Pope Francis: Catholic Public Officials Should Be Allowed To Opt-Out Of Performing Same-Sex Marriages

Liberty Counsel will be thrilled:

Public officials who are Catholic should not be obliged to celebrate gay marriages or civil unions, Pope Francis said Tuesday, his first public remarks on the issue since same-sex partnerships were legalised in Italy last week.

“Once a law is approved, the state should be respectful of consciences. Conscientious objection must be possible on all legal jurisdictions, because it is a human right,” Francis said in an interview with French Catholic newspaper La Croix.

The comments adds to the history of mixed signals the pope has sent on the issue of homosexuality. Visiting the United States last year, he met Kim Davis, a Kentucky state clerk who was jailed for refusing to register gay marriages because it ran against her Christian beliefs.

But, during the same trip, he also gave an audience to a gay man and his partner. In 2013, Francis famously said “who am I to judge” gay people, and, this year, he refused to publicly endorse a campaign against Italy’s gay unions legislation.