Pope Francis has labeled what he calls “gender ideology” as one of the “ugliest” dangers that he says “eliminatees the differences between men and women.” The criticism was expressed this Friday the 1st during the “ManWoman, Image of God” meeting at the Vatican.
“It is very important that there is this meeting between men and women because today the greatest danger is gender ideology that eliminates differences. I asked to conduct studies on this bad ideology of our time that erases differences and makes everything the same,” the Pope said at the opening of the event. “To abolish difference means to abolish humanity. However, men and women experience a fertile “tension,” he concluded.
In his speech, delivered by a speaker, Francisco stressed the importance of appreciating what he called the “anthropological dimension of every vocation” in order to achieve an “elementary and fundamental truth” in people's lives. In his opinion, in the current context “there is a tendency to forget or obscure this reality, with the danger of reducing man only to his material needs”.
Francis' conservative speech marks a step backwards for the pope towards a more progressive church. Although he condemns what he sees as “gender ideology,” the pope has been highlighted in the media and the target of criticism for defending that LGBT+ people are welcome and included in the Christian community.