Pope Francis recently gave an interview to the Associated Press, He spoke about the Catholic church’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community.
The Pope said that he doesn’t approve of laws that criminalize homosexuality and that God loves all his children equally, but at the same time, he said that the Catholic Church considers homosexuality a sin and an aberration.
Hoping to get young people back to the church, the Pope said that bishops and priests in the Catholic church should welcome LGBTQ+ individuals and shouldn’t shun or criticize them. The Pope admitted that many Catholic bishops and priests in the world support the criminalization of homosexuality. He said church personnel should treat every person with dignity, despite their gender identity or sexual orientation.
The Human Dignity Trust published data showing that more than 65 countries worldwide have laws against homosexuality, and 11 have harsh punishments, even the death penalty. Most countries do not enforce severe penalties, but gay and trans people face harassment, violence and bigotry in their everyday lives.
Eleven US states still have anti-sodomy laws on the books, despite these types of laws being declared unconstitutional in 2003 by the Supreme Court. The states include Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
The United Nations has advocated for an end to the criminalization of homosexuality for a long time, saying that anti-gay laws violate privacy and freedom from discrimination.
Many African and Middle Eastern countries have severe consequences against homosexual behavior.
Although the Pope said homosexuality it is not a crime, he agrees with the Catholic church’s teachings that sex between people of the same sex is “intrinsically disordered.”