Last Update: January 29, 2023, 00:04 IST
Pope Francis speaks during an interview at the Vatican. (Image: Reuters / File)
In the letter published on Saturday, Francis said in the interview that he “wanted to clarify that it (homosexuality) is not a crime, to emphasize that criminalization is neither good nor appropriate”.
Pope Francis said in a letter published on Saturday that those who criminalize homosexuality are “mistaken”.
The pope said in an interview published Wednesday that being gay “is not a crime…but it is a sin.”
In the letter published on Saturday, which was written to a Jesuit priest, Francis said in the interview he wanted to “make it clear that it (homosexuality) is not a crime, to emphasize that criminalization is neither a good thing nor a good thing”. is nor is it fair”.
“When I said it was a sin, I was only referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside marriage is a sin,” he wrote.
The pontiff was responding to a letter from American priest James Martin, who sought clarity on comments made by the pope during an interview with the Associated Press news agency.
The issue of homosexuality has created a major rift between modernists and conservatives in the Catholic Church.
Francis, 86, has stirred controversy with his relatively liberal approach to sexual orientation since being appointed pope in 2013.
Francis’ letter, written in Spanish, was translated into English and published by the website Outreach, a Catholic LGBTQ resource of which Martin is editor.
The Pope wrote, “Whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality, I would say is wrong.”
In an AP interview, Francis had said that being gay was “not a crime”.
“It is not a crime … but it is a sin,” he said, “it is also a sin to be lacking charity with one another.”
In his letter to Martin, Francis said that his comment about “sin” was referring to the overall moral teaching within the Catholic Church.
“When I said it was a sin, I was only referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside marriage is a sin,” he wrote.
“Of course, one must also consider circumstances that may have mitigated or eliminated the blame.”
“As you can see, I was repeating something in general. I should have said ‘It is a sin, as is any sexual activity outside marriage.'”
The Pope’s comments on homosexuality come ahead of a trip next week to Africa, where the criminalization of homosexuality is common.
Francis plans to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan during his six-day visit to the continent.
Although Francis has often received gay people and instructed that they should be given a liberal welcome within the church, he is consistent with Catholic teaching on marriage.
It defines the union between a man and a woman in order to procreate.
In an earlier letter to Martin in June 2021, Francis thanked the priesthood for reaching out to LGBTQ people, stressed the inclusive nature of Catholicism and wrote that God “loves each of his children”.
Months earlier, the Vatican had confirmed that it considers homosexuality a “sin” and said gays are unable to receive the sacrament of marriage.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)