Pope Francis reportedly told a gay man visiting the Vatican that God made him that way and that he loves him, Fox News reported, citing a Spanish-language newspaper.
Juan Carlos Cruz of Chile told the newspaper El Pais that he had visited the Vatican to talk about being sexually abused by a priest and said he was a homosexual, according to Fox News. Fernando Karadima was found guilty by the Vatican in 2011 of abusing Cruz, The Guardian reported.
"Juan Carlos, I don't care about you being gay," Cruz quoted Pope Francis as saying during their conversation. "God made you that way and loves you as you are and I don't mind. The pope loves you as you are, you have to be happy with who you are."
Greg Burke, the chief spokesman for the Vatican, had not commented on if Cruz's statement was accurate, El Pais said.
Even though the Catholic Church teaches that all sex outside of marriage, including gay sex, is a sin, Pope Francis has made comments before about his tolerate attitude toward homosexuality, The Guardian noted.
When a reporter asked him in 2013 about the existence of a "gay lobby" allegedly within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis responded, "Who am I to judge?"
The new comment suggests the pontiff believes that being gay or lesbian is not a choice, as some religious conservatives argue, The Guardian said.
"It goes beyond 'who am I to judge?' to 'you are loved by God,'" Christopher Lamb, the Vatican correspondent for the Tablet, told The Guardian, and believes it marks a shift in attitudes toward gays.
"I don't think he has changed church teaching but he's demonstrating an affirmation of gay Catholics, something that has been missing over the years in Rome," Lamb continued.
Many on social media found different meaning to the pope's reported words to Cruz.
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