Pope Francis has told a young transgender person that “God loves us as we are,” in his latest outreach gesture towards the LGBTQ+ community. His comments, released by Vatican media on Tuesday, were in a podcast in which Francis listened and responded to audio messages from young people ahead of a Catholic youth festival which he will attend in Portugal next week. One of the young people was Giona, an Italian in their early 20s who said the dichotomy between their Catholic faith and transgender identity tears them. Francis replied, "The Lord always walks with us. ... Even if we are sinners, he draws near to help us. The Lord loves us as we are.” The Catholic Church teaches that members of the LGBTQ+ community should be treated with respect, compassion, and sensitivity, and their human rights respected. Whether the church can and should be more welcoming toward LGBTQ+ people, for example by offering blessings for same-sex unions, is a particularly sensitive topic. Francis has famously said “Who am I to judge?” in an answer to a question specifically about gay people and has condemned laws criminalizing members of the LGBTQ+ community as a sin and an injustice. #Queer Up Religion