14 DAY TRIAL // Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected Pope last night and taking on the holy name of Francis, spoke out against the LGBT community and their way of life in the past.
According to the Huffington Post, less than three years ago he described gay marriage as a “disruptive attack on God's plan,” even going so far as to dub it the work of the Devil.
In a statement from 2010, he speaks of “the Father of Lies” bringing gay men together, a phrase used to describe the devil in John 8:44.
“Let us not be naive: this is not simply a political struggle, but it is an attempt to destroy God’s plan. It is not just a bill (a mere instrument) but a ‘move’ of the father of lies who seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God,” he said in 2010, as the Argentinian government pushed to allow gay marriage.
He went on to speak of gay adoption rights, the legalization of which he stated would lead to the children suffering from isolation.
“At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God.
“At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts,” he added, according to the National Catholic Register.
GLAAD president Herndon Graddick addresses the issue of the former Pope vocally opposing marriage in the LGBT community and the new Pope having shared similar views in the past.
“In Pope Benedict’s short time in the papacy, he made a priority of condemning gay people routinely. [...] We hope this Pope will trade in his red shoes for a pair of sandals and spend a lot less time condemning,” Graddick explains.