Pope tells parents of gay children to accompany them, ‘not hide behind an attitude of condemnation’
Pope Francis on Wednesday told parents of gay children to accompany — and not condemn — them.
Speaking off the cuff during his weekly general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, Francis’s remarks came as he was teaching about St. Joseph, the father of Jesus.
During the address, the 85-year-old pontiff encouraged all parents to turn to St. Joseph for guidance when faced with situations they may not expect for their children — including those with gay kids, which he mentioned after citing a list of “children’s problems.”
“And I am thinking, too, of parents in the face of their children’s problems: Children with many illnesses, children who are sick, even with permanent maladies — how much pain is there! — parents who see different sexual orientations in their children,” he said, adding that he was also thinking “on how to deal with this and accompany their children and not hide in an attitude of condemnation.”
After citing other “parental problems,” such as parents who have to cope with children who are sick, or “who get into mischief and end up in a car accident,” as well as “parents who see their children not progressing in school and don’t know how,” he urged mothers and fathers to think about how they can help them.
“And to these parents I say: don’t be scared. Yes, there is pain. A lot. But think of the Lord, think about how Joseph solved the problems, and ask Joseph to help you,” Francis said. “Never condemn a child.’
While Francis has signaled some degree of openness toward LGBTQ Catholics — when compared to his predecessors — in March 2021 he allowed the publication of a Vatican document declaring that the Catholic Church wouldn’t bless same-sex unions because God “cannot bless sin.”
Last month, a high-ranked Vatican official apologized for bringing “pain to the entire LGBTQ community who once again felt left out,” after deleting a link to a video by an LGBTQ Catholic group from the Synod of Bishops’ website.
The video by New Way Ministry, a U.S.-based organization that advocates for justice and equality for LGBTQ Catholics, had been removed from the site ahead of a large meeting in Rome in 2023, closing a two-year process of listening and dialogue within the Roman Catholic Church.
“I feel that I must apologize to all LGBTQ people and to the members of New Ways Ministry for the pain caused,” Thierry Bonaventura, the communication manager of the General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, said in a statement.
