We Are Church Ireland considers Pope Francis’s recent reported
comments on LGBTQI families and the position of women betrayed by
unfaithful husbands as a huge step backwards.
In his address to the Italian ‘Forum delle Famiglie ‘,he affirmed that the
family with only a man and a woman, made in the image of God, is the only
one that can be recognised as a true family within the Church. This
definition of a true Catholic family not alone excludes LGBTQI families but
also single parent families from being included as real families. The
implication of these comments is that only this traditional family will be
heard and celebrated at the upcoming World Meeting of Families.
Pope Francis is reported further to have praised the ‘sanctity of women who
forgive cheating husbands’; and recommended that they stay with unfaithful
husbands rather than look for a divorce.
“This exclusion of LGBTQI families from the life of the Catholic Church and
the denigration of the dignity of women in difficult relationships will be
treated with incredulity and dismay by the Catholic faithful” stated Brendan
Butler.
Brendan Butler, We are Church spokesperson.