Evidence for a change in tone from Catholic bishops to  the LGBT community continues to mount – even in Poland, where the Catholic Church is powerful, and legal protections lag behind the rest of the European Union. Bob Shine reports, for Bondings 2.0:

Pope Francis & Polish Bishop Inspire Hope in Nation’s LGBT Catholics

Bondings 2.0 reported yesterday on the question of why Catholic bishops did not respond more positively to Pope Francis’ “Who am I to judge?” remarks in July. Recent comments by Poland’s leading Catholic figure are an example of how more positive speech about LGBT people in the papacy’s wake can and is inspiring hope for a new tone among LGBT Catholics.

Polskie Radio reports that Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk, archbishop of Gniezno and primate of Poland, said the Church “will not turn its back on homosexuals” when asked about Pope Francis’ July statement on gay priests. Further, the radio station reports:

“Asked by Poland’s Rzeczpospolita daily whether the pope’s words had ‘started a revolution in the Church,’ Archbishop Kowalczyk said there was ‘nothing new’ in the pope’s comments.

“ ‘Homosexuality is a known phenomenon throughout history, both in the world and in the Church,’ he said.“

” ‘The Church will not turn its back on homosexuals. They are its members, as human beings, just like everyone else.’ “

The archbishop affirmed that one’s sexual orientation is no reason for exclusion from the Catholic community and he knows of “very worthy people” who had ‘homosexual tendencies.’

– continue reading at Bondings 2.0.

Related articles

• Archbishop Urges More ‘Respectful’ Tone on Gay Marriage (news.queerchurch.com)
• Pope Francis, and Gay Priests (queeringthechurch.com)
• Is Francis Cracking Down on Catholic Homophobia? (queeringthechurch.com)