What Pope Francis Really Said About (Gay) Marriage -- and What He Did Not | HuffPost Voic

Contents:

• THE POPE’S ‘SHOCKG’ STATEMENT ON GAY MARRIAGE IS G AN UPROAR AMONG CATHOLICS
• POPE FRANCIS WON’T BUDGE ON GAY MARRIAGE: “MARRIAGE IS MARRIAGE”
• POPE FRANCIS SAYS HOMOSEXUALY "IS NOT A CRIME," BUT GAY SEX IS "A S"
• POPE FRANCIS LLS FOR END TO ANTI-GAY LAWS AND LGBTQ+ WELE OM CHURCH
• WHAT POPE FRANCIS REALLY SAID ABOUT (GAY) MARRIAGE -- AND WHAT HE DID NOT
• OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC PRIT DISCS POPE FRANCIS' APPEAL FOR LGBTQ PROTECTNS
• VATIN SAYS PRITS N'T BLS GAY UPL. WHY DID POPE FRANCIS APPROVE THIS CREE?
• POPE FRANCIS CONMNG GAY MARRIAGE BANS HIGHLIGHTS CATHOLIC 'CIVIL WAR'
• EXCLUSIVE: TAYLOR MARSHALL SAYS POPE FRANCIS MAY CHANGE POSN OF CATHOLIC CHURCH ON GAY MARRIAGE

THE POPE’S ‘SHOCKG’ STATEMENT ON GAY MARRIAGE IS G AN UPROAR AMONG CATHOLICS

Image source, RtersImage ptn, Pope Francis' statements are a parture om prev ments about LGBT rightsPope Francis has said that he thks same-sex upl should be allowed to have "civil unns" ma the ments, which observers say are his cleart remarks yet on gay relatnships, a documentary directed by Evgeny Afeevsky.

" He add that he "stood up for that", apparently referrg to his time as Archbishop of Buenos Air when, although opposg same-sex marriag law, he supported some legal protectns for same-sex film Franc, about the life and work of Pope Francis, premiered as part of the Rome Film well as the Pope's ments on civil unns, the film also shows him enuragg two gay men to attend church wh their three Francis's bgrapher, Aten Ivereigh, told the BBC he was "not surprised" by the latt ments. "Unr current Catholic doctre, gay relatnships are referred to as "viant behavur" 2003, the Vatin's doctral body, the Congregatn for the Doctre of the Fah, said that "rpect for homosexual persons nnot lead any way to approval of homosexual behavur or to legal regnn of homosexual unns" words but no sign of doctral changeThe remarks have set tongu waggg among Vatin-watchers - and they mark Francis's cleart support for the issue sce beg Pope.

" he 2014 was reported that Pope Francis had exprsed support for civil unns for same-sex partners an terview, but the Holy See's prs office nied 2018, Pope Francis said he was "worried" about homosexualy the clergy, and that was "a ser matter" on this story. Followg Pope Francis’s announcement clarg support for civil unn laws for same-sex upl, which breaks wh tradnal Catholic valu that oppose homosexual relatnships, the lear has garnered both cricism and support om people all over the world.

POPE FRANCIS WON’T BUDGE ON GAY MARRIAGE: “MARRIAGE IS MARRIAGE”

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has clarified his recent ments about homosexualy and s, sayg he was merely referrg to official Catholic moral teachg that teach that any sexual act outsi of marriage is a a note Friday, Francis relled that even that black-and-whe teachg is subject to circumstanc that might elimate the s altogether.

-based Outreach mistry for LGBTQ Catholics, asked Francis for clarifitn and prted the pope’s handwrten rponse on the Outreach webse late his note, Francis reaffirmed that homosexualy “is not a crime, ” and said he spoke out “ orr to strs that crimalizatn is neher good nor jt. ”“If they want to spend their liv together, a homosexual uple, natns have the possibily civilly to support them, to give them safety wh regards to herance and health, ” he the subject of civil unns, Francis suggted that wing the spe of who n receive partner benefs uld benef many groups of people.

