Pope's stance is welcome

I found Pope Francis' comment "who am I to judge?" with regard to gays powerfully refreshing on several levels.

During an interview on his papal flight, he said: "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?"

This is an amazing thing to hear from a Church I have often considered to be hugely judgmental.

It basically means that if a person wants to come out, he or she could say to his or her parents, look, the Pope himself has said: who am I to judge?

Now, I'm guessing the Church is not signalling an acceptance of homosexual acts, but is generally okay with a person of homosexual orientation who is not practising.

This might suggest the Church accepts some priests are gay.

But this whole "not practising" thing, gay or straight, has seemed to me been the root of so many problems for the Catholic Church.

Telling a person it's okay to be gay, as long as you don't practise, is about as sensible as telling any grown man he should remain celibate for the rest of his life.

In fact, it has always seemed an irony to me that while the Catholic Church considers homosexual acts "intrinsically disordered", I would consider the concept of celibacy a more colossal deviation against human nature.

I would argue celibacy, a warped, unnatural, freakish state of affairs, has caused the problems the Church is facing with scandals involving children.

Operating as a sexual being is fundamental to a human's make-up and biologically one of the most powerful drivers we have.

Furthermore, homosexuality is as natural as breathing. Homosexuality is much older than the Catholic Church and it is regrettable the Church contributed to the regression of what was a pretty standard part of society in ancient times.

I welcome the Pope's practicality and compassion on the issue.

I don't think the Catholic Church exerts a particularly significant influence on how New Zealand develops modern values, but I suspect the Pope's words will be quoted widely and positively for years to come.