Dear Pope Francis: If you’re going to be an asshole, own it. Don’t beat around the bush, and don’t try to spray air freshener on it. Have the courage of your convictions and just be an asshole.
Last week Pope Francis made headlines by declaring that “Being homosexual isn’t a crime.” He went on to say that his bishops need to update their attitudes to recognize the dignity of everyone, and added that the bishops who didn’t agree “have to have a process of conversion.” Sounds great, right?
Then, just as the gay community started celebrating, the Pope clarified: homosexuality isn’t a crime, but it’s still a sin — because only married people can have sex, and the Roman Catholic Church bans gay marriage. In other words, there’s really nothing new at all. LGBTQ people can’t marry, can’t love whomever they want, and if they do, God’s punishment awaits. To be sure, he’s criticizing countries and states that make LGBTQ sexuality criminal, and that’s good. But should we give him credit for something the church should have done a century ago? Not in my book.
But wait, there’s more. The Church is at odds with itself. Twelve years ago, I wrote this about his predecessor:
Sadly, but not surprisingly, Pope Benedict XVI has just reconfirmed that homosexuality can never be “morally just.”
All of you gays and lesbians, sorry, but your sexuality is “against the nature that God originally willed.” It’s still an abomination.
But wait, there’s good news! Your God-given sexual preference is “a great trial.” God has singled you out, sort of like Job. Live a life that sucks, and you’ll be rewarded! The Pope himself said so!
Can’t the Church make up its mind?
WTF is Pope Francis trying to achieve with this “new” declaration? It’s obvious: he’s trying to fix a horrible situation that his organization created in the first place. He’s saying, “They’re not criminals,” but in fact Catholic doctrine was a huge factor behind gay-criminalization laws worldwide, and it continues to be even today.
It reminds me a lot of Donald Trump working the MAGA crowd into a fury then claiming he had nothing to do with the riots. Dear Pope Francis: You can’t create the situation and then criticize those who followed your teachings.
If Francis really wants to rid the world of the demonization and criminalization of homosexuality, he needs to start at the root of the problem, and accept everyone’s sexuality without reserve. After all, if God created a gay person, who is the Pope to say God was wrong?
Drawing: “Papa Francesco designed by Bogdan Solomenco“, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International; “Rainbow Circle” by Magurale, Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, modified by the author, modifications licensed under the original license.
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