5053 words, 27 minute read. [First published: 11 September 2023, last updated: 3 October 2023]
I was asked yesterday what the Church teaches about homosexuality and, after answering with a question to clarify what was behind it, I understood that it was about what Pope Francis has said on the subject. Once I answered off the top of my head as best as I could remember on the spot, I thought it would be useful to compile his actual words on this subject. While good resources already exist that chronicle what Pope Francis has said, I would here like to focus on giving his statements more space to breathe by quoting broader contexts and by not being too worried about comprehensiveness. In other words, I will be more extensive about the statements I consider key and I will omit others that just reinforce previous statements. The following will be offered without commentary, to provide space for the reader to form their own views of the pope’s teaching.
Press conference on return flight from 28th World Youth Day in Brasil, 28 July 2013
Ilze Scamparini: “[… H]ow does Your Holiness intend to confront the whole question of the gay lobby?”
Pope Francis: “So much is written about the gay lobby. I still haven’t found anyone with an identity card in the Vatican with “gay” on it. They say there are some there. I believe that when you are dealing with such a person, you must distinguish between the fact of a person being gay and the fact of someone forming a lobby, because not all lobbies are good. This one is not good. If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this in a beautiful way, saying … wait a moment, how does it say it … it says: “no one should marginalize these people for this, they must be integrated into society”. The problem is not having this tendency, no, we must be brothers and sisters to one another, and there is this one and there is that one. The problem is in making a lobby of this tendency: a lobby of misers, a lobby of politicians, a lobby of masons, so many lobbies. For me, this is the greater problem. Thank you so much for asking this question. Many thanks.”
Interview in America magazine, 30 September 2013
“We need to proclaim the Gospel on every street corner, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing, even with our preaching, every kind of disease and wound. In Buenos Aires I used to receive letters from homosexual persons who are ‘socially wounded’ because they tell me that they feel like the church has always condemned them. But the church does not want to do this. During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.
A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.
This is also the great benefit of confession as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better.”
International colloquium on complementarity between man and woman, 17 November 2014
“In these days, as you reflect on the complementarity between man and woman, I urge you to emphasize yet another truth about marriage: that the permanent commitment to solidarity, fidelity and fruitful love responds to the deepest longings of the human heart. Let us think especially of the young people who represent our future: it is important that they should not let the harmful mentality of the temporary affect them, but rather that they be revolutionaries with the courage to seek strong and lasting love, in other words, to go against the current: this must be done. I would like to say one thing about this: we must not fall into the trap of being limited by ideological concepts. The family is an anthropological fact, and consequently a social, cultural fact, etc. We cannot qualify it with ideological concepts which are compelling at only one moment in history, and then decline. Today there can be no talk of the conservative family or the progressive family: family is family! Do not allow yourselves to be qualified by this, or by other ideological concepts. The family has a force of its own.”
Interview in La Nacion newspaper, 7 December 2014
“Nobody mentioned homosexual marriage at the synod; it did not cross our minds. What we did talk about was of how a family with a homosexual child, whether a son or a daughter, goes about educating that child, how the family bears up, how to help that family to deal with that somewhat unusual situation. That is to say, the synod addressed the family and the homosexual persons in relation to their families, because we come across this reality all the time in the confessional: a father and a mother whose son or daughter is in that situation. This happened to me several times in Buenos Aires. We have to find a way to help that father or that mother to stand by (accompanar) their son or daughter.”
Encyclical letter Laudato Si’, 24 May 2015
“155. Human ecology also implies another profound reality: the relationship between human life and the moral law, which is inscribed in our nature and is necessary for the creation of a more dignified environment. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of an “ecology of man”, based on the fact that “man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will”. It is enough to recognize that our body itself establishes us in a direct relationship with the environment and with other living beings. The acceptance of our bodies as God’s gift is vital for welcoming and accepting the entire world as a gift from the Father and our common home, whereas thinking that we enjoy absolute power over our own bodies turns, often subtly, into thinking that we enjoy absolute power over creation. Learning to accept our body, to care for it and to respect its fullest meaning, is an essential element of any genuine human ecology. Also, valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity is necessary if I am going to be able to recognize myself in an encounter with someone who is different. In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment. It is not a healthy attitude which would seek “to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it”.”
