Pope Francis has called out the criminalization of homosexuality in England and Wales. The leaders of Protestant churches also joined Pope Francis to stand against such developments against gay laws in the UK. Pope Francis said that homosexual people are also the children of God and that the laws acting against them are sinful and an act of injustice. This surprised many people, because religious groups, be it Christians or Muslims, have always opposed homosexuality. This is because religious institutions have explained such relationships to be opposite to what God intended humans to be. But now that Pope Francis has expressed his support for homosexual people, things may take a significant turn of events. The comments by Pope Francis were also backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland. Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, and Iain Greenshields, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland joined Pope Francis during his visit to South Sudan where he made these comments while addressing the reporters.
Justin Welby, the current Archbishop of Canterbury acknowledged the comments made by Pope Francis. He said that he completely supports comments made by Pope Francis during his visit to Sudan. Archbishop Welby also highlighted the existence of a dedicated division in Anglican churches that looked after gay rights. Anglican churches represent the churches present in England or parts relating to the region. Iain Greenshields, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland cited the Bible to show his support for gay rights in the country. He said that in every gospel, it is said that Jesus blesses everyone he meets, and this is the only expression that we want to convey to Christians.
The debate over gay rights in England and Wales started when Scotland's gay laws were rejected by the UK government. Scottish gender reform laws, which could have allowed anyone in Scotland to change their gender as per their choice, were rejected by the UK government. It is because the UK government believes that such laws will create conflicts with the existing laws. Scotland expressed their anger towards the UK government and decided that they will be challenging the decision in the parliament. Besides political tension between Scotland and the UK government, these developments have also increased tensions between the people in the country.
Pope Francis deliberately expressed the fact that catholic churches cannot address homosexuality. But he also said that criminalizing such relationships is just sinful and he does not support it. He further said that homosexuals are also the children of God and God loves them equally. This indeed reflected the current situation of the world where many countries have legally restricted gay marriages. Many countries have even decided to offer the death penalty to homosexuals which are completely against human rights. Countries with a higher spread of Catholic churches are leading in such legislation. This is because the catholic churches consider such relationships as deviant and against the religion. Pope Francis has come a long way throughout the decade, from criticizing such relationships to now supporting them. This marks the development that he and his affiliates have gone through.
