Pope Francis, the head of the Anglican Communion, and the leaders of Protestant churches in England and Scotland have denounced the criminalization of homosexuality.
The three Christian leaders, who spoke on LGBTQ rights during an unprecedented joint airborne news conference Sunday, said gay people should be welcomed by their churches.
The church leaders spoke after returning home from South Sudan, where they took part in a three-day ecumenical pilgrimage to try to nudge forward the young country’s peace process.
Speaking to reporters after the visit to Africa, Pope Francis said such anti-gay laws were a sin and “an injustice”, stressing that people with “homosexual tendencies” are children of God and should be welcomed by their churches.
“To condemn someone like this is a sin,” he said. “Criminalizing people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice.”.
“People with homosexual tendencies are children of God. God Loves them. God accompanies them,” the pope added.
Pope Francis suggested that 50 countries criminalize LGBT people “in one way or another”, and about 10 have laws carrying the death penalty.
His comments were backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Archbishop Welby and Greenshields praised the Pope’s comments during a news conference with reporters on board the papal plane as they travelled from Juba to Rome.
“I entirely agree with every word he said there,” said Archbishop Welby, noting that the Anglican church had its own internal divisions over gay rights.
Expressing his own support, Dr Greenshields referred to the Bible, saying: “There is nowhere in the four Gospels that I see anything other than Jesus expressing love to whoever he meets.
“And as Christians that is the only expression that we can give to any human being in any circumstance”.
Last month the Church of England said it would refuse to allow same-sex couples to be married in its churches. The Vatican forbids both gay marriage and blessings for same-sex unions.
The Church of Scotland allows same-sex marriages. Catholic teaching holds that gay people must be treated with dignity and respect, but that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
KanyiDaily recalls that Pope Francis had endorsed gay marriage, saying he thinks same-sex couples should be allowed to have a civil union.
