Leo Varadkar and the Pope | Photos: Wikimedia
Irish PM Leo Varadkar will raise the subject of marriage equality with Pope Francis soon.
The Pope is visiting Ireland on 25 August.
The trip coincides with the World Meeting of Families event, taking place in Dublin from 21-26 August 2018.
Its website says it celebrates family and marriage ‘as the cornerstone of our lives, of society and of the Church.’
‘I’m not sure exactly what the detail of my interaction with him is going to be’
Varadkar was questioned by World Meeting of Families on what he would as Pope Francis when they meet.
Reports Irish Central, the politician replied he would discuss: ‘our view as a society and as a government that families come in all sorts of different forms and that includes families led by same-sex parents.’
Varadkar, who is openly gay, furthermore added at a briefing: ‘I’m not sure exactly what the detail of my interaction with him is going to be.
‘[The reception at] Dublin Castle may be very short but, first of all, I will want to welcome him to Ireland. And, if the opportunity arises, I will certainly want to express to him the real concerns Irish people have in relation to the legacy of the past, in relation to issues such as the church’s involvement in Magdalene laundries, mother-and-baby homes, and sexual and physical abuse.’
‘I am a gay man, it’s not a secret’
Varadkar came out publicly on 18 January 2015.
He said at the time: ‘I am a gay man, it’s not a secret, but not something that everyone would necessarily know but isn’t something I’ve spoken publicly about before.’
He furthermore continued: ‘It’s not something that defines me. I’m not a half-Indian politician, or a doctor politician or a gay politician for that matter.’
Speaking on RTE Radio 1, he also said: ’It’s just part of who I am. It doesn’t define me. [But] it is part of my character I suppose.’
