Monterrey.- Leaders of the Catholic Church, including Rogelio Cabrera, president of the Conference of the Mexican Episcopate, urged not to confuse the speech of Pope Francis, who in a documentary expressed his support for civil unions between people of the same sex.
In a live broadcast on the YouTube channel Catholic Leaders , experts in theology from Spain, Peru and Italy agreed that the Pope calls to be merciful to homosexual people ; however, it does not mean that the Church is approving their union within this institution.
In his participation, Cabrera López explained that the civil union of homosexual couples corresponds to the political authority, not the Church.
"This pastoral attitude that the Pope has communicated to us is about human rights, not to defend, but to put each human being in their place," said Cabrera López. "Human rights allow us to live in a family, receive affective and effective support, therefore the Church will always defend everyone, whatever their condition."
The Archbishop of Monterrey also pointed out that the Pope was misunderstood because some phrases were taken out of context.
"The Pope is clear, we can be the confused ones and I want to invite them to clarify our confusions," he said.
Other panelists were the Italian Rocco Buttiglione, a former collaborator of John Paul II; the Spanish Martha Rodríguez, former head of the Vatican's women's section, and Javier del Río, Archbishop of Arequipa, in Peru.
Buttiglione was blunt in his message by highlighting that for the Catholic Church, homosexuality is a sin.
At the same time, he agreed with Cabrera López that Pope Francis urges not to marginalize other people because of their sexual preferences, but to respect the civil rights of others.
"Homosexuality remains a serious matter of sin," Buttiglione said. "But there is great hostility against homosexuals, we call it homophobia, which is a kind of repulsion, which turns into active hostility, into violence. "Christians are in no way with homophobes; they are human, they have rights, they must be recognized."
¿El Papa ha cambiado la doctrina de la Iglesia? ¿Cuál es la verdad sobre sus declaraciones? Hoy VIERNES, Conferencia Internacional con 4 referentes internacionales del pensamiento social de la Iglesia, responderán estas dudas y otras inquietudes: - Mons. Rogelio Cabrera, presidente de la conferencia del episcopado mexicano. - Rocco Buttiglione, filósofo y político italiano, ex colaborador de San Juan Pablo II. - Marta Rodríguez, bioeticista española, ex jefa de la sección mujer del Vaticano. - Mons. Javier del Río, canonista, teólogo y arzobispo de Arequipa, Perú.
Has the Pope changed the doctrine of the Church? What is the truth about your statements? Today FRIDAY, International Conference with 4 international referents of the social thought of the Church, will answer these doubts and other concerns: - Bishop Rogelio Cabrera, president of the conference of the Mexican episcopate. - Rocco Buttiglione, Italian philosopher and politician, former collaborator of Saint John Paul II. - Marta Rodríguez, Spanish bioethicist, former head of the Vatican women's section. - Bishop Javier del Río, canonist, theologian and archbishop of Arequipa, Peru.