Europe

Pope: Gays and others marginalized deserve an apology

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Pope Francis, flanked by Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, right, talks to journalists during a press conference he held on board the airplane on his way back to the Vatican, at the end of three-day visit to Armenia, Sunday, June 26, 2016. (Tiziana Fabi/Pool photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

Pope Francis, flanked by Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, right, talks to journalists during a press conference he held on board the airplane on his way back to the Vatican, at the end of three-day visit to Armenia, Sunday, June 26, 2016. (Tiziana Fabi/Pool photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

Pope Francis says gays — and other people marginalized by the church like the poor and the exploited — deserve an apology.

Francis was asked Sunday en route home from Armenia if he agreed with one of his top advisers, German Cardinal Karl Marx, who told a conference in Dublin in the days after the deadly Orlando gay club attack that the church owes an apology to gays for having marginalized them.

Francis responded with a variation of his famous "Who am I to judge?" comment.

He said: "I think the church must not only apologize ... to a gay person it offended, but we must apologize to the poor, to women who have been exploited, to children forced into labor, apologize for having blessed so many weapons."