ROME — The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has tweeted out its support for Pride Month while flying a large rainbow flag in front of the Embassy building, an innovation of the Joe Biden administration.
“During the month of June, the United States celebrates Pride Month,” the Embassy said in its tweet. The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See “stands with the LBGTQI+ community against discrimination and other forms of persecution because of who they are and whom they love. ❤”
During the month of June, the celebrates Pride Month ️. @usinholysee stands with the LBGTQI+ community against discrimination and other forms of persecution because of who they are and whom they love. ❤#pridemonth #humanrights #inclusion pic.twitter.com/URZUgvIOqt
— U.S. in Holy See (@USinHolySee) June 1, 2023
This is the third year in a row in which the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See publicly celebrates Pride Month after Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a blanket authorization for U.S. diplomatic outposts around the globe to fly the rainbow flag on the same flagpole as the U.S. flag, underscoring support for LGBTQIAAP2S+ rights.
For his part, Pope Francis has championed traditional man-woman marriage since the beginning of his pontificate, insisting that marriage — founded on “the complementarity of man and woman” — is under attack in the modern world.
Traditional marriage between a man and a woman “is being questioned by the so-called gender ideology,” the pope said, yet the differences between men and women do not suggest “opposition or subordination” but are meant for “communion and procreation, always in the image and likeness of God.”
The most persuasive testimony of the blessing of Christian marriage is “the good life of Christian spouses and families,” Francis said on another occasion, since marriage consecrated by God “preserves the bond between man and woman that God has blessed since the creation of the world.”
The testimony that attracts depends on the relationship between men and women and is “the way of reciprocity between them, the complementarity between them,” he said.