Pope Francis has said that what he calls gender theory – “that everyone can choose their own sex” – is “the exact opposite” of God’s creation. In a meeting with Polish bishops during World Youth Day he said there were powerful institutions which funded the spread of “gender theory”
in schools.
The remarks were contained in a transcript released by the Vatican last week.
The Pope also said he had discussed the subject with Benedict XVI, who he said told him: “Your Holiness, we are living in an age of sin against God the Creator.”
Franics said that false ideologies were often given financial backing by “very influential countries”: a form of “ideological colonisation” which is “terrible”.
The Pope said that one example – “I’ll say it clearly with its first and last name – is gender.”
Francis told the Polish bishops: “Today, children are taught this at school: that everyone can choose their own sex. And why do they teach this? Because the books come from those people and institutions who give money … God created man and woman; God created the world like this and we are doing the exact opposite.”
The Pope linked gender theory to the exploitation of human beings and of the natural world, suggested that both came from forgetting human-kind’s God-given dignity.
“It is a global problem: the exploitation of creation and the exploitation of people. We are living at a time when human-kind as the image of God is being annihilated,” he said.
He said that this exploitation led to wars and poverty, and so in turn to the refugee crisis.
Keep the light on in the confessional, says Francis
Pope Francis has emphasised the importance of a “confessional with the light on” in attracting people to the Church.
Defending the traditional parish model, the Pope said: “How do we greet people? How attentive are we to them? … In parishes – not those in the country but in city parishes and those on the highways – if there is a confessional with the light on, people always come. Always! A welcoming parish.”
He later added: “The parish cannot be touched; it has to remain as a place of creativity, a reference point, a mother, all these things.”
The Pope’s comments were made at a 117-member bishops’ conference in Krakow on July 27. Transcripts of a 90-minute question-and-answer session were made available this week.
Bishop Leszek Leszkiewicz, Auxiliary Bishop of Tarnów, had asked the Pope about how to build the Church community “fruitfully, and with a missionary spirit”.
Pope Francis highlighted the value of both a parish presence and outreach work, saying: “If you don’t go out to find them, if you don’t approach them, they do not come. This is what it means to be a missionary disciple, a parish that goes forth.”
Militants to ‘blow up churches’
The putative new leader of Boko Haram has pledged to blow up every church the terrorist group can reach.
Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who has laid claim to the leadership of the Islamist group, has said there is a Western plot to “Christianise” the region, and that Boko Haram would respond by “booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach, and killing all of those [Christians] who we find from the citizens of the cross.”
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.