If today’s press conference on the flight back from Azerbaijan is any indication, Pope Francis has learnt the ways of the media. Speaking about the headline-generating topic of gender, the Holy Father balanced the reality of life and the objective nature of sin. In his answer he also warned about incorrect conclusions (emphases in bold by me):
“Life is life and things must be taken as they come. Sin is sin. Inclinations or hormonal imbalances cause many problems and we need to be careful when claiming all cases are the same: we need to embrace and study each case, accompany the person, discern and integrate them. This is what Jesus would do today. But please don’t go and say now: the Pope is going to sanctify transsexuals! I can just picture the front pages of the newspapers… It is a human problem, a moral problem. And we need to resolve it as best we can, always with God’s mercy and with truth but always with an open heart.”
The papal in-flight press conferences are, by now, looked at with some trepidation, as Pope Francis has shown a tendency to speak of the cuff and not always succeeding in clearly expressing what he wants to say, which in turn leads to people thinking that things have changed when they have not. Today’s conference avoids that with a succinct warning.
Photo credit: CNS photo/Paul Haring
