Rick Santorum: Pope Francis has been ‘very, very, very clear’ on gay marriage

Former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said Tuesday that Pope Francis has been “very clear” about “standing for the definition of marriage.”

“The pope doesn’t support a change in the definition of marriage — he’s been perfectly clear about that,” Mr. Santorum, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate, said on CNN’s “New Day.” “He’s been very, very, very clear about standing for the definition of marriage — I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

In July 2013, the Pope told reporters he wouldn’t judge priests for their sexual orientation.

“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?” Francis asked. “We shouldn’t marginalize people for this. They must be integrated into society.”

A Vatican spokesman told CBS News then that the pope was “for sure” referring to all gays, not just gay priests, and that it didn’t represent a change in church teachings.

“What he’s talking about, and he’s absolutely right, is that we need to respect the dignity of all human life,” Mr. Santorum said. “We are all broken; we are all sinners; we all make mistakes, and we have to continue to love and support those who fall short of the mark, including me, so I think the pope is simply stating something that is crystal clear in the Christian faith, which is to love the sinner and condemn the sin but to stand for the truth of what the institution of marriage is. I think the pope has been very clear” about that.

In the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, Mr. Santorum is pushing for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman, going even further than some Republicans who say the matter should be left up to the states.

“The most important thing I would do as president is really try to strengthen the nuclear family,” he said, pointing to his recent book, “Blue Collar Conservatives,” as well as his book, “It Takes a Family,” published in 2005.

Mr. Santorum said he’s talked about the breakdown of the family “for 20 years” and that he sees the issue of gay marriage “as really a continuation of the breakdown of marriage over a long period of time.”