http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/08/europe/vatican-pope-family/index.html
(CNN)Pope Francis put his shoulder to the doors of the Catholic Church and shoved them open a little wider Friday, calling for the church to be more tolerant in practice while not changing any official doctrines.
He urged priests around the world to be more accepting of gays and lesbians, divorced Catholics and other people living in what the church considers "irregular" situations.
"A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws ... as if they were stones to throw at people's lives," Francis writes in a sweeping paper outlining his stance on family matters.
He urges more common sense and less unthinking following of rules.
"By thinking that everything is black and white, we sometimes close off the way of grace and growth," he writes.
http://irishcatholic.ie/article/same-sex-marriage-debate-5
He reiterates what he said after World Youth Day in July 2013: “If a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge… it is not right to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.”
Pope Francis goes on to say: “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? We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy.”
Pope Francis also responds to those who criticise him for not being more outspoken on issues such as same-sex marriage. He says these matters have to be spoken about in a context, and while the Church’s teaching is well known, the context is less so. That context is what he calls “the first proclamation”, which is “the heart of the message of Jesus Christ”. It is the Good News of the saving love of God, without which “moral and religious imperatives” will make little sense.
At the same time, Pope Francis has not spoken only of God’s merciful love. He has also spoken of the demands that God’s love places upon all of us. One area of particular concern is the urgent need to protect the family, which he sees as central to how the Holy Spirit flows in to the world.
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