BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — While the appointment of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope has filled many in this deeply Catholic country with pride, members of the gay community are unsurprisingly less than enthusiastic with the Vatican’s choice.
Nearly three years before Argentina became known as home to the first Latin American pope, it made history as the first country in the region to approve gay marriage — an action that then-Cardinal Bergoglio actively opposed.
The gay community here remembers Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, as the man who launched “a war of God” against the move to approve gay marriage.
In this July 14, 2010 photo, a demonstrator looks on between banners that read in Spanish: “Satan take off your cassock,” during a rally to support a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage.
Photo: Natacha Pisarenko, AP
“He was the visible face of the Catholic Church’s opposition to equal marriage and he approached it from a fundamentalist position, posturing that he had to wage a war of God against what he considered a plan of the devil,” said Esteban Paulon, president of the Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transsexuals.
But that isn’t the whole story.
Before the Argentine Congress approved gay marriage in July 2010, some provinces in the country and individual judges had already begun allowing it.
With that reality and the pro-gay marriage stance of President Cristina Fernandez, the church had to decide what to do.
In this July 14, 2010 photo, a demonstrator holds a banner that reads in Spanish; “God protect us from your followers,” during a rally to support a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage.
Photo: Natacha Pisarenko, AP
According to the new pope’s authorized biographer, Sergio Rubin, Bergoglio was politically wise enough to know the church couldn’t win a straight-on fight against gay marriage, so he urged his bishops to lobby for gay civil unions instead. It wasn’t until his proposal was shot down by the bishops’ conference that he publicly declared what Paulon described as the “war of God” — and the church lost the issue altogether.
Despite his conservatism, “Bergoglio is known for being moderate and finding a balance between reactionary and progressive sectors,” Paulon said. “When he came out strongly against gay marriage, he did it under pressure from the conservatives.”
The first Argentine couple to be married, before the national law was passed, were Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello in December 2009, in the southern city of Ushuaia, province of Tierra del Fuego. Their union was made possible by a judge who declared unconstitutional two articles of the civil code limiting marriage to that between a man and a woman, and the province’s governor, who backed the judge and issued a decree allowing gay marriage. Shortly afterward, however, a judge declared the marriage “nonexistent.”
Freyre, executive director of the Buenos Aires AIDS Foundation, wrote on his Twitter account this week that Pope Francis “knows that gay marriage isn’t the end of the world or the species.”
“Now he can say it in Latin.”
In another Tweet, he remarked, “Maybe the fact that the Vatican has chosen a pope from a country where gay marriage is allowed is a sign that they get it?”
Freyre went on to urge the new pope “to renovate the church so that it resumes a path of spirituality.”
Paulon also urged Pope Francis to promote true reform in the church.
“He has seen that Argentina hasn’t suffered any commotion with the gay-marriage law. … It would be difficult for him to now argue that it leads to chaos or discord. It hasn’t destroyed the family, and the anti-Christ hasn’t arrived.”But Paulon is also realistic.
He recalls, for example, that when Bergoglio served as head of the Argentine conference of bishops for several years, he was a die-hard opponent of abortion, and argued against sex-education laws that permit free access to contraceptives and allow Argentines to determine their gender based on their self-identity instead of their biology.
In any case, analysts note, any real reform of these issues would not be up to Pope Francis alone, but would rise or fall only after an internal Vatican debate between diverse factions.
Bergoglio is a man “open to dialogue,” said Adolfo Perez Esquivel, one of Argentina’s principal human rights leaders and a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Perez said he hoped the new pope would “form teams that can help him effect the changes that the church really needs.”
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Filed under: South America
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What Gay person is?
Just because he’s “das poop” doesn’t mean he’s anyone to be worried about…. he’s still a closet fag!! :P LOL
Just because he’s “das poop” doesn’t mean he’s anyone to be worried about…. he’s still a closet fag!! :P LOL
Who is?
I was going to say. It’s the freakin pope of the catholic church. what did they expect? is there an LGBT pope? (not to say it’s impossible but at this point in time?)
Like I said the day he was selected …the inquisition continues.
Was there a choice for Pope we *would* have been thrilled with?
Great language Sean you fucking idiot!
… Case-CLOSED!
No offence, but come on. It’s the Catholic Church.
Sean, not a very good choice of wording dude. But honestly, I can’t think of any pope who would fully support the LBGT community. Good thing we’re in the age where permission is over rated and approval can kiss everyone’s ass. Love who you love, love hard and if someone doesn’t like it, oh well. <3
I would never expect the pope to accept gays and lesbians, I really don’t care as he doesn’t live my life and has no say in it! What does truly piss me off tho is he said that gays and lesbians adopting kids is an abomination to the kids being adopted! Really???? So ur telling me that because of who I am you think it’s wrong to raise a child! Ud rather have the kid living in straight house and dealing with divorce, pedophilia etc than me raising a child and giving that kid an amazing life and lots of love! Sorry dude, your wrong
pope paul 2 and pope julius 2 were historicaly known gays and have young gay lovers but the irony is even they were having double life,in public they are still against gay marriage.
I’m not thrilled with him either. One of the reasons I moved to Argentina was because of the gay rights and now this asshole Pope is stirring up stigma against the gay community. I say … death to the pope
Why would any gay community be thrilled with any Pope or the Catholic Church at all? Of all the religious businesses in this world, they are right up there in the top five as the most hatefully homophobic bigots around.
I have never given a moment’s thought to who does or doesn’t accept me…people who do not accept me or my community are irrelevant to me, they have no role in my life. Having said that, I do support and do all I can to promote and ensure equality for this nation’s gay community. American citizen rights for all are a matter of law, not a matter of religion or personal belief.
me either… new look same dress…
Really? None of the rest of us are either?
Abortion is killing pure and simple. So he should oppose that but gay stuff he shouldnt its part of God creation
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — While the appointment of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope has filled many in this deeply Catholic country with pride, members of the gay community are unsurprisingly less than enthusiastic with the Vatican’s choice.
Nearly three years before Argentina became known as home to the first Latin American pope, it made history as the first country in the region to approve gay marriage — an action that then-Cardinal Bergoglio actively opposed.
The gay community here remembers Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, as the man who launched “a war of God” against the move to approve gay marriage.
Another demonic pope spreading hate. Who needs demons when there are popes like this and the last few?
He is a man of humility and he named himself francis…he wants to help the poor and needy…unless they happen to be gay.
the gay community isn’t the only ones who are not thrilled with the pope-many other groups aren’t either.