The Catholic church and other Christian communities must apologize to gay people and to many groups they have let down or offended throughout history, Pope Francis has said.
In a press conference Sunday on the flight back to Rome after his weekend trip to Armenia, the pontiff said bluntly: "The church must say it's sorry for not having comported itself well many times, many times."
"I believe that the church not only must say it's sorry ... to this person that is gay that it has offended," said the pope. "But it must say it's sorry to the poor, also, to mistreated women, to children forced to work."
"When I say the church: Christians," Francis clarified. "The church is healthy. We are the sinners."
As I have pointed out before I am very reticent to trust this Pope on the things that he says, but damn I have to say that this is a very powerful statement, And one that I would really like to see at least Catholics around the world take to heart.
There is indeed quite a lot for the Catholic church to apologize for, as it has caused great harm in many places around the world.
Perhaps, just perhaps, this is the first step towards taking real responsibility for some of the most horrific policies of the church and a step toward having more inclusive policies moving forward.
Hey, I can dream.
Source http://ift.tt/2938IKK
