On his way home from Brazil on Monday, Pope Francis told media reps aboard the airplane that he will not judge gays who “search for the Lord and have good will.” The CNN Belief Blog wrote today that this signals a shift from his predecessor and offers a sign that the pope is changing the tone—if not teaching—in the Catholic church’s stance toward gays and lesbians.
The question from the reporter was originally referring to gay clerics, asking how the pope would respond to a homosexual priest who was gay but not sexually active. Under Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican formally prevented homosexual men from entering the priesthood. But Pope Francis seemed to speak out in defense of gay priests.
“Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?” the pontiff said, speaking in Italian. “You can’t marginalize these people.”
According to the Wall Street Journal, Vatican analysts say it is the first time a pope has spoken out in defense of gay priests in the Catholic ministry.
“Pope Francis’s brief comment on gays reveals great mercy,” said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at America, a Catholic magazine based in New York. “Today Pope Francis has, once again, lived out the Gospel message of compassion for everyone,” Martin said.
