That Piece That Talks About Pope Francis’s Hypocrisy

Originally published on pinknews.co.uk

Pope Francis has attacked Catholics who do not practice proper Christian values, and suggested that atheists are better than those who are unfaithful.

The Vatican Radio posted a transcript from a mass given by the Pope, in which he scolded Christians living a “double life”

“Scandal is saying one thing and doing another; it is a double life, a double life. A totally double life: ‘I am very Catholic, I always go to Mass, I belong to this association and that one; but my life is not Christian, I don’t pay my workers a just wage, I exploit people, I am dirty in my business, I launder money…’ A double life,” he said.

The pontiff went on to say that being an atheist is better than not truly following the religion.

“How many times have we heard – all of us, around the neighbourhood and elsewhere ― ‘but to be a Catholic like that, it’s better to be an atheist,’” he said.

The Pope was quick to judge these “hypocritical” Christians, but has been hypocritical himself in the past. He claimed that the church should “apologise” to gay people, a month after he said Catholics should be free to discriminate based on sexuality.

The ‘who am I to judge’ PR stunt, which attempted to bolster his image, has not yet seen any homophobic and transphobic policies of his predecessors being actively removed. Despite his ‘who am I to judge’ comments, the Catholic figurehead has stood by, supporting anti-LGBT activist rallies, as well as being firmly against accepting transgender people.

He was also happy to judge when a senior Vatican priest came out as gay last month and he promptly dismissed him from his post. The priest has since sent a letter warning the Pope that his policies are “making life hell” for LGBT people, and the pontiff did not reply.

Singer Hozier previously went after the Pope over his failure to tackle Catholic homophobia.

“The Pope came out last year and said who am I to judge with regards to somebody’s sexual orientation?” the singer said. “But I think it is important to differentiate between lip service towards something and actually making change.”