Catholic Church Is Open To Everyone Within The Framework Of Its Rules, Says Pope Francis

During the World Youth Day Catholic festival in Portugal, he said that the church was open to everyone including, the LGBT community.

Pope Francis on Sunday said that the Catholic church is open to everyone, including the LGBT community as the church has the duty to take them on a personal path of spirituality but within the framework of its rules, reported Reuters. He was speaking to reporters on his way back from Portugal where he conducted the final mass during the World Youth Day Catholic festival. During this event, he told the crowd that the Church had room for everyone, “those who make mistakes, who fall or struggle” and led the crowd to chant "Todos, todos, todos!" (Everyone, everyone, everyone!).

Later one of the reporters asked him about his comment that the church was open to “everyone, everyone, everyone” since women and people of the gay community did not have the same rights and could not receive the same sacraments. Women are not allowed to become priests through the sacrament of Holy Orders and same-sex couples are not allowed to marry, which is also a sacrament. To this, the Pope said that the Church is open to everyone but “there are laws that regulate life inside the church.”

While legislation cannot allow them to partake in a certain sacrament doesn’t mean that it is closed. “Each person encounters God in their own way inside the Church,” he said.

The head of the Catholic Church said that the church should accompany all people, including the ones not conforming to the rules with the “patience and love of a mother”. He explained that the Church teaches that women cannot become priests because Jesus chose only men as his apostles.

The Pope has been working towards making the Church more inclusive and accepting since the beginning of his papacy. During his 10 years of papacy, Francis has pushed for a series of reforms including, more roles for women, particularly high-ranking Vatican positions, leaving a delicate balance between appealing to more liberal believers and upsetting conservatives. He has supported civil legislation that grants rights to same-sex couples in areas like pensions, health insurance, and inheritance. While the Church teaches that same-sex attraction is not sinful, it considers same-sex acts as against its teachings.

"Who among us has not made a moral error at some point in their lives?" he asked during a press conference.

About 1.5 million people attended his closing Mass at the World Youth Day Catholic festival in Portugal. Speaking of his health, he said he was in good health following the surgery for an abdominal hernia in June. He mentioned that his stitches had been removed but he would have to wear an abdominal band for a few more months until his muscles strengthened, Reuters reported.