Pope Francis: Church should not interfere in the spiritual lives of gays and lesbians

In yet another in a series of uncharacteristically tolerant statements regarding gays and lesbians on behalf of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said today that the church should not interfere in the lives of the LGBT community:

"Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people," Francis told Jesuit Roman journal La Civilta Cattolica in an interview published Thursday and previewed by CNN. "But God in creation set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person."

The Human Rights Campaign's Chad Griffin hailed the comments as a "reset" for the Catholic Church's treatment of gays and lesbians:

"With these latest comments, Pope Francis has pressed the reset button on the Roman Catholic Church's treatment of LGBT people, rolling back a years-long campaign at the highest levels of the Church to oppose any measure of dignity or equality.

"Now, it's time for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to catch up and drop their opposition to even the most basic protections for LGBT people. Otherwise, they risk being left far behind by American Catholics and this remarkable Pope.

"At a moment when Pope Francis is re-dedicating the Church to tirelessly helping the poor, it's unacceptable for American bishops to continue wasting millions of parishioner dollars on harmful anti-LGBT political campaigns that target members of their own flock. For the sake of LGBT Catholics, it's essential that Pope Francis' inspiring words lead to transformative change throughout the Church hierarchy."

(via Advocate.com)