Pope Francis has called gender ideology “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations,” as it “blurs differences and the value of men and women.”
He made the statement during a March 10th interview with Argentine newspaper La Naciòn to mark the 10th anniversary of his pontificate.
Throughout his tenure, Pope Francis has frequently employed the term “ideological colonization”—more specifically, as it applies to those instances where aid for developing countries is conditional, i.e. if they allow for the use of contraceptives, abortion, and sterilization, as well as welcoming gender ideology to be propagated in their nations.
To Polish bishops, Pope Francis said in 2016:
Today children—children—are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex. Why are they teaching this? Because the books are provided by the people and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries. And this is terrible!
According to the pontiff, “all humanity is the tension of differences,” through which it must “grow.” The question of gender, he added, would dilute those differences as it makes the world “the same, all dull, all alike, and that is contrary to the human vocation.”
The pope told the publication that he had no immediate intention of writing an encyclical on the matter, and denied that he had been asked to write such a document.
Instead, he said, he chooses to talk about it, since “some people are a bit naïve and believe that this is the way to progress and do not distinguish between what is respect for sexual diversity or diverse sexual options from what has already become an anthropology of gender.”
He stressed that he made a distinction “between pastoral work with people of a different sexual orientation and [accepting] gender ideology,” as these “are two different things.”
Recently, Pope Francis spoke out against laws that criminalize same-sex relations, advocating for these to be abolished. He later nuanced that statement by saying such behavior was still sinful.
His statements on the topic of gender ideology come at a time when such ideas are making significant inroads among many Christian denominations, including the Catholic one.
Mere days before his pontificate’s 10th anniversary on March 13th, in response to the question of what had made him happy during that time, the Pope said that it would have to be the legacy of his “pastoral line of forgiveness and understanding of the people, to make room in the Church for everyone.”
