Elton John called Pope Francis “my hero” for his compassion and push to accept gays in the Catholic church at his annual AIDS benefit in New York.
The famous singer and activist Elton John has described Pope Francis, the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church as ‘my hero’ due to the way that Pope Francis has spent a huge amount of his time as Pope reaching out to the gay community. Elton John made the comments at an event entitled “An Enduring Vision: A Benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation”, a charity event that is hosted every year in order to raise funds and awareness for the medical condition AIDS. This year the benefit raised more than $3.7 million, but perhaps more important than the actual money is the awareness that it creates, and the way that it has broken down taboos about discussing AIDS openly.
During a speech to the crowd, Elton John talked about how much he admired Pope Francis for daring to speak openly and without discrimination about AIDS and homosexuality, and even suggested that Pope Francis should be made a saint immediately for the amazing work that he has been doing.
Elton John stated that: “Ten years ago one of the biggest obstacles in the fight against AIDS was the Catholic Church. Today we have a pope that speaks out about it.” Many people that were in the crowd cheered at these words. There has long been a discrepancy between the official stance of the Catholic Church and the actual beliefs of practicing Catholics, but now that gap seems to have been narrowed by Pope Francis’ willingness to discuss homosexuality with his bishops.
Pope Francis simply could not be praised enough by Elton John: “He is a compassionate, loving man who wants everybody to be included in the love of God. He is courageous and he is fearless, and that’s what we need in the world today.”