Pope Francis Didn’t Change Church Teaching on Marriage

National Catholic Register, 23 October 2020

There is less in the Holy Father’s comments than meets the eye, but it remains a significant statement, and what exactly it means remains unclear.

The global headlines reporting that Pope Francis is in favor of civil unions for same-sex couples presented the Holy Father’s comments as a dramatic shift in the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexual relationships. There is less here than meets the eye, but it remains a significant statement. 

What exactly it means remains unclear. The Holy Father’s brief comments — a few sentences — in a documentary film released Oct. 21 were not part of a carefully drafted address, let alone a formal teaching document. The comments are of the same weight and character of the airborne press conferences that Pope Francis has not had the opportunity to conduct this pandemic year. Perhaps this film was embraced as an opportunity to scratch that garrulous itch.

But there has been discussion that improper editing of the Pope’s statements has led to much of the confusion.

There is something of an “imbergoglio” about all this. 

A modestly competent Vatican communications operation ought to have previewed the documentary and prepared explanatory background materials to help viewers understand what the Holy Father was doing — and what he was not doing.

 What Pope Francis Did

It has been a hallmark of the Francis pontificate that he draws close to those on the “peripheries,” to the suffering and the wounded. Indeed, it is one of the most attractive aspects of his witness and ministry. Whether the “gay rights” movement is on the peripheries is debatable, but that there are those in the “LGBT” community who feel excluded, even ostracized, from the life of the Church is a pastoral reality that the Holy Father has sought to address. His initial comment is entirely consistent with many of his previous statements and actions:

“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God. You can’t kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this.”

It should be noted that the use of the “LGBT” acronym in many news stories and commentaries is, in this case, wildly inaccurate. The Holy Father spoke of “homosexual people” (LGB) and not “trans” (T) people; to the contrary, Pope Francis is perhaps the world leader most vociferously opposed to what he frequently denounces as “gender ideology.”

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