On Sept. 28, Pope Francis said that government officials have a “human right” to refuse to discharge duties—such as issuing marriage licenses to gay people—if they feel it violates their conscience, Reuters reported.
The pontiff made the statement on his flight back to Rome from the United States. Asked if he backed individuals, such as government officials, who refuse to abide by some laws, such as issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the pope said, “Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right.”
In Kentucky, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis went to jail because she refused to issue licenses to same-sex couples. Although she is back in her position, she still will not personally sign off on them, although most of her deputy clerks have.
Francis also repeated his condemnation of priests who had sexually abused children, saying the victims had been “crushed by evil.”
The Reuters article is at www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/28/us-pope-usa-idUSKCN0RS13320150928.