Pope Francis sets out vision for more gay people and women in 'new' church

[Swede Atlanta]

16. While I am pleased with a new tone and focus with this pope read his words very carefully.......

He says, with respect to gay persons, "consider the person", "we must accompany them starting from their situation".

Unless we see something that clarifies this and similar previous statements he has made I am not perceiving a significant shift from the church's previous position was "hate the sin, love the sinner".

That is another way of saying it is okay if you are homosexual (or for may you have "chosen" to be a homosexual) but the sin of expressing that homosexuality in your manners and, heaven forbid, intimacy including sexual relations, or accepting yourself and living true to your being is not allowed.

I do think he is trying to get the church away from focus on what he considers social issues that will destroy the church - abortion, women's rights and homosexuals and onto more pressing matters of poverty, hunger, income inequality. If you look at where the church is growing it is growing rapidly in the developing world. What are the issues faced by those nations? Poverty, hunger, income inequality.

Where the church is stable or even shrinking (at least in terms of attendance) the church is very focused on 1st world issues of abortion, women's rights (especially reproductive rights) and homosexuality.

So his refocusing of the church is in line with where the church is growing. That is a wise strategy.