[Pope Francis] is known to distrust the mainstream media and had told journalists en route to Rio that he greatly disliked giving news conferences because he found them “tiresome.”For background, read Pope Francis Says Gay Agenda is Work of the Devil
-- Associated Press
And also read Pope Francis Cracks Down on American Liberal Nuns, Priests
UPDATE 11/4/13: Vatican denies Pope changing doctrine on marriage (see update article below)
UPDATE 11/17/14: Pope Refutes Homosexualists by Saying Kids Need Mom & Dad
UPDATE 1/21/14: Pope's New Spanish Cardinal Says 'Gay Gene' is a Defect
UPDATE 3/6/14: Again, Media Report Pope Open to Homosexual Civil Unions
-- From "Pope Says He Will Not Judge Gay Priests" by Rachel Donadio, New York Times 7/29/13
His comments came in an unprecedented 80-minute news conference with reporters on his plane returning from a papal visit to Brazil for World Youth Day, in which he spoke openly about everything from the troubled Vatican Bank to the greater role that he believed women should have in the Catholic Church.
Reporters on the plane said that the pope had been candid and high-spirited and didn’t dodge a single question, even thanking the person who asked about reports of a “gay lobby” inside the Vatican, and about Italian press reports that one of the advisers he had appointed to look into the Vatican Bank had been accused of having gay trysts.
Francis said he had investigated the reports and found them groundless. He added that while such a lobby would be an issue, he did not have anything against gays and that their sins should be forgiven, media reports said. He said that while homosexuals should be treated with dignity, using sexual orientation for blackmail or pressure was a different matter.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Pope Signals Openness to Gay Priests" by Stacy Meichtry, Wall Street Journal 7/29/13
Pope Francis opened the door Sunday to greater acceptance of gay priests inside the ranks of Roman Catholicism as he returned to the Vatican from his maiden trip overseas.
"Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" the pontiff said, speaking in Italian. "You can't marginalize these people."
. . . While criminal conduct—such as the sexual abuse of minors—should be punished, sins should be forgiven once a person confesses, the pope said.
"When the Lord forgives, He forgets," Pope Francis said.
Women, he said, couldn't be ordained as priests, because the issue had been "definitively" settled by Pope John Paul II. However, the pope wanted to develop a "theology of the woman," in order to expand and deepen their involvement in the life of the church.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Pope Francis reaches out to gays, says he won’t judge gay priests" by The Associated Press 7/29/13
Pope Francis reached out to gays on Monday, saying he wouldn’t judge priests for their sexual orientation . . .
His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.
Stressing that Catholic social teaching that calls for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized, Francis said it was something else entirely to conspire to use private information for blackmail or to exert pressure.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Pope answers questions about Curia reforms, gay lobby" by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service 7/29/13
The media only writes about the sinners and the scandals, he said, but that's normal, because "a tree that falls makes more noise than a forest that grows."
". . . if a person, whether a layperson, priest or sister, goes to confession and converts, the Lord forgives. And when the Lord forgives, he forgets. This is important," he said, because those who want the Lord to forget their sins should forget those of others.
"St. Peter committed one of the biggest sins ever -- he denied Christ -- and he made him pope," Pope Francis said.
"A gay person who is seeking God, who is of good will -- well, who am I to judge him?" the pope said. "The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says one must not marginalize these persons, they must be integrated into society. The problem isn't this (homosexual) orientation -- we must be like brothers and sisters. The problem is something else, the problem is lobbying either for this orientation or a political lobby or a Masonic lobby."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
UPDATE 11/4/13: From "Vatican rejects claims of Pope 'polling' Catholics on marriage" by Catholic News Agency
The director of the Holy See press office has clarified that Pope Francis has not presented a questionnaire to Catholics worldwide to consult on homosexual unions and divorced persons, as some news outlets have reported.
This assertion, made by Italian daily il Fatto Quotidiano among others, is “not true” and in fact the basis is “only a document sent to bishops' conferences throughout the world by the secretary general of the synod of bishops, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, in preparation for the synod of bishops,” Fr. Federico Lombardi told CNA Nov. 2.
He added that the synod, which will be held Oct. 5-19, 2014, will be dedicated to “the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization.” The synod will focus on pastoral responses to the problems of divorce and gay marriage, as well as other challenges to the health of families.
But on Nov. 1, the National Catholic Reporter characterized the document sent to bishops' conferences as “a Vatican survey asking (Catholics') opinions on church teachings.”
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
Also read Vatican 'Gay Mafia' Reports; Cardinal Resigns as well as U.S. Bishops Battle ‘Lavender Mafia’ Priests
In addition, read Archbishop Blames Pro-homosexual Culture for Priest Abuse because Catholic Sex Abuse is a Homosexual Crisis
