February 15, 2015

Who the heck knows what the pope thinks of gays?

I ran across something today that Pope Francis said. I found it in HuffPo. I detest HP but you sometimes find things there that are ignored elsewhere. For instance, these remarks by the pope:
Throughout his 15-minute homily, Francis repeatedly slammed the “narrow and prejudiced mentality” of believers who cling to religious laws out of fear. They wind up rejecting the very people they should be ministering to, he said, which means anyone on the margins of society “who encounters discrimination.”
This confuses me. Obviously, he means gay people, along with others - but surely, gay people are covered in that statement. As I say, I find this confusing.

Coming on the heels of his recent anti-gay tour in Slovakia, I was convinced that the pope's upcoming tour of the US was going to be The Anti-Gay Tour of 2015. What brings this to mind is the stated purpose of the American visit: to "celebrate the family".

As a longtime Catholic-watcher, I've learned that when the Catholic church says "family", they mean "everyone but gay people". In fact, it seems the word family can literally be translated (in Vatican-speak) as anti-gay.

Yet here he is, talking to his new cardinals (many of whom come from viciously anti-gay pockets of the globe) and seemingly telling them (in code words) not to spit on gays. But, but...didn't he just spit on gays in Slovakia?

The poster you see at this link pretty much tells the tale. Here it is, in case you're too lazy to click on things:

In this poster, he tells his minions to vote "yes" in a referendum meant to restrict gay rights. Ahem. This little episode counts. It seems the pope isn't down with gay rights in any way. So what will he do in New York and Philadelphia?

Who the heck knows?

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