Pope's Lesson For Church Of England On Same-Sex Unions

Pope supports for same Sex Marriage

- George Pitcher

Pope Francis is not only a holy and pious religious leader, but he is also a shrewd political strategist. Just one recent example: he saw that ordaining married men and women in the Amazon would cause more division than progress in his Church – then promptly appointed six women to top posts at the Vatican.

Furthermore, he recognises the way the wind is blowing among the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics – and wind is often a metaphor for the work of the Holy Spirit in scripture – and responds accordingly, often with a surprise “third way” that transcends conflict.

And so it is with his latest pronouncement on same-sex unions: “Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God… Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it.

“What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”

With these comments in a documentary broadcast this week, he deftly supports the equality in law of same-sex partnerships, which in love and compassion he supports, while avoiding the issue of same-sex marriage, which he doesn’t support. It’s a masterclass in staying ahead of the game.

Contrast this with the flatfooted manner in which our Church of England responded to the introduction in secular law of gay marriage in 2014.