On Sunday, Pope Francis made a groundbreaking statement. He said that the Roman Catholic Church and its adherents "should seek forgiveness from homosexuals for the way they had treated them," Reuters reports.
During a press conference with reporters aboard the papal plane back to Rome from Armenia, the pope was asked about comments from a German cardinal who said the Catholic Church should apologize for being "very negative" about the LGBTQ community.
The pope agreed.
"I believe that the church not only should apologize to the person who is gay whom it has offended, but has to apologize to the poor, to exploited women, to children who have been exploited for labor. It has to ask forgiveness for having blessed many weapons," the pope told reporters.
"I believe that the church not only should apologize to the person who is gay whom it has offended, but has to apologize to the poor, to exploited women, to children who have been exploited for labor. It has to ask forgiveness for having blessed many weapons," the pope told reporters.
According to CNN, he added, "I repeat what the catechism of the Catholic Church says: that [gay people] must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected and accompanied pastorally."
Pope Francis has been notably more accepting of homosexuality than past leaders of the Catholic Church. In 2013, he famously stated, "If a person is gay and seeks the Lord and has good will, well, who am I to judge them?"