Pope Francis: Anyone who discards gay people ‘doesn’t have a human heart’

Pope Francis has told gay comedian Stephen K Amos that gay people deserve “dignity.”

The Catholic leader made the comments to Amos during an audience filmed for BBC show Pilgrimage: The Road To Rome.

Pope Francis tells Stephen K Amos: Gay people ‘do not lose your dignity’

Meeting the Pope, the gay comedian explained: “I lost my mother, three months ago I buried my twin sister, who were both very religious.

“So me coming on this pilgrimage, being non-religious, I was looking for answers and faith. But as a gay man, I don’t feel accepted.”

The Pope replied: “Giving more importance to the adjective [gay] rather than the noun [man], this is not good. We are all human beings and have dignity. It does not matter who you are, or how you live your life – you do not lose your dignity.

“There are people that prefer to select or discard people because of the adjective. These people don’t have a human heart.”

Pope Francis (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)

Speaking to i, Amos explained he did not initially want to meet the Pope because of the Catholic Church’s anti-LGBT teachings, unless he could ask him about the issue.

He said: “We found out on the penultimate day that we would be meeting the Pope. I said no.

“I’ve been quite vocal in my criticism in certain aspects of the Catholic Church. I thought a private audience meant you go and see him, he blesses you and you leave. I couldn’t in all conscience go and do that, it’s not me.

“Then I said I’d only go if we can ask questions. The producers asked, well, what sort of questions, as we don’t want to spark a diplomatic incident. So we gave in some questions and the answer came back from the Vatican that the Pope will answer any questions that you have.”