach, a site that publishes articles and information for Catholic gays.

The site is headed by priest Fr. James Martin, who sent a message to the Pope asking him for clarifications about his previous comments.

Pope Francis, 86, has always sparked controversy since his appointment in 2013 because of his stances on homosexual orientation, which Western newspapers described as “liberal” or “progressive.”

When Pope Francis was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, his country was the first to legalize gay marriage in 2010, and his tacit support for that angered priests in the Catholic Church and embarrassed conservative currents.

Followers confirmed his positions during that stage, that he formally opposed homosexual marriage but agreed to accept them in the Church and the idea of their civil marriage, according to BBC on October 24, 2020.

When he was appointed Pope of the Catholic Church (Vatican) starting on March 13, 2013, he refrained from talking about his support for homosexuals for a while, although he received from his predecessor Benedict XVI a file full of abnormalities and scandals of the priests themselves, not just their followers.

The Guardian reported on February 22, 2013, that former Pope Benedict XVI had “resigned” because of the exposure of a network of homosexual bishops within the Vatican.

The British newspaper relied on a press report published in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, which stated that some homosexual bishops were subjected to blackmail from outside the Church.

The Pope received a file on this phenomenon and the extent of its aggravation in the Church on December 17, 2012, which was then known for the case of leaking secret documents from the Vatican.

According to La Repubblica, the dossier was kept in a safe in the papal apartments.

Then, the file was handed over to the new Pope (current Francis), who seems to have sought to remedy the scandal by officially legalizing homosexuality among the followers of the Catholic Church with gradual rolling statements so that the matter also applies to gay priests.

In his book, In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy, the French writer and journalist specializing in sociology, Frederic Martel, presented details of the homosexuality of the priests and monks of the Vatican.

Martel stated in an interview with L’Obs newspaper that the homosexuality of senior priests “is among the most secrets that the Vatican has kept secret in the last fifty years.”

 

Starting Positions

Francis’ views began to become clear when he was asked about homosexuals in July 2013, only three months after he assumed the presidency of the Vatican. He replied: “If someone is gay and looks for God and has good intentions, then who am I to judge him?”

On June 26, 2016, Reuters published Francis saying that Christians and the Catholic Church should seek forgiveness from homosexuals for the way they treated them. He referred to the teachings of the Church, saying that “homosexuals should not be discriminated against.”

The Pope had previously said in a statement earlier in 2018 that “God made people as gay as we should be” as a prelude to their acceptance, according to The Guardian, on May 21, 2018.

However, his first sensational statement on this matter was issued in October 2020 on the “homosexuals have the right to have a family,” which provoked his opponents within the Church.

This statement came in a documentary film Francesco, screened for the first time on October 21, 2020, at the Rome Film Festival, about the life of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis called for the adoption of civil marriage laws for same-sex couples, saying: “They [gays] are children of God and have a right to a family.”

Thus, Pope Francis threw his weight directly on the issue of gay marriage, moving away from the doctrinal position of the Vatican office and its predecessors on this issue.

Therefore, his last statement on January 25, 2023, is the first public statement of the head of the Church that does not include a position against gay marriage, whether it means their right to found a family (marriage), or their right to belong to their families in which they were born.

Foreign press reports believe that the goal of the Pope’s statements toward recognizing homosexuality and accepting their marriage is an attempt to cover up homosexual bishops within the Vatican itself and pardon them and continue their work despite their scandals.

The Pope’s remarks were welcomed by a gay priest who works as an advisor in the Vatican in statements to NPR on January 26, 2023.

The counselor, Juan-Carlos Cruz, an internationally known Chilean defender of homosexuality, said that the Pope’s statements were wonderful and that he was not surprised by his declaration that homosexuality is not a crime.

He also said anti-gay laws in dozens of countries, including those that impose the death penalty, are “terrifying,” but the moral leadership of the Pope will help the authorities, bishops, and cardinals change that.

The New Yorker indicated on January 27, 2023, that Francis’s recent statements are an example of his gradual approach to accepting homosexuals, which began with sympathy and support for them in civil matters while leaving aside the strict teachings of the Church.

 

Church and Perversion

There is a long history of the Vatican’s refusal of gay marriage, before the current Pope began to accept it, even if it was civil, and asked for gay sponsorship and permission for them to form families, although this would be by adopting children with the recent scandal of turning gay families’ children into “sexual goods.”

In 2003, under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and under the direction of Pope John Paul II, the teachings of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith were: Respect for homosexual persons cannot in any way lead to approval of their behavior or legal recognition of homosexual relations.

In 2008, the Vatican refused to sign a UN declaration calling for decriminalizing homosexuality.

In a statement issued at the time, the representative of the Vatican to the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly on the Declaration on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity held on December 18, 2008, rejected the UN declaration.

Although the statement condemned all forms of violence against homosexuals, the document shyly denied “sexual orientation,” which means freedom of perversion, as well as freedom of “gender identity,” which means freedom to change one’s sex.

In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope of the Vatican, said in his New Year’s sermon before diplomats accredited to the Vatican from about 180 countries that gay marriage is one of the risks that threaten the traditional system of the family and undermines the future of humanity.

Likewise, officials in the Vatican and the Catholic Church around the world have been opposing moves to legalize same-sex marriage in Europe and other parts of the world.

However, the matter began to differ with the current Pope through gradual and rolling statements aimed at accepting homosexuality and marriage between homosexuals.

In 2018, the German bishops, in their reaction to the legalization of same-sex marriage, endorsed a similar view of the Pope, stressing that accepting their relations was a new “political reality.”

Rather, Catholics in Germany, in particular, called for changes in church teachings, including allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, according to what was published by the Australian website, The Conversation, on January 30, 2023.

According to the teachings of the Catholic Church, people of homosexual orientation should be treated with respect.

 

Criticisms of the Vatican

American Cardinal Raymond Burke, known for his “negative” attitudes toward Pope Francis, did not hesitate to publicly criticize the latter’s acceptance of homosexuals.

He said that what was reported about homosexuals causes confusion among Catholics and raises their bewilderment, according to what was published by the BBC on October 24, 2020.

The American Bishop, Thomas Tobin, commented on the Pope’s statement that it contradicts the Church’s teachings about the union of people of the same sex, and the Church cannot support the acceptance of immoral relationships.

Before this, when the Pope started talking about accepting homosexual “marriage,” even if it was civil, the Christian Democratic Union (CDF) denounced Francis’ words, according to the Catholic News Agency, October 21, 2020.

He said that the legal recognition of marriage between homosexuals not only approves deviant behavior but also obscures the basic values that belong to the inheritance of humanity.

The Christian Democratic Union believed that politicians’ support of such relationships is very dangerous and immoral, stressing that abnormal marriages do not achieve the purpose of the marriage itself.

In an interview with the Associated Press, the Pope acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against homosexuals and called for that to change.

He added that the Christian teachings of the Catholic Church should welcome homosexuals and respect them.

In some Western countries, such as the United States and Germany, it is allowed in several places to bless the marriage of homosexual men and women amid calls for bishops to institutionalize it de facto.

But about 67 countries or jurisdictions around the world “criminalize consensual homosexual activity,” and 11 may or may not impose the death penalty, according to the Human Dignity Foundation.

In the United States, more than a dozen states still have anti-homosexuality laws, despite a 2003 Supreme Court ruling declaring them unconstitutional, according to PBS network on January 25, 2023.