Pope Francis Gay Views: Pope Says He Won't Judge Gay Priests [VIDEO]

Since Pope Francis has become the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, many have been calling him the Pope who will reform the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Francis is now making headlines for his comments on gay priests that are supporting the notion that he may, in fact, be reforming the church to make it more liberal and open to people of all sexualities.

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In a move that is a huge change from his predecessor, Pope Francis said on Monday that he will not judge gay priests. His predecessor, on the contrary, had tried to prevent men with "homosexual tendencies" from priesthood.

"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" said Pope Francis in a news conference aboard the papal plane while flying back to Rome from Brazil, where he celebrated World Youth Day.

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And it wasn't just gay priests that Pope Francis talked about on the plane. Pope Francis took questions from reporters on the plane about many controversial issues that the Roman Catholic Church faces, including: the alleged "gay lobb," the role of women, homosexuality, his personal security, abortion, and Vatican bank corruption.

"There's a lot of talk about the gay lobby, but I've never seen it on the Vatican ID card!" Pope Francis said. "When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn't be marginalized. The tendency (to homosexuality) is not the problem ... they're our brothers."

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The Pope Francis gay views should not come as a surprise, as Pope Francis has shown a more liberal approach from the get-go. Pope Francis, in the past, has shown more compassion for divorced and remarried Catholics and has even called for a deeper role of women in the church.

"Pope Francis's brief comment on gays reveals great mercy," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at America, a Catholic magazine based in New York, to CNN. "Today Pope Francis has, once again, lived out the Gospel message of compassion for everyone."