Pope Francis says Roman Catholic Church should apologise to gay people

The leader says being gay is not wrong, but has said homosexual acts are sinful

The pope said that Christians should seek forgiveness for marginalising gay people (Getty)

Pope Francis has said the Roman Catholic Church owes gay people an apology for the way it has treated them.

On a flight from Armenia to Rome, the pontiff recalled Christian teaching and said: "I will repeat what the catechism of the Church says, that they [gay people] should not be discriminated against, they should be respected, accompanied pastorally.”

Pope Francis also told reporters the institution should seek forgiveness from other groups it had discriminated against.

"I think that the Church not only should apologise... to a gay person whom it offended but it must also apologise to the poor as well, to the women who have been exploited, to children who have been exploited by [being forced to] work. It must apologise for having blessed so many weapons."

The pope made the remarks after he was asked if he agreed with statements made by a senior cardinal, Reinhard Marx, who said the Church must say sorry to homosexuals

Pope Francis has been lauded by the gay community, but also criticised by conservative Roman Catholics, for his tolerance of homosexuality.

In 2013, the pontiff said: "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?"

Yet while the leader maintains being gay is not wrong, he has said performing homosexual acts is sinful.

On his visit to Armenia, Pope Francis used the word "genocide" to descibe the massacre of Armenians by Turks under the Ottoman Empire.

Turkey disagrees with the number of those slaughtered and denies the mass slaughter was a "genocide". The term has significant political and financial implications for the country.