Pope Francis has won praise and support from people around the world after making positive comments about LGBT kids.
The Pope has consistently been accepting of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people since his ascension to the Catholic Church’s highest power in 2013.
According to America magazine, His Holiness met with parents and kids at an Italian LGBT organisation called Tenda di Gionata.
Pope Francis told them: “God loves your children as they are. The church loves your children as they are because they are children of God.”
The church leader was given a book that detailed how LGBTQ children struggle and have difficult experiences with the Catholic Church, as well as a t-shirt with a rainbow on the front that also said ‘In Love There Is No Fear’.
Credit: PA
Tenda di Gionata’s vice president Mara Grassi hopes the offer will create a ‘bridge’ between the LGBT community and the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis has been a big advocate for people with diverse backgrounds remaining in or joining the church.
Back in 2013, whilst he was visiting Brazil, he told members of the press: “If someone is gay and is looking for the Lord, who am I to judge him? You should not discriminate against or marginalise these people, and the Catechism says this as well.”
Two years ago, while speaking to a gay man who had suffered sexual abuse, Pope Francis told him that he was still accepted by God.
The Pontiff said that God had made Juan Carlos Cruz gay and that his sexuality ‘does not matter’.
Credit: PA
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Cruz was speaking privately with the Pope about his abuse at the hands of a high-up priest in Chile.
When the two reached the subject of Cruz’s sexuality, Pope Francis is reported as having said: “Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like that and loves you like this and I don’t care. The Pope loves you like this. You have to be happy with who you are.”
Several days after the Pontiff’s most recent statements last week, he visited a clinic where children with autism can undergo therapy.
He also issued kind and beautiful words to kids at the clinic, telling them that they too would be accepted by God.
According to the Associated Press, the Pope said: “God created the world with a great variety of flowers of all different colours. Each flower has its unique beauty. And each one of us is beautiful in the eyes of God, who loves us.”
Yahoo News says people with autism have been marginalised by the Catholic Church in the past and these words will go a long way to repairing that relationship.
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