Press conference on return flight from visit to Armenia, 26 June 2016
Cindy Wooden: “[…] In the last few days, Cardinal Marx from Germany spoke to an important conference in Dublin on the Church in the modern world, and said that the Catholic Church should apologize to the gay community for having marginalized these persons. In the days following the Orlando killings, many people have said that the Christian community has something to do with this hatred towards these persons. What do you think?”
Pope Francis: “I will repeat what I said during my first trip, and I also repeat what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, namely that they should not be discriminated against, that they should be shown respect and given pastoral assistance. We can disapprove of some ways of acting that are a little too offensive to other people, not for ideological reasons but in terms, we might say, of political propriety.
But none of this has to do with the problem: if the problem is that a person is so inclined, and with good will seeks God, who are we to judge him or her? We should be helpful to them, in accordance with the teaching of the Catechism. The Catechism is clear!
There are traditions in some countries, in some cultures with a different approach to the problem. I think that the Church should apologize – as that “Marxist” Cardinal said [Cardinal Reinhold Marx] – not only to this person who is gay and has been offended, but also to the poor, to women and to children exploited in the workplace, and for having blessed so many weapons. The Church should apologize for all the times she has not acted… – and when I say “the Church”, I mean Christians; the Church is holy, we are sinners! Christians should apologize for not having helped with so many decisions, helped so many families… I remember from my childhood the culture of Buenos Aires, the insular Catholic culture which I come from. You could not enter the home of a divorced couple! I am talking about eighty years ago. The culture has changed, thank God. As Christians we should apologize over and over again, and not just for this.”
Press conference on return flight from visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan, 3 October 2016
Joshua McElwee: “[… Y]esterday in Georgia, you spoke as in many other countries about gender theory, saying that it is the great enemy, a threat against marriage. But I would like to ask, what would you say to a person who has suffer for years for his or her sexuality, and who feels that there is truly a biological problem, that his or her physical appearance does not correspond to what he or she considers to be the true sexual identity?”
Pope Francis: “Firstly, during my life as a priest and as a bishop I have accompanied people with homosexual tendencies or practices. I have accompanied them and brought them closer to the Lord. Some cannot, but I have accompanied them and never abandoned anyone. This must be done. People must be accompanied as Jesus accompanied them. When a person in this condition presents him or herself before Jesus, He does not say, “Go away, you are homosexual!”. No. What I referred to is the wickedness that today results from indoctrination in gender theory. I heard from a French father who was speaking with his children at the table … and asked his ten year-old son, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. “A girl!”. .. The father realised that the schoolbooks taught gender theory, and this goes against nature. It is one thing that a person has this tendency, this option; and even those who change sex. It is another thing to teach along this line in schools, to change the mentality. This I would call “ideological colonisation”. Last year I received a letter from a Spanish man who told me his history as a child and as a youth. He was a girl, and suffered greatly, because he felt he was a boy but physically he was a girl. … He underwent the operation. … The bishop accompanied him greatly. … Then he got married, he changed his identity, and he wrote me the letter to say that for him it would be a consolation to come with his wife. … And so I received them, and they were very happy. … Life is life, and things must be taken as they come. Sin is sin. Tendencies or hormonal imbalances cause many problems and this doesn’t mean to say, “Oh well, it’s all the same” … no, no it isn’t. But it is necessary to welcome each case, to accompany, to discern, and to integrate. This is what Jesus would do today. … I wish to be clear. It is a moral question. It is a problem. It is a human problem. And it must be resolved as is possible, always with God’s mercy, with the truth, as we have said in the case of marriage”.”
