Pope Can’t Save You From God’s Judgment, Says Franklin Graham

The Rev. Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, is warning same-sex couples that even “so-called ‘blessings'” from religious leaders like Pope Francis will not save them “from the judgment of God.”

“Pope Francis has now approved Catholic priests ‘blessing’ same-sex couples, but none of us, including the Pope, has the right to ‘bless’ what God calls sin,” Graham posted on his Facebook page this week, as Faithwire reported.

The evangelist’s comments come in response to the Pope’s document released earlier this week in which he formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.

The document, representing a radical change in the Vatican’s policy, states that people who seek love and mercy from God should not have to go through an “exhaustive moral analysis” to receive it. It has drawn fire from religious leaders, including many in the Catholic Church. 

“‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,'” Graham wrote in his post, quoting Isaiah 5:20, adding, the “Good News is that right now God will forgive sin, but we have to come to Him His way, on His terms by repenting of our sins and placing our faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Graham also quoted Isaiah 1:28, saying, “Otherwise, the Bible says, ‘The destruction of transgressors and of sinners shall be together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.'”

The pope’s document reaffirms traditional Catholic teaching that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, but states that as being blessed by God should not require “moral perfection,” then “one can understand the possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.”