Pope Francis: Church must say sorry to gay community, seek forgiveness for discriminating

The Church should say sorry to the gay community and ask forgiveness from God for discriminating against homosexuals, Pope Francis said on Sunday, June 26.

While aboard a flight traveling from Armenia to Rome, the pope addressed reporters' questions that touched various subjects from the Orlando shooting to the possibility of having female deacons in the future.

A reporter asked him if he agreed with what Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who heads the German Bishops' Conference, said that the Catholic Church needs to apologize to homosexuals for taking part in their marginalization in society.

"In the days following the shooting in Orlando, many have said that the Christian community had something to do with this hate toward these people. What do you think?" the reporter asked, according to Catholic News Agency.

Francis, who looked visibly pained when the Orlando shooting was mentioned, said the Church must not only apologize but also ask God for forgiveness for the way it has treated the gay community, for being hostile toward them and discriminating against them.

The pope added that the Church should also say sorry to the poor, to exploited women and to children being used for labor. He added that the Church must ask forgiveness "for having blessed so many weapons."

"The church must say it is sorry for not having behaved as it should many times, many times — when I say the 'church,' I mean we Christians because the church is holy; we are the sinners," the pope said, Catholic News Agency reported.

Francis emphasized that the homosexuals must not be discriminated against and they should be "respected and accompanied pastorally" because this is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches.

Repeating a similar line he had made famous three years ago, the pope said that for a gay person "that has good will and who seeks God, who are we to judge?" Francis first spoke these words in 2013 during an in-flight press conference while he was traveling to Rio de Janeiro for the World Youth Day.

Expounding on his statement, Francis admitted that there are priests who attack people like clubs instead of welcoming and consoling them.

However, the pope said, there are also many good priests and "mother Teresas" out there, although they often go unnoticed because holiness is "modest" and "hidden."