“First and foremost, I would love it if this meeting could help to remind us that we all need each other, none of us is an island, an autonomous and independent “I,” separated from the other, and we can only build the future by standing together, including everyone. We don’t think about it often, but everything is connected, and we need to restore our connections to a healthy state. Even the harsh judgment I hold in my heart against my brother or my sister, the open wound that was never cured, the offense that was never forgiven, the rancor that is only going to hurt me, are all instances of a fight that I carry within me, a flare deep in my heart that needs to be extinguished before it goes up in flames, leaving only ashes behind.”
Politics and Society book-length interview with Dominique Wolton, 6 September 2017
“Marriage between people of the same sex? ‘Marriage’ is a historical word. Always in humanity, and not only within the Church, it’s between a man and a woman… we cannot change that. This is the nature of things. This is how they are. Let’s call them ‘civil unions.’ Lets not play with the truth. It’s true that behind it there is a gender ideology. In books also, children are learning that they can choose their own sex. Why is sex, being a woman or a man, a choice and not a fact of nature? This favors this mistake. But let’s say things as they are: Marriage is between a man and a woman. This is the precise term. Lets call unions between the same sex ‘civil unions’.”
Private conversation with Juan Carlos Cruz, 20 May 2018
“Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like this and loves you like this and I don’t care. The pope loves you like this. You have to be happy with who you are.”
Response to Stephen K. Amos’ question on Pilgrimage: The Road To Rome BBC programme, 19 April 2019
Stephen K. Amos: “So me coming on this pilgrimage, being non-religious, I was looking for answers and faith. But as a gay man, I don’t feel accepted.”
Pope Francis: “Giving more importance to the adjective rather than the noun, this is not good. We are all human beings and have dignity. It does not matter who you are or how you live your life, you do not lose your dignity. There are people that prefer to select or discard people because of the adjective – these people don’t have a human heart.”
Address to World Congress of the International Association of Penal Law, 15 November 2019
“The throwaway culture, combined with other widespread psycho-social phenomena in societies that are well off, is manifesting a serious tendency of degenerating into a culture of hatred. There are episodes, which are unfortunately not isolated and are certainly in need of a detailed analysis, in which the social hardships of both young people and adults find an outlet. It is no coincidence that actions that are sometimes emblematic and typical of Nazism are reappearing. I admit that when I hear some speeches, by someone in charge of those who keep order in society or of the government, I am reminded of Hitler’s speeches in 1934 and 1936. Today they are actions typical of Nazism which, with its persecution of Jews, gypsies, persons with a homosexual orientation, represents the negative model par excellence of the throwaway culture and the culture of hatred. This is what was done at that time and today these things are being done again. It is necessary to be vigilant, both in the civil and ecclesial spheres, in order to avoid any possible compromise – that is presumed to be involuntary – with these degenerations.”
Note to Sr. Astorga, ministering to transsexual women, 26 August 2020
Pope Francis sent [a] note to the sister encouraging her not to be defeated by the hostility of those who oppose her work. “God, who didn’t attend seminary and didn’t study theology, will reward you generously. I pray for you and your daughters.”
Conversation with Slovak Jesuits, 12 September 2021
One of those present recalls that the pope often speaks of diabolical ideological colonizations. He refers, among others, to that of “gender.”
“Ideology always has a diabolical appeal, as you say, because it is not embodied. Right now we live in a civilization of ideologies, that’s true. We need to expose them at their roots. The “gender” ideology of which you speak is dangerous, yes. As I understand it, it is so because it is abstract with respect to the concrete life of a person, as if a person could decide abstractly at will if and when to be a man or a woman. Abstraction is always a problem for me. This has nothing to do with the homosexual issue, though. If there is a homosexual couple, we can do pastoral work with them, move forward in our encounter with Christ. When I talk about ideology, I’m talking about the idea, the abstraction in which everything is possible, not about the concrete life of people and their real situation.”
