Pope says gays should not be marginalized
Pope Francis has said gay people should
not be marginalized but integrated into society, in some of the most
conciliatory remarks by a pontiff on the issue of homosexuality.
In a broad-ranging 80-minute conversation with
journalists on the plane bringing him back from a week-long visit to Brazil on Sunday night, he also said he could not judge gay
priests, an emotive topic that divides Catholic opinion.
But the 76-year-old Argentine did reaffirm Church
teaching that homosexual acts are a sin.
Francis stressed the Roman Catholic Church's ban on
women priests was definitive, although he would like them to have more
leadership roles in administration and pastoral activities.
And he expressed pain over scandals at the Vatican
bank during a remarkably forthright press conference, his first since being
elected in March to replace Benedict XVI.
His forthright tone and readiness to field so many
questions underlined Francis' desire to do things differently. He has eschewed
many trappings of the papacy, championed the poor and tackled some of the
biggest scandals facing the Church head-on.
Francis said there were saints in the Holy See but
also "those who are not very saintly".
The airborne encounter with journalists covered issues
as varied as the pope's insistence on low-key security to his desire to unlock
the shackles of the Vatican to go for walks.
The pope arrived back in Rome on Monday after a
triumphant tour of Brazil, which climaxed with a huge gathering on Rio de
Janeiro's famed Copacabana beach for a Catholic youth festival that organizers
said attracted more than 3 million people.
"WHO AM I TO JUDGE?"
In response to a question about reports of a
"gay lobby" in the Vatican, after it suffered a string of scandals
over pedophile priests and corruption in the administration of the Holy See,
Francis said:
"If a person is gay and seeks God and has good
will, who am I to judge him?
"The problem is not having this orientation. We
must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of
greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the
worst problem," he said.
"You see a lot written about the gay lobby. I
still have not seen anyone in the Vatican with an identity card saying they are
gay," he joked.
Francis defended all gays from discrimination but
also referred to the Catholic Church's universal Catechism, which says that
while homosexual orientation is not sinful, homosexual acts are.
"The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains
this very well. It says they should not be marginalized because of this
(orientation) but that they must be integrated into society," he said,
speaking in Italian and using the word "gay", instead of
"homosexual" which previous pontiffs mainly used.
Francis also responded to part of a question about
Monsignor Battista Ricca, who Francis named to a position overseeing the
Vatican bank and who Italian media reports say was involved in gay affairs when
he was a diplomat in Latin America.
The pope said a "quick investigation"
concluded that the accusations were unfounded.
'NO' TO WOMEN PRIESTS IS DEFINITIVE
Addressing the issue of women priests, the pope said,
"The Church has spoken and says 'no' ... that door is closed." It was
the first time he had spoken in public on the subject.
"We cannot limit the role of women in the Church
to altar girls or the president of a charity, there must be more ...," he
said in answer to a question.
"But with regards to the ordination of women, the
Church has spoken and says 'no'. Pope John Paul said so with a formula that was
definitive. That door is closed," he said, referring to a document by the
late pontiff which said the ban was part of the infallible teaching of the
Church.
The Church teaches that it cannot ordain women because
Jesus willingly chose only men as his apostles. Advocates of a female
priesthood say he was acting according to customs of his times.
Many in the Church, even those who oppose a female
priesthood, say women should be given leadership roles in the Church and the
Vatican administration.
The long session on the plane was highly unusual in
the history of the modern papacy for both its candor and breadth.
Unlike his predecessor Benedict, who knew in advance
the few questions journalists would be allowed to ask, Francis, the first
non-European pope in 1,300 years, imposed no restrictions as he fielded 21
questions.
He said his week-long trip to Brazil left him very
fatigued but "did me a lot of spiritual good".
He spoke of reforms he had begun in the Vatican,
which has been tarnished by a series of corruption scandals, including at the
Vatican bank, which is the target of several Italian money laundering
investigations.
Francis said the bank must become "honest and
transparent" and that he will listen to the advice of a commission he has
set up on whether it can be reformed or should be closed altogether.
Francis referred directly to Monsignor Nunzio
Scarano, a Vatican prelate arrested last month on suspicion of attempting to
smuggle 20 million euros into Italy from Switzerland.
"There are many people (in the Vatican) who are
saints but there are those who are not very saintly ... and it pains me when
this happens. There is this monsignor in jail. He didn't go to jail because he
resembled the blessed Imelda," he said, using a Latin American expression
meaning a person is no saint.
Francis, who in Brazil chose to ride in an open-sided
popemobile or a simple Fiat, said he was not concerned about the reduced
security he has chosen compared to his predecessors.
"Security lies in trusting people. It is true
that there is always a danger that a crazy person might try to do something,
but there is also the Lord," he said, adding that he believed it would be
even more crazy to be kept away from people.
Vatican security was greatly boosted after Pope John
Paul was shot and nearly killed by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca on May 13,
1981 while he was riding in an open jeep in St. Peter's Square.
