Francis-appointed cardinal praises Japan’s new pro-LGBT campaign

(LifeSiteNews) — The cardinal-archbishop of Tokyo has welcomed the Japanese government’s recently announced plan to promote education about LGBT-identifying people.

Cardinal Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo, told UCA News that it was “meaningful that the Japanese government had clearly articulated a policy aimed at deepening understanding of sexual minorities.”

The plan, which was greenlighted on June 16, stems from the 2023 LGBT Understanding Promotion Act and reportedly “aims to establish core guidelines for governments, schools, and businesses.”

Kikuchi seemed to distinguish between the morality of homosexuality and the psychology behind it.

The Catholic Church’s approach to sexual minorities involves both an ethical dimension based on faith and a deeper understanding of human life itself, he said, according to UCA News.

Kikuchi emphasized that “an inclusive community that welcomes everyone is not a purpose of our attitude as such; rather, it is the first step toward realizing the world that God calls us to build.”

The cardinal avoided clearly articulating the Church’s position on the immorality of homosexual acts.

The Catholic Church teaches in the Catechism that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law” and that homosexual inclination, while not sinful in itself, is “objectively disordered.” The Catechism is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “(h)omosexual persons are called to chastity.” Homosexual acts are mortal sins; therefore, anyone who commits these sins and does not repent through the sacrament of confession is in danger of hell.

Kikuchi was appointed a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 2004, and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2024.

Japan’s 2026 plan to promote LGBT awareness calls for public education involving the government’s use of leaflets, training videos, and other educational material about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Such education is to extend to schools, where teachers are to be trained to understand LGBT matters and to address bullying and discrimination.

The plan also encourages workplaces to be welcoming to LGBT-identifying people, and specifically addresses insults, harassment, and revealing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent (“outing”).

Japan remains one of a handful of countries in the developed world, along with countries such as Italy, South Korea, and the Czech Republic, that have not legalized so-called homosexual “marriage.” 

However, while Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, also opposes homosexual so-called “marriage,” the highly secular country mostly supports the deviant practice: about 70 percent of Japanese people allegedly support homosexual “marriage,” according to a 2023 Pew survey – the highest rate of acceptance out of all the Asian countries surveyed.

In November, a Tokyo court ruled Japan’s ban on homosexual “marriage” is constitutional, in an unusual decision defying a streak of court decisions in the country that ruled that lack of legal status for homosexual “marriage” violated the Constitution. However, Japanese high courts do not have the authority to invalidate current law, making the rulings symbolic.