Dignity’s gay Catholics respond to Pope Francis’ past rhetoric with hope
Daniel Barutta, the President of Dignity/Washington, went on WUSA-9 to speak about the choice of Cardinal Bergoglio to be the new leader of the world’s Catholic Church.
The new “Pope Francis” has already become a controversial figure on gay blogs and news sites for past statements in which he reportedly railed against child adoption and marriage rights for gay people. Exact quotes vary, but The Guardian UK quotes Bergoglio as saying of an Argentinian marriage bill:
“Let’s not be naive: this isn’t a simple political fight, it’s an attempt to destroy God’s plan.”
Barutta said to 9 News about gay Catholics, “We have our work cut out for us.” He emphasized the importance of a continuned discussion, and a chance for young Catholics to change the future of the Church so that “the topics that we’re talking about now are just non-existent.” When pressed for specific concerns about the new Pope’s past statements, Barutta said:
“I understand that, at the same time [Cardinal Bergoglio] was against gay marriage in Argentina, he was also against gay adoptions. If he does adopt a proactive hate campaign against us, that will be alarming, and we will have to respond to that.”
“But I’m hoping — and again, the Holy Spirit comes through here (people have been praying the Holy Spirit the last couple of weeks since Benedict said he was retiring) — that somehow, somewhere, as the pastor to 1.2 billion people in this world, he comes to the realization that he has to lead, and the more inclusive he can be, the more successful the Church will be in the modern world.”
As a parting prediction, Barutta said there would be “rainbow smoke coming out of that pipe one day.”
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