Pope
Francis (front) and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone step off a plane after
returning from their trip to Brazil at Ciampino airport, south of Rome,
today. Photograph: Reuters
Pope
Francis, in some of the most compassionate words from any pontiff on
gays, said they should not be judged or marginalised and should be
integrated into society, but he reaffirmed Church teaching that
homosexual acts are a sin.
In
a broad-ranging 80-minute conversation with journalists on the plane
bringing him back from a week-long visit to Brazil, Pope Francis also
said the Roman Catholic Church’s ban on women priests was definitive,
although he would like them to have more leadership roles in
administration and pastoral activities.
Pope
Francis defended gays from discrimination in what was his first news
conference since being elected pontiff in March, but also referred to
the Catholic Church’s universal Catechism, which says that while
homosexual orientation is not sinful homosexual acts are.
“If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?” the pope said.
“The
Catechism of the Catholic church explains this very well. It says they
should not be marginalised because of this (orientation) but that they
must be integrated into society,” he said, speaking in Italian.
“The
problem is not having this orientation. We must be brothers. The
problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people,
political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse
problem,” he said.
The pope was answering a question about reports of a “gay lobby” in the Vatican.
“You
see a lot written about the gay lobby. I still have not seen anyone in
the Vatican with an identity card saying they are gay,” he joked.
Addressing
the issue of women priests, the pope said, “The Church has spoken and
says ‘no’ ... that door is closed.” It was the first time he had spoken
in public on the subject.
“We
cannot limit the role of women in the Church to altar girls or the
president of a charity, there must be more ...,” he said in answer to a
question during a remarkably frank conversation with Vatican
journalists.
“But
with regards to the ordination of women, the Church has spoken and says
no. Pope John Paul said so with a formula that was definitive. That
door is closed,” he said referring to a document by the late pontiff
which said the ban was part of the infallible teaching of the Church.
The
Church teaches that it cannot ordain women because Jesus willingly
chose only men as his apostles. Advocates of a female priesthood say he
was acting according to the customs of his times.
Many
in the Church, even those who oppose a female priesthood, say women
should be given leadership roles in the Church and the Vatican
administration.
Francis
arrived back in Rome on Monday after a triumphant week-long tour of
Brazil which climaxed with a huge gathering on Rio de Janeiro’s famed
Copacabana beach for a world Catholic youth festival which organisers
estimated to have attracted more than 3 million people.