Pope Francis reached out an olive branch to the gay community Monday, saying he wouldn’t judge priests for their sexual orientation during a news conference as he returned from his trip to Brazil. He asked, “If someone is gay and he searched for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” This is the first time a Pope has ever taken such a conciliatory stance.

His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI signed a document in 2005 that said “men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests,” the AP reports. Pope Francis’ position is that gay priests should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.

Pope Francis also stressed Catholic social teaching called for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized but it was something else entirely to conspire to use private information to blackmail or exert pressure, the AP reports. This comment was in response to reports that a trusted aide was involved in an alleged gay tryst 10 years ago.

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.