Press conference on return flight from visit to Slovakia and Hungary, 15 September 2021 [my translation]
Stefano Maria Paci: “And the question is about the family, you spoke about it with the Hungarian authorities, you spoke about it again yesterday in the meeting with young people. And just yesterday the news arrived from Strasbourg of a resolution from the European Parliament inviting member states to recognize homosexual marriages and related parental relationships. Holy Father, what are your thoughts on the matter?”
Pope Francis: “I have spoken clearly about this. Marriage is a sacrament. Marriage is a sacrament. The Church does not have the power to change the sacraments as the Lord instituted them. These are laws that try to help the situation of many people of different sexual orientations. And this is important, that we help people. But without imposing things that, by their nature, are not acceptable in the Church. But if they want to share a life together, a homosexual couple, the States have the possibility of civilly supporting them, of giving them security of inheritance, of health,… The French have a law for this, not only for homosexuals, for all people who want to be together. But marriage is marriage. This is not to condemn people who are like that, no, please, they are our brothers and sisters. We have to accompany them. But marriage as a sacrament is clear, it is clear. For there to be civil laws that… Three widows, for example, who want to join together legally to have the health care, to then have inheritance among them, but these things are done. This is the French Pacs, but it has nothing to do with homosexual couples; homosexual couples can use it, they can use it, but marriage as a sacrament is man-woman. Sometimes there is confusion about what I was saying. Yes, we must, all being equal, respect everyone; the Lord is good and he will save everyone. Don’t say this aloud [laughs], but the Lord wants everyone’s salvation. But please don’t make the Church deny her truth. Many, many people of homosexual orientation approach the sacrament of penance and approach priests to ask for advice, and the Church helps them to move forward in their lives, but the sacrament of marriage does not apply. Thank you.”
Mini-interview with Outreach website, 9 May 2022
Outreach: “What would you say is the most important thing for LGBT people to know about God?”
Pope Francis: “God is Father and he does not disown any of his children. And “the style” of God is “closeness, mercy and tenderness.” Along this path you will find God.”
Outreach: “What would you like LGBT people to know about the church?”
Pope Francis: “I would like for them to read the book of the Acts of the Apostles. There they will find the image of the living church.”
Outreach: “What do you say to an LGBT Catholic who has experienced rejection from the church?”
Pope Francis: “I would have them recognize it not as “the rejection of the church,” but instead of “people in the church.” The church is a mother and calls together all her children. Take for example the parable of those invited to the feast: “the just, the sinners, the rich and the poor, etc.” [Matthew 22:1-15; Luke 14:15-24]. A “selective” church, one of “pure blood,” is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect.”
Letter to Outreach website, 27 January 2023
Outreach asked the Holy Father three questions, in Spanish, and received a written response from him. We framed these questions as an interview, in order that he knew that his responses would be made public. Our three questions were:
- Holy Father, thank you for your strong call to decriminalize homosexuality. Why did you decide to say this at this time?
- There seems to have been some confusion about your comment, “Being gay is a sin,” which, of course, is not part of church teaching. My feeling was that you were simply repeating what others might say hypothetically. So, do you think that simply being gay is a sin?
- What would you say to Catholic bishops who still support the criminalization of homosexuality?
Pope Francis’ response:
“It is not the first time that I speak of homosexuality and of homosexual persons.
And I wanted to clarify that it is not a crime, in order to stress that criminalization is neither good nor just.
When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin. Of course, one must also consider the circumstances, which may decrease or eliminate fault. As you can see, I was repeating something in general. I should have said “It is a sin, as is any sexual act outside of marriage.” This is to speak of “the matter” of sin, but we know well that Catholic morality not only takes into consideration the matter, but also evaluates freedom and intention; and this, for every kind of sin.
And I would tell whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong.”
Press conference on return flight from visit to South Sudan, 5 February 2023
Bruce De Galzain: “This week in Kinshasa I met five homosexuals, each of whom had been rejected and even expelled from their families. They explained to me that their rejection comes from their parents’ religious upbringing – some of them are taken to exorcist priests because their families believe they are possessed by unclean spirits. My question, Holy Father, is: what do you say to the families in Congo and South Sudan who still reject their children, and what do you say to the priests, to the bishops?”
