Pope Francis says church is open to everyone, including LGBTQ people, but has rules

Francis, speaking to reporters on the plane returning to Rome from Portugal, also said he was in good health following surgery for an abdominal hernia in June

Francis said ministers in the Catholic Church had to accompany all people, including those not conforming to the rules, with the patience and love of a mother

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Pope Francis attends a press conference onboard a plane en route to Rome, after leaving Lisbon, Portugal on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:12am, 7 Aug 2023

Pope Francis said on Sunday that the Catholic Church is open to everyone, including the gay community, and that it has a duty to accompany them on a personal path of spirituality but within the framework of its rules.

Francis, speaking to reporters on the plane returning to Rome from Portugal, also said he was in good health following surgery for an abdominal hernia in June. He said his stitches had been removed but he had to wear an abdominal band for another two or three months until his muscles strengthened.

Flying back from the World Youth Day Catholic festival in Portugal, the 86-year-old pope appeared in good form as he took questions for about half an hour at his customary freewheeling post-trip press conference while seated at the front of the reporters’ section in the rear part of the plane.

Pope Francis is seen off by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, right, as he boards his flight to the Vatican from the Figo Madero airbase near Lisbon, Portugal on Sunday. Photo: Pool via AP

One reporter reminded him that during the trip, he said the Catholic Church was open to “everyone, everyone, everyone” and asked if it was not incoherent that some, such as women and gay people, did not have the same rights and could not receive some sacraments.

This was an apparent reference to women not being allowed to become priests through the sacrament of Holy Orders and same-sex couples not allowed to contract marriage, which is also a sacrament.

“The church is open to everyone but there are laws that regulate life inside the church,” he said.

“According to the legislation, they cannot partake in (some) sacraments. This does not mean that it is closed. Each person encounters God in their own way inside the church,” he said.

He said ministers in the Catholic Church had to accompany all people, including those not conforming to the rules, with the patience and love of a mother.