I don't trust the Pope

"Progressive" Catholics are all in a tizz over the new Pope's new statements on gays. The latest of these statements to be splashed through the main stream media, and which left David and I looking at each other in somewhat disbelief, was this:

In an interview with an influential Jesuit journal, Pope Francis blasted the Catholic Church’s ‘obsession’ with homosexuality, abortion and birth control. more

No shit Sherlock. How long did it take for him to think of that? There was nothing else he said being hailed from the telly, and even then I thought that the statement wasn't much to get excited about. Saying the church is obsessed with gays is one thing. Saying gays aren't committing a sin is another, and nowhere has he said that. In fact to clarify you only have to read one more paragraph of his interview:

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods,” the Pope declared. “This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the Church, for that matter, is clear, and I am a son of the Church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all of the time.” more

So that's it. Yes we gays are still sinning. But we are still redeemable (if you could call becoming Catholic a "redemption"). The Popes comments are directed at the church, not us. He's telling the church they've become obsessed with gays when really everyone needs redemption, not just us sinning gays. Pfffft. Still in the dark ages......

I can see where he's coming from, in a church sense. Many years ago when I was a crazy Pentecostal such issues became very relevant within the Pentecostal church. The idea that sanctity was to do with the heart and how people are treated, rather than a whole bunch of rules that you should follow. In fact that thinking was one of the catalysts that ultimately saw me leave that crazy church. The simple fact was that the church treated those outside it terribly.