For Pope Francis, gay children need the support of their parents

Once once more, the pope made noise by declaring this Wednesday, January 26, during a public audience in the Vatican, that the parents of children with different sexual orientations should accompany them and offer them their support in the face of the difficulties and problems which they may face.

Hiding behind an attitude of condemnation is not Catholic

Pope Francis has shown understanding for parents who may be lost without knowing how to handle differing sexual orientations in their children. But according to the sovereign pontiff, “hiding behind an attitude of condemnation” is not recommended: one should rather support one’s children. Previously, the pope had already said that homosexuality was not a reason to deprive someone of a family, nor to make their life impossible.

A recognition of homosexual love by the Church?

These remarks, broadcast in October 2020 in a documentary-portrait entitled “Francesco”, had caused a controversy, the Church being torn between opposing currents on the question. In Germany, for example, the Love Wins movement fights for homosexual couples to have their love recognized by an ecclesial blessing. This movement has put together a map showing all the churches offering blessings to same-sex couples.

A few months following these declarations, on March 15, 2021, the Vatican recalled that the doctrine of the Catholic Church considers homosexual union as “a choice and a practice of life which cannot be recognized as being objectively ordered to revealed purposes. of God”. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith specified that it is possible for “individual blessings to be granted to persons with homosexual inclinations, who manifest the will to live in fidelity to the designs revealed by God”, while declaring illicit “any form of blessing which tends to recognize their unions”. A distinction between the practice – which remains condemnable for the Church – and the people – who keep all its consideration – often misunderstood and conducive to erroneous interpretations. Pope Francis, reputed to be more progressive than his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II, was able to fuel this confusion at times, through informal declarations that recall the welcome and benevolence that must reign towards homosexual people, while the doctrine remains fundamentally unchanged.