Pope Francis, the head of the Anglican Communion, and a top Presbyterian minister have jointly condemned the criminalization of homosexuality and said gay people should be welcomed into their churches.
Three Christian leaders spoke on LGBTQ rights during an unprecedented joint Hawaii news conference on Sunday while returning home from South Sudan, where they participated in a three-day ecumenical pilgrimage to try to advance the young country’s peace process.
He was asked about Francis’ recent comments to The Associated Press, in which he declared that laws criminalizing gay people were “unjust” and that “being gay is not a crime.”
South Sudan is one of 67 countries that criminalize homosexuality, 11 of which carry the death penalty. LGBTQ advocates say that even where such laws are not enforced, they contribute to an environment of harassment, discrimination and violence.
“If he (Pope Francis) is coming here and he tells us that same-sex, homosexual marriage is legal, we will say no,” South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael Makui Lueth said further after the Pope’s AP interview. . his visit.
On Sunday, Francis referred to his Jan. 24 comments to the AP and reiterated that such laws are “unjust.” He also reiterated previous comments that parents should never throw their gay children out of the house.
He said that it is a sin to condemn someone like this. “Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice.”
“People with homosexual tendencies are God’s children. God loves them. God supports them,” he said.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, recalled that LGBTQ rights were high on the agenda of the Church of England, and said he would quote the Pope’s own words when the issue is discussed at the church’s upcoming General Synod.
“I wish I could have spoken as eloquently and clearly as the Pope. I completely agree with every word he said,” Welby said.
Recently, the Church of England decided to give its blessing for same-sex civil marriages but said same-sex couples cannot marry in their churches. The Vatican prohibits both gay marriages and blessings for same-sex unions.
Welby told reporters that the issue of criminalization had been raised at the last two Lambeth conferences of the wider Anglican Communion, which includes churches in Africa and the Middle East where such anti-gay laws are most common and often receive support from conservative bishops. .
The wider Lambeth convention has opposed decriminalization twice, “but it hasn’t really changed a lot of people’s minds,” Welby said.
RT. Rev Ian Greenshields, Presbyterian Moderator of the Church of Scotland who also attended the pilgrimage and news conference, offered an observation.
He said, “There is nowhere in my reading of the four Gospels where I see Jesus turning anyone away.” “Nowhere in the four Gospels do I see anything other than Jesus expressing love to everyone he meets.
“And as Christians, it is the only expression we can possibly give to any human being, under any circumstances.”
The Church of Scotland allows same-sex marriage. Catholic teaching holds that homosexual people should be treated with dignity and respect, but that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered”.