Pope Francis made a historic statement Sunday, saying that Christians and the Catholic Church should not only "apologize" for mistreatment of gay individuals, but also "ask for forgiveness" from them, among other groups of people. Reuters reports:
Francis looked sad when the reporter asked if an apology was made more urgent by the killing of 49 people at a gay club in Orlando, Florida this month. [...]
"I think that the Church not only should apologize ... to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologize to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by (being forced to) work. It must apologize for having blessed so many weapons."
The Pope also expounded on his oft-quoted 2013 remark on LGBT people, "Who am I to judge?"—expanding the statement to holistically invoke the greater Christian community by replacing "I" with "we."
"The questions is: if a person who has that condition, who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?"
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said that the pope, by saying "has that condition", did not imply a medical condition but "a person in that situation". In Italian, the word "condition" can also mean "situation".
"We Christians have to apologize for so many things, not just for this (treatment of gays), but we must ask for forgiveness, not just apologize! Forgiveness! Lord, it is a word we forget so often!" he said.