Pope Francis: Church should not interfere in the spiritual lives of gays and lesbians

In yet another in a series of uncharacteristically tolerant statements regarding gays and lesbians on behalf of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said today that the church should not interfere in the lives of the LGBT community:

“Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people,” Francis told Jesuit Roman journal La Civilta Cattolica in an interview published Thursday and previewed by CNN. “But God in creation set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.”