Pope Francis: Gay marriage a threat to the family

Pope Francis continues to flip-flop on the issue of gay and lesbian rights, proclaiming on Friday that same-sex marriage threatens the family.

Speaking at a mass at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City in the Philippines, as part of his tour of Asia, the pontiff issued a stern warning about gay and lesbian people’s desire for marriage equality.

According to The Catholic World Report, Francis said: “The family is also threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.”

He also urged Christians to “Beware of the new ideological colonisation that tries to destroy the family. It’s not born of the dream that we have from God and prayer – it comes from outside and that’s why I call it a colonisation.”

Equally Blessed, an American coalition of LGBT Catholic organisation, described the comments as “sad,” but argued “that the people in the pews – not the people in the Vatican – are the ones who are really leading the way to a more just and inclusive Catholic Church.”

The pope concluded his tour on Sunday with a record-breaking mass in Manila, attended by an estimated six-million people; said to be the largest ever papal event.

While Francis has hinted at a willingness to be more accepting of gay people and asserted that he will not judge them, the Catholic Church remains officially opposed to same-sex relationships and especially gay marriage.

According to Catholic dogma gay sexuality is described as “acts of grave depravity” and as “intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law”.