Stat still have laws agast sodomy, spe the Supreme Court clarg them unnstutnal pope said that some bishops om untri that crimalize homosexualy support the laws bee they're part of the lol culture, and he lled on those bishops to unrgo a procs of "nversn, " orr to wele LGBQT people to their mistry "wh tenrns. Gay rights advot say the antiquated laws are ed to jtify harassment, and pot to new legislatn, such as the “Don’t say gay” law Florida, which forbids stctn on sexual orientatn and genr inty om krgarten up to third gra, as evince of ntued efforts to margalise LGBTQ+ UN has repeatedly lled for an end to laws crimalisg homosexualy outright, sayg they vlate rights to privacy and eedom om discrimatn and are a breach of untri’ obligatns unr ternatnal law to protect the human rights of all people, regardls of their sexual orientatn or genr inty.

POPE FRANCIS SAYS HOMOSEXUALY "IS NOT A CRIME," BUT GAY SEX IS "A S"

Some Catholic bishops have strongly upheld them as nsistent wh Vatin teachg, while others have lled for them to be overturned as a vlatn of basic human Tuday, Francis said there need to be a distctn between a crime and a s wh regard to homosexualy.

But he has ma reachg out to LGBTQ+ people a hallmark of his pope’s ments didn’t specifilly addrs transgenr or nonbary people, jt homosexualy, but advot of greater LGBTQ+ cln the Catholic Church hailed the pope’s ments as a momento advance.

ROME — The Vatin says Pope Francis’ ments on gay civil unns were taken out of ntext a documentary that spliced together parts of an old terview, but still nfirmed Francis’ belief that gay upl should enjoy legal Vatin secretariat of state issued guidance to ambassadors to expla the uproar that Francis’ ments created followg the Oct. “More than a year ago, durg an terview, Pope Francis answered two different qutns at two different tim that, the aforementned documentary, were eded and published as a sgle answer whout proper ntextualizatn, which has led to nfn, ” said the guidance posted by the film, Afeevsky reunts the story of Andrea Rubera, a married gay Catholic who wrote Francis askg for his advice about brgg to the church his three young children wh his was an anguished qutn, given that the Catholic Church teach that gay people mt be treated wh digny and rpect but that homosexual acts are “trsilly disorred. ” The church also holds that marriage is an dissoluble unn between man and woman, and as a rult, gay marriage is the end, Rubera reunts how Francis urged him to approach his parish transparently and brg the children up the fah, which he did.

POPE FRANCIS LLS FOR END TO ANTI-GAY LAWS AND LGBTQ+ WELE OM CHURCH

Francis was not endorsg the right of gay upl to adopt children, even though the placement of the quote right after Rubera told his story ma seem that Francis pope’s ments about gay civil unns me om a different part of the Televisa terview and clud several veats that were not clud the the Televisa terview, Francis ma clear he was explag his posn about the unique se Buenos Air 10 years ago, as opposed to Rubera’s suatn or gay marriage as a the Televisa terview, Francis also sisted that he always mataed Catholic doctre and said there was an “ngy” for the Catholic Church as far as “homosexual marriage” is documentary elimated that Televisa footage is available onle, and clus an awkward cut right after Francis spoke about the “ngy” of homosexual marriage. But don’t expla how his support for extendg Argente legal protectns to gay upl 2010 uld be squared wh the 2003 document om the Congregatn for the Doctre of the Fah, which says “the prcipl of rpect and non-discrimatn nnot be voked to support legal regnn of homosexual unns. Consirg that Pope Benedict often volly exprsed harsh nmnatn of marriage equaly -- even travelg to Spa to speak out agast when that untry was among the first to legalize marriage for gays and lbians and lled a "threat to the future of humany"-- 's astonishg how silent Francis is on the issue.

WHAT POPE FRANCIS REALLY SAID ABOUT (GAY) MARRIAGE -- AND WHAT HE DID NOT

Yet this same culture prents others wh so many optns that they too are dissuad om startg a off, go whout sayg that gay and lbian people are a part of fai and have fai, and many are parents and raise children -- and Francis knows this bee he has met wh gay activists who are married and who have children. So if he meant that the other "optns" that are offered the "culture" today which are "dissuadg" people om "startg a fay" clu the abily to live as out gay people -- and 's possible he did -- then 's pretty weak and he tentnally didn't make his se wh clary.

Francis was, after all, speakg to the legislative body that uld do somethg about -- and which is tryg to, wh Republins havg troduced the od First Amendment Defense Act, which would allow clerks like Kim Davis and bakers and florists and others to ny servic to gay and lbian upl.

