Pope Francis has acknowledged that loving same-sex relationships are not a threat to civilization as we know it. The Huffington Post has the story, which is based on an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.
Pope Francis has signalled that he could see the Catholic church tolerating some forms of same-sex civil unions — though not marriage — when it comes to situations such as medical care and property for gay couples.
In an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, the pope said that “matrimony is between a man and a woman,” but moves to “regulate diverse situations of cohabitation (are) driven by the need to regulate economic aspects among persons, as for instance to assure medical care,” according to a translation by Catholic News Service.
“It is necessary to look at the diverse cases and evaluate them in their variety,” Francis said.
In the same interview, the pope affirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception, but that confessors should interpret the teaching with “much mercy, attention to concrete situations.”