Roman Catholic church leader,Pope Francis and the leaders of protestant churches in England and Scotland have denounced the criminalisation of homosexuality, saying those with "homosexual tendencies" should be welcomed by their churches.
Archbishop
Justin Welby and Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of
the Church of Scotland, travelled with the Pope to South Sudan where
they jointly called for peace in the war-torn country.
Speaking to reporters, the Pope said such laws were a sin and "an injustice".
He added people with "homosexual tendencies" are children of God.
Archbishop Welby and Dr Greenshields praised the Pope's comments during a news conference with reporters on board the papal plane as they travelled from Juba to Rome.
"I entirely agree with every word he said
there," said Archbishop Welby, noting that the Anglican church had its
own internal divisions over gay rights.
Last month the Church of England said it would refuse to allow same-sex couples to be married in its churches.
Expressing
his support, Dr Greenshields referred to the Bible, saying: "There is
nowhere in the four Gospels that I see anything other than Jesus
expressing love to whoever he meets, and as Christians that is the only
expression that we can give to any human being in any circumstance".
During
the news conference Pope Francis repeated his view that the Catholic
Church cannot permit sacramental marriage of same-sex couples.
But he said he supported so-called civil union legislation, and stressed that laws banning homosexuality were "a problem that cannot be ignored".
He suggested that 50 countries criminalise LGBT
people "in one way or another", and about 10 have laws carrying the
death penalty.
Currently 66 UN member states criminalise
consensual same-sex relations, according to ILGA World - the
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.
"This is not right. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God," said the Pope.
"God loves them. God accompanies them... condemning a person like this is a sin."
