Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church since 2013, has adopted a significantly more accommodating tone on LGBT topics than his predecessors.[1] In July 2013, his televised "Who am I to judge?" statement was widely reported in the international press, becoming one of his most famous statements on LGBT people.[2][3][4] In other public statements, Francis has emphasised the need to accept, welcome, and accompany LGBT people,[5][6][7] including LGBT children,[8][9] and has denounced laws criminalising homosexuality.[10][3][11] While he has reiterated traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman,[12][13] he has supported same-sex civil unions as legal protections for same-sex couples.[9][14] Under his pontificate, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has confirmed that transgender people can be baptised,[15][16] and allowed the blessing of same-sex couples in the document Fiducia supplicans.[17] Francis has privately met many LGBT people and activists. In 2013, Francis was named as Person of the Year by The Advocate, an American LGBT magazine.[18]
Relative to LGB topics, Francis has been less accomodative on transgender topics,[1] describing gender theory and children's education on gender-affirming surgery as "ideological colonisation".[19][2] In September 2015, Francis came under media scrutiny for meeting Kim Davis, a county clerk who was imprisoned for refusing to issue marriage licences for same-sex couples,[20][21] and in August 2018, Francis was criticised for suggesting that gay children seek psychiatric treatment.[22] Prior to his election as Pope Francis, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio led public opposition to the parliamentary bill on legalising same-sex marriage in Argentina, which was approved by the Argentine Senate on 15 July 2010.[23] A letter he wrote in that campaign was criticised for using "medieval" and "obscurantist" language,[24][25][26] and was later admitted by an episcopal source to be a strategic error that contributed to the bill's success.[27]
- ^ a b Molloy, Parker Marie (19 December 2013). "Op-ed: Pope Francis Has Not Made Good on Transgender Rights". The Advocate. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:11was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Pope Francis reportedly tells gay man: "God made you like this and he loves you"". CBS News. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2014.
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:39was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:53was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Grindley, Lucas (16 December 2013). "The Advocate's Person of the Year: Pope Francis". The Advocate. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
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