Christians Must Apologize to Gay People, the Poor and Exploited Women, Says Pope Francis
Christians must ask for forgiveness from people they have mistreated in the past, including gay people, the poor, and exploited women, Pope Francis said Sunday on a flight from Armenia to Rome.
"I think the Church not only must say it is sorry to the gay person it has offended, but also to the poor, to exploited women" and anyone whom the Church did not defend when it could, Francis told reporters on Sunday, according to the Catholic News Service.
When asked about the terror attack at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where Islamic State supporter Omar Mateen killed 49 people on June 12, the pontiff said, "The Church must say it is sorry for not having behaved as it should many times, many times — when I say the 'Church,' I mean we Christians because the Church is holy; we are the sinners. We Christians must say we are sorry."
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Referring to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Francis said gay people should not be mistreated.
"They must not be discriminated against. They must be respected, pastorally accompanied. We Christians have much to apologize for and not just in this area," he added. "Ask forgiveness and not just say we're sorry. Forgive us, Lord."
Francis was returning from northern Armenia where the Christian population suffered the 1915-1918 genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, where 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
The pope spoke in the city of Gyumr, where after mass he said all people committed to Christian unity "look confidently toward the day when by God's help we shall be united around the altar of Christ's sacrifice in the fullness of eucharistic communion."
"Let us pursue our journey with determination," he said. "Indeed, let us race toward our full communion!"
Francis also prayed that Armenia and Turkey would begin a new process of reconciliation and peace that will look to heal the wounds of the past.
The pontiff, who on numerous occasions has said he fully supports the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman, has in the past also said LGBT people need to be treated with compassion and inclusion.
"You can advise [gay people] to pray, show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it," Francis said in an interview earlier this year. The Church does not exist to condemn people, but to bring about an encounter with the visceral love of God's mercy."
The pope also rejected what he called "a formal adherence to rules and to mental schemes," adding, "mercy is the first attribute of God."
