Pope, Archbishop of Canterbury and Presbyterian leader denounce anti-gay laws

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, right, Pope Francis, left, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland the Rt Rev Iain Greenshields meet journalists during an airborne press conference aboard the plane directed to Rome, at the end of his pastoral visit to Congo and South Sudan (Tiziana Fabi/Pool Photo Via AP)

Pope Francis, the head of the Anglican Communion and the top Presbyterian minister have together denounced the criminalisation of homosexuality and said gay people should be welcomed by their churches.

The three Christian leaders spoke out on LGBTQ rights during an unprecedented joint airborne news conference returning home from South Sudan, where they took part in a three-day ecumenical pilgrimage to try to nudge the young country’s peace process forward.

They were asked about Francis’s recent comments to The Associated Press (AP), in which he declared that laws that criminalise gay people were “unjust” and that “being homosexual is not a crime”.

South Sudan is one of 67 countries that criminalises homosexuality, 11 of them with the death penalty.

Pope Francis meets journalists during an airborne press conference aboard the plane directed to Rome, at the end of his pastoral visit to Congo and South Sudan — Pope Francis during an airborne press conference aboard the plane directed to Rome, at the end of his pastoral visit to Congo and South Sudan (Tiziana Fabi/Pool Photo Via AP)

LGBTQ advocates say even where such laws are not applied, they contribute to a climate of harassment, discrimination and violence.

Francis referred his January 24 comments to the AP and repeated that such laws are “unjust”.

He also repeated previous comments that parents should never throw their gay children out of the house.

“To condemn someone like this is a sin,” Francis said.

“Criminalising people with homosexual tendencies is an injustice.”

He added: “People with homosexual tendencies are children of God. God loves them. God accompanies them.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, recalled that LGBTQ rights were very much on the current agenda of the Church of England, and said he would quote the pope’s own words when the issue is discussed at the church’s upcoming General Synod.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby meets journalists during an airborne press conference aboard the plane directed to Rome, at the end of Pope Francis's pastoral visit to Congo and South Sudan — The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby during the airborne press conference (Tiziana Fabi/Pool Photo Via AP)

“I wish I had spoken as eloquently and clearly as the pope. I entirely agree with every word he said,” Mr Welby said.

Recently, the Church of England decided to allow blessings for same-sex civil marriages but said same-sex couples could not marry in its churches.

The Vatican forbids both gay marriage and blessings for same-sex unions.

Mr Welby told reporters that the issue of criminalisation had been taken up at two previous Lambeth Conferences of the broader Anglican Communion, which includes churches in Africa and the Middle East where such anti-gay laws are most common and often enjoy support from conservative bishops.

The broader Lambeth Conference has come out twice opposing criminalisation, “but it has not really changed many people’s minds”, Mr Welby said.

The Rt Rev Iain Greenshields, the Presbyterian moderator of the Church of Scotland who also participated in the pilgrimage and news conference, offered an observation.