US figure skater and gay icon Adam Rippon has stepped out in praise of Pope Francis, following reports that he told a gay man that God loved him the way he is.
The Vatican found Reverend Fernando Karadima guilty of abuse in 2011. Cruz was one of the reverend’s victims.
According to the gay man, Juan Carlos Cruz, who spoke privately with Pope Francis last week, God doesn’t ‘care’ he’s gay.
Adam Rippon would like to meet the Pope
The Catholic Pope Francis
But, following the meeting between Pope Francis and Mr Cruz, Adam Rippon expressed his desire to meet the Pontiff.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, Rippon said: ‘I think that’s so awesome what the Pope said.
‘It would be pretty cool to, like, meet him one day.’
When asked by the reporter who he thought should attempt to speak to the pope, Rippon replied: ‘I think Gus should do it’
‘God made you like this’
Los que causaron tanto dolor, a veces peor que el abuso, hoy renuncian todos. El Papa oyó lo que le pedimos en nuestras conversaciones por sobrevivientes de todo el mundo. A los que hicieron tanto daño, hoy les llegó su día. @episcopado_cl que replica a la mafia, termina.
— Juan Carlos Cruz Ch. (@jccruzchellew) May 18, 2018
Cruz told Spanish newspaper El País that the Pope said: ‘Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like this and loves you like this and I don’t care. The Pope loves you like this. You have to be happy with who you are.’
Cruz recalls that the Pope said to him: ‘I want to apologize, in the name of the Pope and the Church for everything you have gone through.
‘I apologize for me, because I was the cause of this situation that caused you so much pain in these last months,’ Cruz recalled.
Widespread abuse and cover up by Chilean clergy
Pope Francis called an emergency three-day summit to address the widespread abuse and cover-up by Chilean clergy.
As a result of the summit, all 34 Roman Catholic bishops offered to resign on Friday (18 May) in response to the country’s clergy sex abuse scandal.
Pope Francis or the Vatican are both yet to confirm the comments publicly. But a prominent adviser to the Pope, James Martin, tweeted the story on 19 May.
“Juan Carlos, that you are gay does not matter. God made you like that and he loves you like that, and I do not care. The Pope wants you like that, you have to be happy with who you are.”
— James Martin, SJ (@JamesMartinSJ) May 19, 2018
Pope Francis recently said gays can’t burn in hell because ‘it doesn’t exist.’ He is against same-sex marriage but advocates for civil unions for same-sex couples.
