Just hours after President Barack Obama told the LGBT community at a Democratic fundraiser that “religious freedom doesn’t grant us the freedom to deny our fellow Americans their constitutional rights,” Pope Francis seemingly had a very different message.
When asked aboard the papal plane whether he supports individuals who refuse to violate religious conscience as in the cases of those who decline to grant gay marriage licenses, the pontiff seemingly offered up support for people like Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, NBC News reported.
“I can’t have in mind all the cases that can exist about conscientious objection … but yes, I can say that conscientious objection is a right that is a part of every human right. It is a right,” he said in remarks that were translated by pool reporters. “And if a person does not allow others to be a conscientious objector, he denies a right.”
Pope Francis also expressed his belief that such protections should be built into judicial systems.
“Conscientious objection must enter into every juridical structure because it is a right, a human right,” he said. “Otherwise we would end up in a situation where we select what is a right, saying, ‘this right that has merit, this one does not.’”
The pontiff did not name Davis or anyone else for that matter in making these remarks, though he did extend them to government workers.
“It is a human right and if a government official is a human person, he has that right,” he said. “It is a human right.”
As The Blaze previously reported, Obama struck a different tone when he addressed members of the LGBT community at a Democratic fundraiser on Sunday, proclaiming that religious freedom isn’t a good or acceptable reason to deny other Americans their constitutional rights.
“We affirm that we cherish our religious freedom and are profoundly respectful of religious traditions,” Obama said at the Democratic National Committee LGBT Gala at Gotham Hall in New York City, according to the Associated Press. “But we also have to say clearly that our religious freedom doesn’t grant us the freedom to deny our fellow Americans their constitutional rights.”
(H/T: NBC News)
Source: The Blaze
