"All Christians should apologise to homosexuals," pontiff says

yinka ogunlami

June 27, 2016 3:58 PM

"I will repeat what the catechism of the Church says, that they [homosexuals] should not be discriminated against, that they should be respected, accompanied pastorally."

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Pope Francis while speaking to reporters on his plane returning from Armenia stated that the Roman Catholic Church needs to apologise and seek forgiveness of the homosexuals for the church treated them in.

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The pontiff made this statement after he was asked if he agreed with the statements made by ReinhardMarx, a senior Cardinal who said the Church must say sorry to homosexuals.

He stressed that the Catechism says that no one should be discriminated against and that they should be respected and guarded spiritually.

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"I will repeat what the catechism of the Church says, that they [homosexuals] should not be discriminated against, that they should be respected, accompanied pastorally.

"I think that the Church not only should apologize... to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologise to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by [being forced to] work. It must apologise for having blessed so many weapons.

"The Church must ask forgiveness for not behaving many times -- when I say the Church, I mean Christians! The Church is holy, we are sinners!

"One can condemn, but not for theological reasons, but for reasons of political behavior...Certain manifestations are a bit too offensive for others, no?

"But these are things that have nothing to do with the problem. The problem is a person that has a condition, that has good will and who seeks God, who are we to judge? And we must accompany them well.

"There are traditions in some countries, some cultures, that have a different mentality about this question (homosexuals)" and there are "some (gay) demonstrations that are too offensive for some."

During the pontiff’s visit in Armenia, he described the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman Turkish rule as a genocide.

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