Written by Kaherdin Clohan Bonnet (News Writer)
“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to have is a civil union law—that way, they are legally covered. I supported that,” said Pope Francies during an interview for the documentary, “Frencesco,” which is about the Pope’s life and teachings.
Whether you’re Christian, LGBTQ, or neither, this newfound inclusivity is fantastic news, as it has been known that many churches across not only the country but the world have had plenty of bias and descrimination towards people in groups such as LGBTQ. This has been noted as a historic shift for those who are not only LGBTQ, but those who are LGBTQ and a part of the catholic church, as the religion itself has persecuted such people relentlessly not all that long ago.
Sadly, however, this doesn’t mean the discrimination is over, as no matter what the head of the Catholic Church has to say, some people will still ignore it, though they call themselves loving people. Just like the legalization of gay marriage in the United States didn’t eliminate predjeduce, neither will this. However, that doesn’t mean that those major things are any less important. They were both big steps in the right direction, considering how far we’ve come, but that means we still have some ways to go.
“What the pope has done today in these comments is he’s given a permission slip to Catholics and to Catholic leaders who want to take that extra step, who want to be pastoral, as he’s been, in affirming LGBT people and their families and their loves, and that’s no small thing. We have to remember that there are places all around the world where to be gay is to be thrown out of your family, where it’s to be beaten, where to be trans is to take your life in your hands, and so the pope’s statements, I think, will have an important effect and need to be celebrated that way,” said Patrick Hornbeck, a theology professor at Fordham university, in response to what Pope Francis had to say about same sex civil unions.
As stated before, the discrimination is not yet over, Francis DeBernardo, executive director of an LGBTQ group of religious people finds such endorsement to be absolutely “historic,” as he put it, because the catholic church has had very anti-gay ideologies in the recent past and present, which leads to LGBTQ people finding they’re not comfortable with going to their church, even though they believe in the same religion as those who selfishly and discriminately don’t wish them to be there.
The Claw 