Pope Francis Confuses Catholics

TRANSCRIPT

Ten years of Pope Francis' pontificate have produced a decade of confusion surrounding LGBT ideology. In tonight's In-Depth Report, Church Militant's Kim Tisor highlights some papal statements that left people scratching their heads.

Three months after the commencement of Pope Francis' papacy, he revealed a "gay lobby" was wreaking havoc in the Vatican and said he was "set to fight" it. His declaration seemingly acknowledged the evils of the gay agenda. But the following month during an in-flight presser, he startled Catholics worldwide with an iconic statement that set the tone for his papacy. 

When asked how he intended to confront the network of gay clergy, Pope Francis responded, "Who am I to judge?" Leftist media aggrandized his response, implying Francis supported all things gay. But in light of that, the Holy Father never clarified his words.
 
His ambiguous message was a far cry from that of Pope Benedict XVI, who, in 2005, declared men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" should not become priests.

Francis further rattled the faithful two months later when he told media the Church was "obsessed" with gays, abortion and birth control and claimed it's "not necessary to talk about these issues all the time." Yet these have been the reigning issues in the Church during his pontificate. 

David Muir, host, World News Tonight: "Pope Francis voicing support for same-sex civil unions, the first pope in history to do so." 

He endorsed the unnatural unions in the 2020 documentary Francesco. LGBT ideologue and fellow Jesuit Fr. James Martin has become an outspoken supporter of Pope Francis' seemingly pro-gay statements.

Fr. James Martin, SJ, LGBT apologist: "It's a real way of not only speaking pastorally to this group of people but also speaking lovingly and making them feel more welcome in the Church." 

Pope Francis twice appointed Martin to the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication and granted a private half-hour meeting with him in 2019.

Fr. Martin: "The Holy Father and I spent the entire time talking about LGBT Catholics and about LGBT people worldwide." 

The pope further showed support of Martin's LGBT outreach ministry with letters penned in 2021 and 2022. But on occasion, Pope Francis' messages have aligned with Church doctrine.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he warned a proposed bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt was "an attempt to destroy God's plan." In early 2016, he condemned the teaching of gender ideology in schools, and that same year, he approved a Vatican document reaffirming the ban on gay men in the priesthood.

His most recent public statement on homosexuality is a curious one.

Pope Francis: "Being homosexual is not a crime. It's not a crime." 

He agreed it's a sin but downplayed it, comparing it to the sin of being uncharitable. Such conflicting messages have left many Catholics confused on where Pope Francis stands on LGBT ideology. More concerning is which way he may lean in the future and how that might impact Christ's Church.

Is it any wonder that Time Magazine named Pope Francis "Person of the Year" at the close of 2013? The media giant praised his radical shift in tone and reformist agenda.