Pope Francis became the head of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013. He was the first pontiff to take on the name of Saint Francis of Assisi. The choice of name was part of a signal that he was planning major changes for the Church.
He has wanted and has enacted many new policies, many of them emphasizing compassion and a lessening focus on being strict. They include allowing divorcees to take communion and formally declaring animals go to Heaven. Others include a much more tolerant stance on the LGBTQ community.
Says anti-LGBTQ politicians remind him of Hitler
In a recent speech, Pope Francis made a sweeping condemnation of staunchly anti-LGBTQ politicians. He said that hearing some of them speak he thinks of "speeches by Hitler in 1934," and "1936."
Furthermore, he said they represent a "culture of hatred." As Business Insider notes, Pope Francis didn't signal out any specific names in his remarks. But people quickly thought of possibilities he might've been referring to.
One is Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. According to NBC, earlier this year Bolsonaro said he'd "rather have a dead son than a gay son." This year also included law enacted in Brunei that could make being openly gay punishable by death.
Christianity as a whole is often mistakenly thought to always preach condemnation of homosexuality. Instead, it tends to vary wildly depending on interpretations of certain Biblical verses. Some churches and denominations promote a zero-tolerance policy towards it, though most of those also say gays and lesbians should be respected as fellow children of God.
However, many other churches and denominations have affirmed and embraced it.
Also compared anti-Semitism, discrimination of gypsies to Nazism
Pope Francis also strongly condemned anti-Semitism and discrimination of gypsies. Francis has often spoken about the plight of gypsies. The community is often met with discrimination forced to live segregated from others.
He has also often voiced support for Jews. Francis has described anti-Semitism as "neither human or Christian." He has also referred to them as "brothers and sisters." The Roman Catholic Church has a complicated history regarding the treatment of Jews. A prime example of this is Pope Pius XII and his actions during World War II. Many take issue with his public neutrality on the Holocaust and reluctance to call Nazis evil. But away from the public eye, Pius was highly active in trying to protect Jews. It was even claimed he was part of a plot to assassinate Hitler in 1944.
In his remarks, Francis also had harsh words for other topics. Among them, police brutality and failure to address environmental crimes.
