Barely two years into his pontificate, Pope Francis delivered this speech against gender ideology in a meeting with Catholic families in Manila—calling it ideological colonization.
POPE FRANCIS
As a family, we have to be very clear, prepared and strong to say 'no' to these attempts of ideological colonization of the family.
The following year, while flying back from Azerbaijan to Rome, the Pope said that everyone should have people beside them as Jesus did. And that, upon arriving in heaven, Jesus would not close the door on a homosexual because of their sexual orientation.
Even so, he expressed his concern about potential indoctrination in schools. As an example, he shared a story about a father.
POPE FRANCIS
He asked his ten-year-old son, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' 'I want to be a girl!' The dad realized that the school textbooks were teaching gender ideology. And this goes against what is natural.
Pope Francis has often explained ideological colonization as trying to eliminate the natural differences between people, which ends up attacking Creation.
POPE FRANCIS
Ideological and cultural colonizations only see the present; they deny the past and do not look to the future. They live in the moment, not in time, and therefore, they cannot promise us anything.
At a press conference returning from Slovakia, the Pope explained that the sacrament of marriage is between a man and a woman and the Church cannot change that. He said that states may recognize the rights of homosexual couples for practical reasons, but can, in no case, form a marriage.
POPE FRANCIS
But marriage, marriage as a sacrament, is between a man and a woman. Sometimes, what I was saying is, that there is confusion. We must—all of us are equal—respect everyone. The Lord is good and will save everyone. He wants everyone's salvation, but please do not make the Church renounce its truth.
Moreover, the Pope asks parents to love and not judge their children if they show same-sex attraction.
POPE FRANCIS
Parents can see different sexual orientations in their children and know how to handle this—to accompany their children and not hide behind condemnations.
These are Pope Francis' messages regarding gender ideology—an issue that worries him and a topic that he has been warning against since the beginning of his pontificate.
RM
TR: KG
