Pope Francis to Transgender: God Loves Us As We Are

JAKARTA - The leader of the world Catholic Church Pope Francis told a young transgender person, "God loves us as we are", as his latest form of outreach to the LGBT community.

His comments, released by Vatican media on Tuesday, are in a podcast in which Pope Francis listens to and responds to audio messages from young people ahead of a Catholic youth festival he will attend in Portugal next week.

One of those young people is Giona, an Italian in her early 20s who says they are "torn apart by the dichotomy between the (Catholic) faith and transgender identity".

"God always walks with us... Even if we are sinners, He approaches to help us. God loves us as we are, this is God's love," Pope Francis replied, cited from Reuters on July 26.

It is known, the Catholic Church teaches that members of the LGBT community must be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity, and their human rights are respected.

Whether the Church can and should be more welcoming to LGBT people, for example by providing blessings for same-sex marriage, is a very sensitive topic.

Pope Francis once said "who am I to judge" in an answer to a specific question about homosexuality, and condemned laws that criminalize members of the LGBT community as a sin and injustice.

At the same time, the Pope reiterated that marriage can only be understood as a lifelong union between a man and a woman. He supports civil legislation granting same-sex couples rights in bureaucratic matters, such as pensions and health care.

Meanwhile, conservatives oppose Pope Francis' friendlier and less judgmental stance on the LGBT community, despite his consistent reference to traditional Catholic teaching that same-sex attraction is not sinful, but same-sex acts are.

It is known that the upcoming meeting of world bishops, which will be held in October and in 2024, is expected to discuss the Church's attitude towards LGBT groups, women and Catholics who have divorced and remarried outside the Church.