Pope Francis on Friday urged priests around the world to be more accepting of gay men and lesbians, divorced Catholics, and other people living in what the church considers “irregular” situations. “A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws … as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives,” Francis writes in a sweeping paper outlining his stance on family matters. The statements come in a highly anticipated paper called “On Love in the Family,” or “Amoris Laetitia” in Latin. Running more than 260 pages, the paper comes after Francis summoned the world’s Catholic bishops twice to discuss the issues in conferences known as synods.
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