OPENLY GAY CATHOLIC PRIT DISCS POPE FRANCIS' APPEAL FOR LGBTQ PROTECTNS

" That sounds more like someone promotg social programs to help the poor and stop gun-vlence than someone tryg to end same-sex, this is the head of a a church that has for years nmned gays as "trsilly disorred" (and still do, s doctre) and has seen marriage equaly as harmg the culture. We'll know for sure a uple of so far, the pope at bt spoke -- as when, durg his addrs at the Whe Hoe, and soundg like Republin polil ndidat, he talked of fendg "relig liberty" the ntext of also protectg people agast discrimatn -- and at worst (for anti-gay nservativ, of urse) he pletely dodged the issue durg his addrs to Congrs, focg stead on other forc plagug the fay.

And so this ll for the civil regnn and protectn of gay civil unns, 's really an affirmatn of the humany of gay and lbian persons - that he's sayg that bee gay and lbian persons are human begs, that society, that the state, that ernments have an obligatn and a duty to protect their basic human Do extendg the right to a civil unn and acknowledgg that LGBTQ people should be allowed to have a partner their life through a civil unn and a fay - do that mean children?

VATIN SAYS PRITS N'T BLS GAY UPL. WHY DID POPE FRANCIS APPROVE THIS CREE?

Now, may seem to be a semantic difference, but I thk what the pope is sayg is that he is not opposed to the legal regnn of fay life and the right for gay and lbian persons to raise and have As a gay Catholic yourself, I mean, as a man of fah, as a Catholic, is somehow ls signifint, I would image, a civil unn than beg able to be married the church? And what the pope is dog wh this kd of claratn - he's clearly puttg the Catholic Church on the si of agast the crimalizatn of behavr and favor of protectg the human digny of gay and lbian But help me unrstand this bee 's my unrstandg that the Catholic Church still nsirs homosexualy to be a s, not somethg that should be enuraged a liftyle. Siarly, German Cardal Rehard Marx of Munich and Freisg, who serv on Francis' uncil of rdal advisers, has said that gay upl n receive a blsg om the church " the sense of pastoral re, " though he sought to distguish om the same blsg the church offers to married upl, sayg, "The sacrament of marriage is aimed at a fahful relatnship between a man and a woman that is open to children.

Yet Hornbeck, who is gay and married the Epispal Church, said that "the one thg he has not done durg that perd of time is to make any adjtments or really even gture towards ncrete adjtments the Catholic Church's teachgs towards same-sex sexualy or LGBTQ issu when to moral theology. Siarly, Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a profsor of relig studi at Manhattan College who specializ sexualy and theology, said that Francis "has done a lot to move away om the 'herently disorred' language" that Catholic theology has tradnally ed to scribe homosexual persons. Pope Francis livered a disappotment to Catholic LGBT muni Monday, wh a cree reaffirmg that prits should not bls same-sex move stood ntrast to the pontiff’s past statements llg for the legalizatn of same-sex unns and urgg cln — part of a shift toward an crementally more welg tone toward gay people the more nciliatory rhetoric has stopped short of doctral chang.

POPE FRANCIS CONMNG GAY MARRIAGE BANS HIGHLIGHTS CATHOLIC 'CIVIL WAR'

German bishops have been nductg a multiyear reevaluatn of the Catholic Church’s stanc on practic cludg celibacy, women learship and homosexualy — much to the chagr of the stutn’s more nservative the pope traveled to Ai 2019, his fourth vis to the ntent — which has the fastt-growg Catholic populatn the world — sce beg pontiff 2013, he preached awarens of poverty, climate change and passn for refuge. Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignyUSA, the Uned Stat’ largt spirual muny of gay Catholics, told The Washgton Post is “hard for a lot of people to unrstand jt how far removed the church is om human rights advanc that are beg ma the rt of society. ” His ongog support for civil unns has been as an alternative to gay marriage, not a bridge toward ntext, pecially listeng to the rt of the clip, seems the pope is discsg gay people’s fay of orig, rebg parents who reject their gay children.

