Dear Pope Francis - I am crushed by disappointment

A married lesbian couple kisses in front of the Colosseum
during Rome’s 2015 LGBT Pride celebration.

A friend sent this article to me and basically blew my good mood all to pieces. And any hope I had that this kinder, gentler Pope who proclaimed to all "Who am I to judge?" when asked about gay people, is actually just as bad (but sneakier) at judging the glbt community as his predecessor:

Pope Francis supported heterosexual complementarity in a speech on Sunday given to 25,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for a pastoral conference for the Diocese of Rome.

Though he did not mention lesbian and gay couples, the timing of the speech seemed significant to some since it came a day after tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the Eternal City to celebrate LGBT Pride and to call for marriage equality in Italy.

 So what is this message of complementarity? Well Religion News Service captured significant quotes from the papal talk:

“. . . [T]he pope said the differences between men and women are fundamental and ‘an integral part of being human.’

“The pontiff likened a long-lasting marriage to a good wine, in which a husband and wife make the most of their gender differences.

“ ‘They’re not scared of the differences!’ the pope said. ‘What great richness this diversity is, a diversity which becomes complementary, but also reciprocal. It binds them, one to the other.’

“Heterosexual marriages not only ensured couples’ happiness, the pontiff said, but were deemed essential for good parenting.

“ ‘Children mature seeing their father and mother like this; their identity matures being confronted with the love their father and mother have, confronted with this difference,’ Francis said.”

This is sneaky and underhanded. This is a dog whistle to the faithful and quite possibly to the knuckle draggers on our Supreme Court as well. This is so disappointing and depressing. Any doubts I may have had about walking away from the Church have been washed away with this very judgmental speech. Well all I can say is thank you Pope Francis, your words confirm for me why I shall never, ever walk thru the doors of a Catholic Church again.