Mixed Reaction in Montreal after Pope Reaches out to Gays

By Monique Muise
Montreal Gazette
July 29, 2013

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/new-era-for-the-vatican/index.html/Montreal+reaction+mixed+after+pope+reaches+gays/8722817/story.html

Pope Francis speaks during a news conference held aboard the papal flight on their way back to Italy upon departure from Brazil, on July 28.

Gay-rights activists in Montreal reacted with a mixture of jubilation and caution on Monday after the head of the Roman Catholic Church stunned a plane full of reporters by declaring that he would not judge priests for their sexual orientation.

On an overnight flight from Rio de Janeiro to Rome, Pope Francis defied centuries of anti-gay rhetoric within the church when he publicly declared that “if a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?”

The pontiff then went a step farther, saying that every human being deserves respect, whatever their sexual orientation.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says (homosexuals) should not be marginalized because of this (orientation) but that they must be integrated into society,” he said, speaking in Italian.

Martine Roy, president of Montreal-based advocacy group Fondation Emergence, was stunned by the pope’s words.

“It’s a huge step,” she told The Gazette Monday afternoon. “I think it must have taken a lot of courage ... so for me, it’s a very good move. I think we need to embrace it.”

Roy added that Francis’s comments may help Catholics who identify as gay, lesbian or transgender to feel more welcome at Sunday mass.

“It must be a conflict to go and pray and to feel that you’re being judged,” she noted. “I’m sure (the comments) will attract people to go back to church.”

While making the case against marginalization, however, the pope also seemed to speak out against the gay lobby during the impromptu mid-flight news conference, which lasted almost 90 minutes.

“The problem is not having this orientation,” he was quoted as saying. “We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.”

But Roy said she believes the pontiff was referring specifically to the gay lobby within the church itself, and not to activists like herself trying to improve the lives of LGBT people.

“I don’t feel touched by it,” she said. “He’s saying that within the Vatican, that type of lobbying has no place. That’s his way of seeing it.”

Gay rights activist and Gazette contributor Richard Burnett, however, was less optimistic about the pope’s words.

“I say, put it in writing, rescind all of the Vatican’s anti-gay policies, then I’ll scream ‘Hallelujah!’ ” he said. “But until that happens, this gesture doesn’t mean a goddam thing.”

There was also backlash on social media on Monday over the pope’s answers to questions involving women. Although Francis acknowledged that the church must develop a more profound role for women, he stated unequivocally that “the door is closed” to ordaining female priests.

For Roy, however, it’s clear that changing 2,000 years’ worth of tradition and entrenched beliefs isn’t going to happen overnight.

“It will take time,” she said. “But this is a great step for us.”

Contact: mmuise@montrealgazette.com