Catholic teachg forbids same-sex marriage but not same-sex love — the venant of David and Jonathan, the promis of Ruth and Naomi, the vows of iendship taken by Wtern Christian pairs, godparentg relatnships and even tentnal muni such as the Catholic Worker, we see forms of love and kship that don’t require marriage or no, the pope do not support gay marriage; those who believe the latt clips dite a change of his stance will be disappoted. What surprised and lighted many gay people, both outsi and wh the church, was the possibily that he would speak about our longgs posive of who seek to obey the Catholic teachg have had to learn, wh more hdrance than help om our hierarchy, how to exprs our longgs for love and home harmony wh our fah. Pope Francis took one of his strongt posns yet agast legislatn around the world that crimaliz homosexualy or otherwise discrimat agast LGBTQ dividuals Tuday, seemgly ditg that the learship of the Catholic Church—long divid over the qutn of s posn toward the muny—was begng to take a firmer posn of solidary wh the LGBTQ muny.

"Beg homosexual isn't a crime, " Francis said durg an exclive terview wh the Associated Prs published Francis still referred to homosexualy the ntext of "s, " the ments were ld by many who saw the ments as one of the first public steps by a Catholic pope to affirm the relign's acceptance of members of the LGBTQ muny who have long felt maligned by the Catholic tradn. "Pope Francis's historic ll for the crimalizatn of homosexualy worldwi is an immense step forward for LGBTQ people, their fai and all who love them, " Jam Mart, a prit and edor of the Ju Ameri Magaze wrote rponse to the news Wednday. Jt days earlier, Francis' precsor—the more nservative late Pope Benedict XVI—released a posthumo book of says through his publisher ntag a number of revealg claims about his own philosophy of the church as well as ncerns of a proliferatn of homosexualy wh the ranks of clergy, reprentg another book a seri of books cril of Pope Francis that were released the wake of Benedict's ath on December recent memoir by Benedict's longtime secretary, Archbishop Ge Ganswe, released January prompted a s-down between the two men after Ganswe claimed Francis was abandong old tradns of the church, cludg wh his outreach toward divorced members of the church as well as movg away om the Lat Mass, which has been growg favor wh more nservative sects of the Catholic headl wrote themselv: Were the tell-all books the start of a "civil war" as the Catholic-fund publitn Cx posed Tuday?

EXCLUSIVE: TAYLOR MARSHALL SAYS POPE FRANCIS MAY CHANGE POSN OF CATHOLIC CHURCH ON GAY MARRIAGE

Universy of New Hampshire soclogist Michele Dillon, an expert on Catholic views on secular society, noted that Francis still voked official church teachgs that homosexualy was a s even his nunciatn of discrimatn toward the LGBTQ muny, a posture that has ed "a lot of anguish for many gay and lbian Catholics. "It will disappot a lot of lbian and gay Catholics, and many other Catholics and non-Catholics too, that Francis voked the language of s talkg about gays even as they will appreciate his advocy of the crimalizatn of homosexualy, " she told Newsweek. However, Francis is a tight spot: The bate over Francis' visn for the church and that of Benedict's—a much more nservative figure—date back well before eher man ascend to lead the Vatin, wh recent events only servg to exacerbate those the wake of the send Vatin Council the early 1960s, a rift began to form between clergy who believed the church should adhere to a more rigoro standard of tradnal Catholic valu and others who believed the church should bee more progrsive and reflective of an creasgly secular world around the church has long acknowledged that the state is ee to enact laws that may be at odds wh church teachgs, Dillon not that the church has ntued civil bat around subjects like gay marriage and divorce to reaffirm the sfulns of those behavrs for the duly elected lear of the Catholic church, Francis—nsired to be among the more progrsive pop recent history—has sought to leave his own imprt on the church.

Recently, he has creased his public outreach to the LGBTQ muny, cludg remarks last year askg parents not to "nmn" their homosexual children and firg officials behd documents barrg blsgs for LGBTQ mov, however, have only helped to spur creasgly public opposn om some members of the clergy recent years. 21, 2020Updated June 27, 2021ROME — Pope Francis exprsed support for same-sex civil unns remarks revealed a documentary film that premiered on Wednday, a signifint break om his precsors that staked out new ground for the church s regnn of gay remarks, g om the lear of the Roman Catholic Church, had the potential to shift bat about the legal stat of same-sex upl natns around the globe and unsettle bishops worried that the unns threaten what the church nsirs tradnal marriage — between one man and one woman. ”Many gay Catholics and their alli outsi the church weled the pope’s remarks, though Francis’ opposn to gay marriage wh the church remaed nservative crics wh the church hierarchy, and pecially the nservative wg of the church the Uned Stat, who have for years acced him of dilutg church doctre, saw the remarks as a reversal of church teachg.