Pope Francis: Do Not Condemn Children If They Are Gay

Pope Francis urged parents not to condemn their children if they are gay

In a recent sermon on Wednesday, January 26, 2021, Pope Francis spoke to congregants at the Vatican about acceptance and raising kids who identify as LGBTQ+.

Per Huffington Post, during a portion of his sermon on “sad” situations that might occur in someone’s child’s life, such as kids who are sick, in jail, or suffer a tragic death, the Pope also discussed parents of children who are queer. First of all, nesting “being gay” under a sermon on “sad” adversities in a child’s life is a whole pandora’s box of problematic discourse, but that aside, the Pope made some relatively progressive comments, considering the Catholic church’s long history of marginalizing and condemning the LGBTQ+ community.

“Parents who see that their children have different sexual orientations, how they manage that and accompany their children and not hide behind a condemning attitude,” Francis instructed the crowd. “Never condemn a child.”

Francis has been trying to distance the church from their anti-LGBTQ stances, most famously with his 2013 comment “Who am I to judge?”

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” Francis said in 2013 when asked about the sexual orientation of priests.

However, despite his welcoming stands towards gay congregants, he tends to have a one-step-forward, two-steps back approach to inclusion.

The Vatican declared in March of last year that the Catholic Church won’t bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” Although the church welcomes gay people, they, apparently, won’t bless their unions, and unfortunately, Pope Francis approved the two-page diatribe on why the Vatican won’t bless gay marriages. But then, earlier this month, Pope Francis demoted the Archbishop who reportedly architected that anti-LGBTQ document. So it’s kind of unclear where the Pope’s priorities lie when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community.

Hopefully, Pope Francis will continue to move towards a progressive, inclusive, and kinder future like the one he shared in sentiments earlier today.