Pope Francis Shares Rare Pro-Gay Sentiment

Pope Francis In Prato / Image via Wikimedia Commons

Last weekend, Pope Francis gave a speech to an international penal law association. The religious leader noted how hateful speech and laws against “people with homosexual tendencies” mirrored Nazi rule from the last century.

“It is not coincidental that at times there is a resurgence of symbols typical of Nazism,” Francis said in the address to participants.

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“And I must confess to you that when I hear a speech (by) someone responsible for order or for a government, I think of speeches by Hitler in 1934, 1936,” he said, departing from his prepared address.

“With the persecution of Jews, gypsies, and people with homosexual tendencies, today these actions are typical (and) represent ‘par excellence’ a culture of waste and hate. That is what was done in those days and today it is happening again.”

While this support of LGBTQ people, gypsies, and Jewish people is a happy surprise, it’s less of a surprise for the latter group. In fact, Francis has lately been expressing his distaste for rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

This past Wednesday, the religious leader also improvised away from his prepared speech at a general audience meeting while discussing the matter.

“Today the habit of persecuting Jews is beginning to be reborn,” he noted. “Brothers and sisters: this is neither human nor Christian; the Jews are our brothers and sisters and must not be persecuted! Understood?”

Source: Reuters, PBS

4 thoughts on “Pope Francis Shares Rare Pro-Gay Sentiment”

  1. Hi PerryG, just to clarify the Pope didn’t say they were Nazis. The quote above, ““It is not coincidental that at times there is a resurgence of symbols typical of Nazism,”. Definition of “typical” is ‘having the distinctive qualities of a particular type of person or thing’. You’re correct in that the author’s writing may have made it sound different.
    Caution on true Nazis are pure evil. Many of these “pure evil people” came from a highly developed society, granted crushed by their losses and settlements of WWI, were education, living in an industrious nation. They did evil things or perhaps more accurately for most of the Germans, allowed/turned a blind eye to evil.
    I point this out as in today’s in American and it sounds like across Europe we are seeing similar thoughts and actions. Our great challenge maybe will we be like most of the Germans during WWII or will we stand up against such terror. History is a great teacher, both in good and bad examples.

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  2. THE POPE IS RIGHT! “With the persecution of Jews, gypsies, and people with homosexual tendencies, today these actions are typical (and) represent ‘par excellence’ a culture of waste and hate. That is what was done in those days and today it is happening again.”

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  3. TOTALLY TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE PONTIFF! “With the persecution of Jews, gypsies, and people with homosexual tendencies, today these actions are typical (and) represent ‘par excellence’ a culture of waste and hate. That is what was done in those days and today it is happening again.”

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  5. Sorry, but they’re not Nazis. Nazis are Nazis. These folks are a**holes, to be sure. But, they ate not Nazis. True Nazis are pure evil.

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