It was refreshing for once to hear Pope Francis strike a more moderate tone when speaking about gay relationships in his impromptu press conference, on board his plane returning from South America. He said that he wasn’t in a position to judge on homosexuals who try to live a good life seeking God. However on reflection this seemed a somewhat grudging admission that does not really address the key issue. Would he have used the same language for example in speaking of heterosexuals? Of course not! So his attitude, though admittedly coming across as perhaps more conciliatory that his predecessor, conceals a big problem. Francis, indeed was keen to maintain the traditional line that the Catholic Church does not condemn homosexuality in itself but rather the expression of sexual acts by homosexuals. However this begs the huge issue that for persons born gay, in effect he is telling them that they cannot hope to give direct expression to their sexual identity. Thus it must