Pope Francis in CNN political race coverage

On Civil Rights: Christians owe apologies to gays and others

Pope Francis said that Christians owe apologies to gays and others who have been offended or exploited by the church, remarks that some Catholics hailed as a breakthrough in the church's tone toward homosexuality. "The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that they must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected and accompanied pastorally," Francis said. "The Church must ask forgiveness for not behaving many times--when I say the Church, I mean Christians! The Church is holy, we are sinners!"

The Pope spoke expansively, saying the church should seek forgiveness for a number of historical slights: "I believe that the church not only should apologize to the person who is gay whom it has offended," he added, "but has to apologize to the poor, to exploited women, to children exploited for labor."

The Pope's comments came in response to a question about a German Cardinal who said the Catholic Church should apologize for being "very negative" about gays.

Source: CNN coverage of Papal press conference Jun 26, 2016

The above quotations are from CNN political race coverage. Click here for other excerpts from CNN political race coverage. Click here for other excerpts by Pope Francis. Click here for a profile of Pope Francis.
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Page last updated: Oct 26, 2024