Pope Francis Gay Lobby: ‘Can’t Marginalize’ Or ‘Judge’ Gay Catholic Priests, He Says; But No Hope Yet For Women Priests

Pope Francis discussed gay Catholic priests while taking questions from reporters on the plane back to Rome, as World Youth Day in Rio draws to a close.

Francis answered questions from reporters about gay priests and what has been called the "gay lobby" in the Vatican. The delicate question challenged the Pope on how he would respond to learning that a cleric in his ranks was gay, though not sexually active, The Huffington Post reports. 

"Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" the pontiff said, speaking in Italian. "You can't marginalize these people."

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter reported on the meeting and said the Pope also addressed the question of the Vatican's reported "gay lobby."

According to Allen, the Pope hasn't met significant resistance to reform inside the Vatican, and joked that if there really is a "gay lobby," he hasn't yet seen it stamped on anyone's ID cards, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Pope Francis is known for his emphasis on mercy and is often referred to as "the people's pope."

The Associated Press' translation of Pope Francis' words say: "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?"

This is quite a change for the Vatican, which for decades has regarded homosexuality as a "disorder." Pope Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with "deep-seated" homosexual tendencies should not enter the priesthood.

Despite these steps forward, Pope Francis did not advocate for women Catholic priests, according to Allen. This stems from a long history of the Vatican to keep women out of the priesthood.

Allen said: Pope John Paul II "definitively ... closed the door' to women priests.