Pope Francis: “I have spoken on this issue on two Journeys; the first time [upon my return] from Brazil: ‘If a person with homosexual tendencies is a believer and seeks God, who am I to judge him?’ I said this on that trip. Secondly, coming back from Ireland, it was a bit of a problematic trip because that day a letter had just been published from that young man… in that case I said clearly to parents: ‘Children with this orientation have a right to stay at home; you cannot kick them out of the house.’ And then recently I said something, I don’t really remember my exact words, in the interview with the Associated Press. The criminalization of homosexuality is an issue that must not be allowed to pass by. It is estimated that, more or less, fifty countries, in one way or another, promote this kind of criminalization – they tell me more, but let’s say at least fifty – and some of these – I think it’s ten, even foresee the death penalty [for homosexual persons]. This is not right, people with homosexual tendencies are children of God, God loves them, God accompanies them. It is true that some are in this state because of various unwanted situations, but to condemn such people is a sin; to criminalize people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice. I am not talking about groups, but about people. Some say: they join in groups that generate noise. I am talking about people; lobbies are something different. I am talking about people. And I believe the Catechism of the Catholic Church says they should not be marginalized. This point, I believe, is clear.”
Dialogue with young people ahead of World Youth Day, 25 July 2023 [translated transcript by me]
Giona: “I am a trans, homosexual and disabled guy. I have had the good fortune to have received baptism and I see the sacrament of baptism like a plot of land that someone prepares for you and in which they plant the first seed which, if and when you can, you can make grow. To make faith grow, a faith that I’d feel truly my own in which I can play a part, no matter how small, of His plan, wholly and in detail thought out by Him, has helped me to accept in my disabled, atypical body, that I am never alone even in difficulties, knowing that He who knows me from the beginning would never entrust me with a task to heavy for my shoulders. But, when I realised that I am a trans person, I would have very much preferred to not believe and that plan, that marvellous, perfect body – perfect in so far as being His work, made me feel pulled in different directions by the dichotomy between faith and transgender identity – both arms of the one body, mine. The people I confided in then tried to dissuade me, predicting a dark journey for me. I felt guilty. Someone has even pointed me to Psalm 139 – one of my all-time favorites: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. You have made me wonderfully.” This desperate attempt was in fact the answer I was looking for. I am Giona [Jonah], like that prophet who was afraid, who tried to get away from what he was called to, but who has not gotten away far enough to escape you. I know now what I am call to be – to be trans and a believer. At the crossroads I have chosen love.
Pope Francis: “I have listened to your story and your journey and you already know what I will tell you now. The Lord always walks with us. Always. The Lord is not disgusted by any of us. Even if we were sinners, he draws close to us to help us. The Lord is not disgusted by our realities. He loves us as we are. And this is God’s crazy love. And we are, as you say, like that prophet there – a bit stubborn and don’t want to believe in the love of God. And that stubbornness closes us. God loves us as we are. God always caresses us. God is father, mother, everything for us.And to understand this is difficult, but he loves us as we are. So, go on ahead.”
Press conference on return flight from World Youth Day in Portugal, 6 August 2023
Anita Hirschbeck: “Holy Father, in Lisbon you told us that in the Church there is room for everyone, everyone, everyone. The Church is open to everyone, but at the same time not everyone has the same rights, opportunities, in the sense that, for example, women, homosexuals cannot receive all the sacraments. Holy Father how do you explain this inconsistency between an open Church and a Church not equal for all? Thank you.”
Pope Francis: “You ask me a question that concerns two different points of view: the Church is open for everyone, then there is legislation that regulates life inside the Church. He who is inside follows the legislation. What you say is a simplification: “They cannot participate in the sacraments.” This does not mean that the Church is closed. Everyone meets God on their own way inside the Church, and the Church is mother and guides everyone on their own path. That’s why I don’t like to say: everyone comes, but you, this one, but the other one… Everyone, everyone in prayer, in inner dialogue, in pastoral dialogue, looks for the way forward.
