The World Meeting of Families is currently underway in Dublin, Ireland, with Pope Francis visiting on Saturday and Sunday.

The gathering is a celebration of, and reflection upon, the family within the Church, and comes as it continues to struggle with how to respond to the clerical sexual abuse scandal.

Additionally, it occurs in the shadow of lingering questions over gay rights, and what constitutes a family to the Church.

The Catholic Church has long opposed the march toward LGBTQ liberation, but under Pope Francis there have been signs of progress. At least, it seemed that way to many. The extent to which true progress is being made remains an open-ended question, with plenty of signs of work still needing to be done.

Signs of Progress?

"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?"

Those words from Francis, delivered to the press in 2013, caused a stir in both the LGBTQ community and among the faithful. To many, it was a clear sign that the Church would move in a more tolerant direction.

There have also been headlines suggesting Francis has signed off on civil unions for gay couples, based on something he said during a conversation with French journalist Dominique Wolton, who published the material in the book Politics and Society. In actuality, he said little of substance on the matter... but more on that later.

On the topic of civil unions, he said he sympathized with countries that have legalized them, noting the importance of accounting for "different situations of living together."

More recently, the Pope again made waves when a survivor of clerical sexual abuse, Juan Carlos Cruz (pictured below), said Francis told him God made him gay, and that both He and the Pope loved him that way.

This would signify perhaps the most open-minded statement he has made on the issue.

This year is also the first time there has been a pro-LGBTQ family talk during the World Meeting of Families.

Rev. James Martin noted that many in the LGBTQ community had been "deeply wounded" by being treated like "lepers" by the Church.

Martin (above) spoke of an autistic man who told him "the pastoral association said that he could no longer receive communion in the Church, because even saying that he was gay was a scandal." He also noted the Church's lack of understanding of the transgender community, urging it to do more to listen to their experiences.

He spoke to a packed house and received a standing ovation, The Irish Times reports.

Has Anything Really Changed?

While those steps forward do represent some degree of change, if only in rhetoric, the devil, if you'll forgive the pun, is in the details.

Francis's "who am I to judge?" question heard round the world is much less revolutionary when you look more closely.

While the individuals themselves might be pardoned from judgment, their behavior is not. As it so happens, Francis did not say anything that went against the Church's official doctrine on the subject.

"The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible," the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads.

"This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition."

A nun walks by a flag held by members of Italian gay rights group demonstrating, 31 July 2003, at piazza San Pietro in the Vatican City against the publication of a document opposing marriage equality.

And what does that look like exactly? Chastity.

"Homosexual persons are called to chastity," it goes on. "By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection."

Viewed under this light, it becomes clear that his reported comments to Cruz are, while seemingly affirming, not veering from any official doctrine.

As for his comments on civil unions, the quote that inspired headlines declaring he was in favor of them reads as anything but. In fact, he only invokes the term to differentiate such partnerships from "real," as in heterosexual, marriages.

Francis said:

What can we think of marriage between people of the same sex? “Matrimony” is a historical word. Always, in humanity, and not just in the Church, it was a man and a woman. It’s not possible to change it just like that […] It’s not possible to change it. It is part of nature. That’s how it is. Let us call it, then, “civil unions.” Let us not play with truths.

It’s true that behind all this we find gender ideology. In books, kids learn that it’s possible to change one’s sex. Could gender, to be a woman or to be a man, be an option and not a fact of nature? This leads to this error.

Let us call things by their names. Matrimony is between a man and a woman. This is the precise term. Let us call the same-sex union a “civil union.”

Hardly a ringing endorsement.

Demonstrators take part during a sit-in at St Peter's Square in Rome to slam the Vatican for its opposition to a UN resolution that would decriminalise homosexuality worldwide, on December 6, 2008.

Francis has also called gay parenting "ungodly," and reportedly told bishops in a closed-door meeting to keep gay men, or anyone suspecting of being such, out of the priesthood.

Meanwhile, his statements on transgender people also leave much to be desired.

The Pope reportedly criticized a trans-inclusive education policy during a private meeting, and instead argued children must be taught to appreciate their "body as male or female."

He has also criticized medical interventions that assist people in transitioning, claiming it could "risk dismantling the source of energy that fuels the alliance between men and women and renders them fertile."

Conclusion

While some signs of progress are visible, the Church has a long way to go towards embracing LGBTQ people, without also shaming them by demanding they remain chaste, or trapped in a body with which they do not identify.

As the Church deals with scandals and emptying pews, whether it will evolve or stay tied to the old doctrine remains to be seen. It is clear there are forces pulling it in both directions, increasingly threatening to be a factor in tearing the institution apart at the seams.

In the meantime, the queer community, as it pertains to the Church's view, remains in a sort of limbo. With numerous studies showing LGBTQ people at an increased risk for homelessness, drug abuse, and suicide attempts, all thanks to societal discrimination, actual lives remain on the line while the Church drags its heels.