Pope Francis, in an extraordinary interview that electrified the Catholic world, said that the Roman Catholic Church has become unduly obsessed with condemning abortion, gay marriage, and contraception.
The church, he said, should emphasize compassion and mercy instead of “small-minded rules.”
“We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel,” the pope said in the 12,000-word interview, published by major Jesuit publications around the world, including the New York-based America magazine.
US bishops have put abortion, contraception, and gay marriage at the top of their public agenda, and some — notably Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence — have openly criticized Francis for failing to speak out on abortion
In the interview, the pope said that although he embraces church doctrine, which defines gay relationships and abortion as sinful, “it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.”
He also elaborated on a comment he made about gay priests this summer: “Who am I to judge?”
“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality,” he said. “I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: When God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ ”
The Rev. James Bretzke, a professor of theology at Boston College, said the interview with the first pope from the Jesuit order leaves no doubt Francis is trying to shift the church’s emphasis.
“It clearly shows that while the pope has heard criticisms of his style, remarks, actions, and lack of actions, he is not accepting these, and he believes he has to reconfigure the tenor of the church,” he said
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