Pope Says He Won’t Judge Gay Priests
Pope Francis is reaching out to gays, saying he won't judge priests for their sexual orientation. In a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference the pope says, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?"
Pope Francis waves from the Popemobile on his way to attend the Via Crucis on Copacabana Beach during World Youth Day
Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis has been much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.
Francis' remarks came today during a plane journey back to the Vatican from his first foreign trip in Brazil.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)
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