AFP Pope Francis has called for a rethink in the way the Catholic Church deals with the children of gay couples and divorced parents, warning against administering a vaccine against faith.
On an educational level, gay unions lift challenges for us today which for us are sometimes hard to understand, Francis said in a speech to the Catholic Union of Superiors General in November, extracts of which were published on Italian media websites on Saturday.
The number of children in schools whose parents have separated is very high, he said, adding that family create-ups were also changing.
I recall a case in which a depressed tiny woman confessed to her teacher: my moms girlfriend doesnt adore me, he was quoted as saying.
The pontiff said educational leaders should ask themselves how can we proclaim Christ to a generation that is changing?
We must be cautious not to administer a vaccine against faith to them, the 77-year-old added.
Though the Church has often been in conflict with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community over its opposition to similar-sex marriage and to homosexuality, Francis has drawn praise for attempts to be inclusive.
In July he reached out to gays, declaring that if someone is cheerful and seeks the Lord with great will, who am I to judge?
And in December, the Advocate magazine dedicated to the cheerful and lesbian community chose the head of the Catholic Church as the single most influential person of 2013 on the lives of LGBT people.
The reform-minded pontiff has also called an astonishing assembly of the Synod of Bishops next year to discuss the Churchs position with regard to the family, which is expected to address among other issues the problem of divorcees remarrying and children of divorced parents.
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