Today's Question Blog

What’s your reaction to Pope Francis saying he won’t judge gay priests?

ABOARD THE PAPAL AIRCRAFT (AP) - Pope Francis reached out to gays on Monday, saying he wouldn't judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returned from his first foreign trip.

"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Francis asked.

BRAZIL-POPE-WYD-DEPARTURE
Pope Francis boards the plane before departing for Rome after concluding a week-long trip to Brazil, at the air base in Rio de Janeiro on July 28, 2013. The head of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics hammered home his plea for young believers attending World Youth Day (WYD) to 'go and make disciples of all nations' as he concluded his trip to Brazil aimed at reigniting Roman Catholic passion. (EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images)

His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.

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Today's Question: What's your reaction to Pope Francis saying he won't judge gay priests for their sexual orientation?