What has Pope Francis said on LGBTQ+ issues?
Pope Francis has described laws criminalising LGBTQ+ people as a sin and an injustice, saying the criminalisation of homosexuality is “a problem that cannot be ignored”. “Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God.
God loves them. God accompanies them … condemning a person like this is a sin. Criminalising people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice,” he said on Sunday.
Sixty-six U.N. member states criminalise same-sex relations, data from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) shows.
Here is a timeline of other key statements by Pope Francis and the Vatican on LGBTQ+ issues: 2010 – As head of the Roman Catholic Church in Argentina, the Pope, then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, says gay marriage is “a strategy to destroy God’s plan”, unsuccessfully urging lawmakers to vote against legalising it.
