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Blair: Pope out of step over gays
Tony Blair: Pope out of step over gays
Tony Blair has criticised the Pope over his attitude towards gays.
The former Prime Minister said that the Vatican was out step with ordinary Catholics over the issue of homosexuality.
The Roman Catholic Church considers homosexual acts to be sinful. Last year Pope Benedict stated that homosexuality was as big a threat to humanity as the destruction of the rain forests.
In an interview with gay magazine Attitude, Blair said: “If you went into any Catholic Church ... on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you'd be surprised at how liberal-minded people were.”
He said that there was a generational difference in attitudes towards homosexuality in the Church and pressed for a “rethinking” of religious texts such as the Bible or the Koran.
"When people quote the passages in Leviticus condemning homosexuality, I say to them -- if you read the whole of the Old Testament and took everything that was there in a literal way ... you'd have some pretty tough policies.”
Mr Blair converted to Roman Catholicism in 2007.
