Deacon John Harvey of St. Mary Parish in Bunnell shed some much-needed light on the recently quoted remarks from Pope Francis about the LGBT community.

The press and society as a whole jumped on the quote and tried to misinterpret his words, sowing confusion into the actual message that was stated. 

Fr. Agustino Torres, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal explained that the translation quoted by the media was not accurate, which led to confusion about what the pope meant. 

"A better translation of what Pope Francis said: 'a homosexual person has a right to be in a family,'" Harvey quoted Fr. Torres in the "Sunday Reflection" column of the parish's Nov. 1 bulletin. "'We cannot just throw someone out of somebody’s family because they feel a homosexual attraction. We need to create laws of civil coexistence to legally protect homosexual persons.' Pope Francis is not saying anything about homosexual civil-unions or marriage."

The Church will never change the truth that has been revealed about marriage. It was given to us by God and we do not have the authority to change that. Neither was Pope Francis advocating for Church teaching. His statements were only in an interview and were not magisterial teaching. 

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco added that Pope Francis was not trying to equate civil unions with marriage, as the two quite simply cannot be equated. 

"I would add that a civil union of this type (one which is not equated to marriage) should be as inclusive as possible, and not be restricted to two people of the same sex in a presumed sexual relationship," Cordileone was quoted in the bulletin. "There is no reason why a brother and a sister, both of whom are unmarried and support each other, should not have access to these kinds of benefits."

Dcn. Harvey concluded the "Reflection" noting how important it is to be patient when explaining Catholic beliefs to others, perhaps most especially in times of confusion.