...Cruz recounts the conversation with the Pontifex: “You know Juan Carlos, that does not matter. God made you like this. God loves you like this. The Pope loves you like this, and you should love yourself and not worry about what people say.”

Following the reports, the Vatican are maintaining their customary silence, with a Vatican spokesperson telling CNN that the Vatican “do not normally comment on the Pope’s private conversations”.

...What I fear is being missed here though, is the fact that what the Pope said doesn’t really contradict the church’s teaching in any way. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (a summary of official church teaching and doctrines, the latest of which was compiled by Pope John Paul II in 1992), does acknowledge that the “number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible”, advocating that they “be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity” (Catechism 2358).

...So – homosexual acts apparently constitute grave depravity, are “intrinsically disordered”, contrary to the natural law, and should never be approved. What does the church suggest these sorry individuals do? Chastity. Catechism 2359 states that “homosexual persons are called to chastity”. It’s there in black and white.