In startlingly honest interview, Pope confirms he believes the “imbalance” caused by the far right is damaging to the reputation of the church

WASHINGTON—Today, lay Catholics across the world are celebrating a wide-ranging interview given by Pope Francis to 17 Jesuit-affiliated periodicals. In the interview, published in English by the Catholic magazine America, Francis articulates his vision of moving the priorities of the Catholic faith away from divisive social issues, like what he calls an “obsession” with gay marriage, abortion and contraception, while refocusing on core Gospel teachings relating to poverty.

In the interview, found at America’s website, americamagazine.org, Pope Francis makes a number of statements that provide hope to lay Catholics who want a church more rooted in social justice values:

On treatment of gay people:
“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”

On divisive social issues:
“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time.

[...] We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel. The proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.

On his personal views:
“[...] I have never been a right-winger. It was my authoritarian way of making decisions that created problems.”

James Salt, Catholics United’s executive director, described his personal reaction to these statements as “overjoyed,” and said he was curious to see how right-wing activists will react.

“Pope Francis is saying what every faithful lay Catholic knows: to be effective in the modern world, the Church must refocus on what Christ actually taught us: to proclaim God’s love and good news for the poor, the vulnerable and the forgotten. For too long, right-wing activists have distorted and co-opted Catholic teaching to suit their agendas. Pope Francis put a stop to that today.”

Salt went on to speculate why this was such a profound sentiment.

“The American hierarchy has willingly abdicated its moral authority to, using Francis’ words, obsess over divisive, often politically-driven, social issues like gay marriage and access to birth control,” Salt said. “What’s ultimately the saddest takeaway is that because of the bishops’ misplaced priorities, this Pope’s statements are going to be seen as ‘groundbreaking’ stuff to a lot of lay people. But this is meat-and-potatoes Christianity.”

For more context on the contrast between the American hierarchy and Pope Francis, please see this clip, recorded just before the papal election: CNN Interview on Jorge Bergoglio and the Crisis of Leadership within Catholicism