Pope Francis on gays: "Who am I to judge?"
Pope Francis may have opened the door to accepting gay priests during a news conference Monday after telling reporters he won't judge priests based on their sexual orientation.
Pope Francis on gays: `Who am I to judge?'
"If a person is gay and accepts the lord, and has good will, who am I to judge them?" Francis said.
The Pope also said that if a priest has committed a sin, "the Lord forgives and when the lord forgives, the lord forgets, and this is very important for our lives," which of course still leaves being gay as wrong in the eyes of the church.
So is this really a change?
The comments don't reflect an official change in church policy which opposes homosexuality, but is it a significant shift in tone towards accepting gay priests?
Outfront: Father Gary Meier is an openly gay priest in St. Louis, Brian Finnerty is U.S. Communications Director, OPUS DEI and John Avlon is a CNN political contributor.
On Twitter
What is from God is from God and accepting what is wrong is definitely not acceptable. Thieves are humans and have rights but get jailed so gay priests will defeat the church by the time we know it. Even Christ Jesus told the people 'Go tell that Fox" Be strong holy Father.