I rarely begin posting on anything by putting in disclaimers, but here goes:
a) I am not a Roman Catholic
b) I am not gay
c) I am a congregationally active Christian lay person
Here comes the Pope& #39;s statement on the possibility of a civil unions law the Church can support: 1/5

"They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it."
I draw a deep breath, and say, "ok, here goes."
And right on cue, secular people disdain the statement saying stuff like, "He should have no say." 2/5

...or, "Not good enough." only to be followed by gripes from conservative Catholics who will simply continue heaping the kind of scorn they& #39;ve been lobbing at Francis since he began sitting in Peter& #39;s chair. And I just sigh, because it& #39;s a humane, decent, impulse that moves 3/5

...the conversation somewhere new and realistic for the world& #39;s largest single religious body. And why isn& #39;t that a good thing? I& #39;ll just say what people who exulted at hardline statements from St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI used to say to me, "deal with it... 4/5

5/5...The Catholic Church is not a democracy!"
Maybe you never really believed the Pope is the Vicar of Christ on Earth unless he was agreeing with what you already believed? A teacher, and a guide, is supposed to lead you somewhere, and only tell you you& #39;re right, when you are.