That’s why I ask the question: Why not homosexuals? Everybody! And the Lord is clear: the sick, the healthy, old and young, ugly and beautiful… the good and the bad!
There is a kind of gaze that doesn’t understand this insertion of the Church as mother and thinks of it as a kind of “corporation” that you have to do this, or do it in this way and not another way, in order to get in to.
The ministeriality of the Church is another thing. [It is] the manner of carrying forward the flock. And in ministeriality, one of the important things is patience: accompanying people step by step on their way to maturity. Each one of us has this experience: that Mother Church has accompanied us and accompanies us in our own path of maturation.
I don’t like reduction. This is not ecclesial; it is gnostic. It is like a Gnostic heresy that is somewhat fashionable today. A certain Gnosticism that reduces ecclesial reality, and that doesn’t help. The Church is “mother” receiving everyone, and everyone makes their own way within the Church, without publicity, and this is very important. Thank you for the courage of asking this question. Thank you.”
Response to “dubia” of cardinals Burke and Brandmüller, 2 October 2023
Cardinals: “2 Dubium about the claim that the widespread practice of the blessing of same-sex unions would be in accord with Revelation and the Magisterium (CCC 2357).
According to the Divine Revelation, attested in Sacred Scripture, which the Church teaches, “listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit” (Dei Verbum, 10), “In the beginning,” God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them, and blessed them to be fruitful (cf. Genesis 1:27-28) and hence, the Apostle Paul teaches that denying sexual difference is the consequence of denying the Creator (Romans 1:24-32). We ask: can the Church deviate from this “principle,” considering it, in contrast to what was taught in Veritatis splendor, 103, as a mere ideal, and accept as a “possible good” objectively sinful situations, such as unions with persons of the same sex, without departing from the revealed doctrine?”
Pope Francis: “a) The Church has a very clear understanding of marriage: an exclusive, stable, and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to procreation. Only this union can be called “marriage.” Other forms of union realize it only in “a partial and analogous way” (Amoris Laetitia 292), so they cannot be strictly called “marriage.”
b) It is not just a matter of names, but the reality we call marriage has a unique essential constitution that requires an exclusive name, not applicable to other realities. It is undoubtedly much more than a mere “ideal.”
c) For this reason, the Church avoids any type of rite or sacramental that might contradict this conviction and suggest that something that is not marriage is recognized as marriage.
d) However, in our relationships with people, we must not lose the pastoral charity, which should permeate all our decisions and attitudes. The defence of objective truth is not the only expression of this charity; it also includes kindness, patience, understanding, tenderness, and encouragement. Therefore, we cannot be judges who only deny, reject, and exclude.
e) Therefore, pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or more persons, that do not convey a mistaken concept of marriage. For when a blessing is requested, it is expressing a plea to God for help, a supplication to live better, a trust in a Father who can help us live better.
f) On the other hand, although there are situations that are not morally acceptable from an objective point of view, the same pastoral charity requires us not to simply treat as “sinners” other people whose guilt or responsibility may be mitigated by various factors affecting subjective accountability (Cf. St. John Paul II, Reconciliatio et paenitentia, 17).
g) Decisions that may be part of pastoral prudence in certain circumstances should not necessarily become a norm. That is, it is not appropriate for a Diocese, a Bishops’ Conference, or any other ecclesial structure to constantly and officially enable procedures or rituals for all kinds of matters, because not everything that “is part of a practical discernment in particular circumstances can be elevated to the level of a rule” as this “would lead to an intolerable casuistry” (Amoris laetitia, 304). Canon law should not and cannot cover everything, nor should Episcopal Conferences with their varied documents and protocols claim to do so, as the life of the Church flows through many channels other than normative ones.”
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