“God loves us as we are,” says Pope Francis to trans woman

“God loves us as we are”, was the response given by Pope Francis to a transgender woman this Tuesday (25). The pope’s comments, reported by Vatican media, came on a podcast in which Francis listened to and responded to audio messages from young people, days before a Catholic youth festival he will attend in Portugal.

One of the people who sent an audio message was Giona, an Italian woman in her 20s who said she was “torn by the dichotomy between (Catholic) faith and transgender identity.”

Francis responded that “the Lord always walks with us… Even if we are sinners, He comes close to help us. The Lord loves us as we are, this is the crazy love of God”.

According to the pope, the Catholic Church teaches that members of the LGBTQIA+ community must be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity, and their human rights must be respected.

However, whether the Church can and should be more welcoming to LGBTQIA+ people, such as, for example, offering a blessing for same-gender unions, still seems to be too delicate a topic.

Francis famously said “who am I to judge” when answering a question specifically about homosexuals, and classified laws that criminalize members of the LGBTQIA+ community as a sin and an injustice.

At the same time, the 86-year-old pontiff reaffirmed that marriage can only be understood as a lifelong union between a man and a woman. He supports civil laws that give same-sex couples rights in bureaucratic matters like pensions and health care.

Conservatives dispute Francis’ more accepting and less judgmental attitude towards the LGBTQIA+ community, although he consistently refers to traditional Catholic teaching, which says same-sex attraction is not sinful, but same-sex acts are.

An upcoming world bishops’ summit, scheduled for October 2024, is expected to discuss the Church’s position regarding LGBTQIA+ people, women and Catholics who have been divorced and remarried outside the Church.