Jesus is the Vine and We are the Branches...

 His Banner over Me is Love:

“We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity,” Pope Francis said during an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Associated Press.

“Being homosexual isn’t a crime.” 

Pope Francis’ remarks come ahead of a trip to Africa, where such laws are common as they are in the Middle East. Many date from British colonial times or are inspired by Islamic law. Some Catholic bishops have strongly upheld them as consistent with Vatican teaching, while others have called for them to be overturned as a violation of basic human dignity.

Declaring such laws “unjust,” Pope Francis said the Catholic Church can and should work to put an end to them. “It must do this. It must do this,” he said, speaking to the AP in the Vatican hotel where he lives.  He quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church in saying gay people must be welcomed and respected, and should not be marginalized or discriminated against.

Pope Francis acknowledged that Catholic bishops in some parts of the world support laws that criminalize homosexuality or discriminate against the LGBTQ community. But he attributed such attitudes to cultural backgrounds, and said bishops in particular need to undergo a process of change to recognize the dignity of everyone.

“These bishops have to have a process of conversion,” he said, adding that they should apply “tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.” 

His Banner, Over Me, Is Love...  

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* Translate his words to Latin. if you must -- American conservative male pundits and politicians -- to understand:  this Church is changing.  This Church is international.  You might want to throw things in reverse, but this Church is not going backwards...

(I remember back in the early years of this century, when news of the pedophile scandal first broke in the American media, worshipping with my parents during a Catholic Mass in their community center while visiting them on Nettles Island/Hutchinson Island.  "Don't commit spiritual suicide," the priest advised.  No matter how dark it gets, don't commit spiritual suicide and give up on God. He Loves Us. Believe.)