Pope calls for fresh Church approach to children of gay, divorced parents

“On an educational level, gay unions raise challen-ges for us today which for us are sometimes difficult to understand,” Francis said in a speech to the Catholic Union of Supe-riors General in November, extracts of which were published on Italian media websites

on Saturday.

“The number of children in schools whose parents have separated is very high,” he said, adding that family make-ups were also changing. “I remember a case in which a sad little girl confessed to her teacher. ‘my mother’s girlfriend doesn’t love me’,” he was quoted as saying.

The pontiff said “Educ-ational leaders should ask themselves ‘how can we proclaim Christ to a generation that is changing?’ We must be careful not to administer a vaccine agai-nst faith to them,”.

Though the Church has often been in conflict with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community over its opposition to same-sex marriage and to homosexuality, Francis has drawn praise for attempts to be inclusive.

In July he declared that “If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?” In December, the Advocate magazine, dedicated to the gay and lesbian community, chose Pope Francis as the “most influential person of 2013 on the lives of LGBT people.”