Pope Francis Denounces Transgenders as a Sin Against God

Pope Francis says choosing one’s gender is a sin against the Creator.

Ever since Pope Francis came to power as the supreme head of the Catholic Church in 2013, he has been applauded as being the most open-minded and progressive Pope the church has ever had. The Pope's more liberal views on homosexuals, abortions and people of other faiths has gone down well with the world. However, the Pope shocked the world last week by his comments on the transgender community. The Pope openly stated that choosing one's gender is a sin against the Creator who has created all beings male and female.

Pope Francis Denounces Transgenders as a Sin Against God[/tweetthis]

The Church has traditionally opposed the queer community and has denounced gay rights from the very beginning. However, while the Church has been shutting its doors to the LGBT community for all these years, Pope Francis took a more radical step away from this exclusion of the LGBT members. The Pontiff has called the faithful to accept and love the LGBT members as fellow humans and has thrown open the doors of the Church for them. However, this does not mean that he encourages or support the rights of the LGBT. His comments last week only echoed the age old stand the Church has taken on this issue.

Coming out heavily on the “influential countries” with a “colonizing ideology,” whom he refused to name, the Pope expressed his sorrow at how the education system backed by these countries actually tells children that they have a choice to choose their gender. The Catholic Church believes that a person's gender has been given by God, and by transgressing the rules of gender, he or she is sinning against God.

During his five-day trip to Poland, the Pope has been quoted as telling the Bishops that Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI lamented about this being “an epoch of sin against God.” Affirming that the Pope Emeritus is well and clear in thinking, the Pontiff went on to say that the former pope felt God has created humans as man and woman, and to against that is to go against Him. The Pope uses these views by the Benedict as an affirmation of his own views.

Looks like one step forward and two steps back describes Frankie's progress on LGBTQ issues. https://t.co/9zyZdLGUTd

— Joel Rieves (@JoelRieves) August 3, 2016

While the Church seems to be going in a very progressive direction, members of the LBGT are waiting to see what decisive stand he takes pertaining to their rights. As such, the Pope's comments may come as a disappointment for those who were expecting a positive answer towards their issue.

Resources

• The Guardian
• The Holy See
• Washington Post
• Newsy

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