Pope Francis issued a apostolic exhortation today, encouraging Catholics to have "tolerance and understanding" when it comes to divorce couples and gay people.

Amoris Laetitia (Latin for "The Joy of Love") urges priests to welcome single parents, unmarried couples and gays into the church, though steers clear of saying whether they should receive Communion.

"A pastor cannot feel that it is enough to simply apply moral laws to those living in ‘irregular’ situations, as if they were stones to throw at people’s lives," he wrote, adding. "I sincerely believe that Jesus wants a church attentive to the goodness which the Holy Spirit sows in the midst of human weakness."

So basically, LGBT people are still disordered, but we should be allowed to slink into church and be treated like second-class citizens.

In case that message wasn't clear, the Pope underscored the Church's view that marriage is a union between a man and a woman: "There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family."

Francis did insist that "every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration," and condemned "unjust discrimination"—which seemed to be enough to charm some gay Catholics.

Martin Pendergast, who is active in the LGBT Catholic community in London, praised the document for "clearly [recognizing] the existence and experience of people in same-sex unions, although it’s still not willing to equate such unions with marriage."

Pendergast told The Guardian that "the door is still open."

In another section, though, Francis took a swipe at abortion and contraception, stating that "So great is the value of human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right to one’s own body can justify a decision to terminate that life."

Given the Pope's waffling on social issues, its hard to tell if the exhortation represents his true feelings or if he's being strong-armed by conservative elements in the Vatican. In either case, it doesn't exactly feel warm and cuddly.

One ray of hope: Francis suggested that many issues can be addressed on a case-by-case basis by local priests, rather than with full force of the magisterium. "Each country or region... can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs," he wrote.

That could be enough wiggle room to allow individual clergy to create welcoming and inclusive environments.