Pope Francis says it is not his place to judge homosexuals and they should not be marginalized, but the pontiff also condemned the gay lobby as a “serious problem”.
The remarks – made to journalists as he flew back to Rome from a trip to Brazil – appeared to be more conciliatory towards homosexuals than his predecessor Benedict XVI.
“If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?” he said.
“The problem is not having this orientation, it is lobbying. That’s the most serious problem I think.”
Pope Francis had to field questions about Battista Ricca, who was appointed by the pontiff to a key position at the troubled Vatican bank, but is embroiled in allegations that he had gay relationships with male prostitutes.
The Pope said he had ordered a “brief investigation but we found nothing on him”.
“I have not seen anyone at the Vatican who is registered as gay on his identity card. We acknowledge that there are (gays),” he said.
Nevertheless, “the catechism of the Catholic Church says clearly that we must not marginalise these people who should be integrated in the society.”
The Italian weekly L’Espresso this month reported that Mr Ricca had gay relationships during his time at the Vatican embassy of Montevideo in Uruguay as well as an affair with a Swiss guard which ultimately saw him sent back to Rome in disgrace in 2010.
He was once left badly beaten after trawling notorious gay hangouts and also had to be rescued from an elevator in which he was stuck while he was with a young gigolo he had invited to the embassy for the night.
Editors Note.....The Present Pope is preparing to swing open the doors of the Catholic Church to the whole world. When the time arrives the whole world will be invited to join the new world-wide church that is on the near horizon. What name will be given to it we do not know, we do know that it will include all the peoples of the world.