After making conciliatory statements toward the LGBT community in the past year, Pope Francis has made a U-turn—saying that family life is being threatened "by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage."

In a recent speech in Manila, the Pope also said the family unit was being assailed "by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.” He added that these forces were attempting an “ideological colonization of the family.”

Pope Francis has been all over the map when it comes to the gays: In 2013, he asked "If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?"

Last year, the Vatican declared that gays and lesbians had "gifts" to offer Catholics, and Francis even demoted a virulently homophobic Cardinal to a largely ceremonial position.

But the pro-gay statement was soon disavowed—and the Pope has spoken out against same-sex parenting. Last April, he said children need "the complementarity of the masculinity and femininity of a father and a mother."

Is Francis trying to placate conservative elements in the Vatican or is he a reactionary in progressive's clothing?