The former President spoke on the subject at an LGBTQ award ceremony.
In the lead up to his Ireland visit, Mary McAleese has asked that The Pope reverse the church's stance on the teachings on homosexuality.
McAleese made the statement at a ceremony in Dublin's Lighthouse Cinema, where she was the inaugural recipient of the Vanguard award at the GAZE Film Festival.
The LGBTQ+ film festival, now in its 26th year, held the award ceremony on the closing night, with Irish director John Butler (Handsome Devil) on hand to present the award to McAleese, who has
previously made strong statements on the church's stance on homophobia.
Speaking to
reporters at the festival, McAleese made the following statement:
"So I'm hoping, having done that this week, that maybe next week or in the weeks to come, that he will then challenge other doctrines, that really in the face of science and in the light of a gospel of love have to be changed.
"I mean, the church has the take responsibility for the damage inflicted on generations of men, women and children, by the evil teaching that it promotes around homosexuality."
Both John Butler's introduction, as well as Mary McAleese's speech, can be seen below in a video via
GCN:
https://twitter.com/GCNmag/status/1026544358483320834
The Pope's visit is set to take place on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 August, and the full list of road closures in Dublin for those days can be found
here.
