Pope Francis caused an uproar this week with a statement about homosexuality as a sin. Now he admitted that a corresponding response in an interview could be misinterpreted. “When I said it was a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic morality, which says that all sexual contact outside of marriage is a sin,” Francis wrote to Father James Martin.
“But it is clear that it is necessary to consider the circumstances that can reduce or eliminate a debt”, added the Pope. The Jesuit priest published the Pope’s letter on the website of the Catholic magazine LGBTQ Outreach, of which he is editor. The Pope explained that the interview was oral and that it was “understandable” if certain nuances were lost in the transcript.
In the letter in Spanish, Francisco emphasized, as in the interview, that homosexuality is not a crime for him. “And I would say to anyone who wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong,” the 86-year-old Argentine wrote.