Pope Francis calls out gender ideology, saying it is part of a 'nefarious path' that leads to defeat

Pope Francis condemned gender ideology during a trip to Hungary, calling it, along with abortion rights, part of a "nefarious path" that doesn't end in progress, but rather in "tragic defeat."

Francis praised Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Katalin Novák for efforts to preserve tradition and family values in the country. 

"How wonderful … to build a person- and people-centered Europe, where there are effective policies for birth and family," the pope said, according to The Daily Wire. "We have countries in Europe with the average age of 46-48 years, carefully pursued in this country, where different nations are a family in which the growth and uniqueness of each is cherished."

Hungary does not recognize same-sex marriage and has laws restricting adoption by LGBT+ residents. The government of Hungary was referred to as "totalitarian" by President Joe Biden back in 2020.  

During his speech, Pope Francis called out "ideological colonization" of gender theory. 

"I am thinking, therefore, of a Europe that is not hostage to (political) parties, becoming prey to self-referential populism, but neither does it turn into a fluid, if not gaseous reality, into a kind of abstract supranationalism, oblivious to the lives of people," he said. 

"This is the nefarious path of 'ideological colonization,' which eliminates differences, as in the case of so-called gender culture, or puts reductive concepts of freedom before the reality of life, for example, boasting as an achievement a senseless 'right to abortion,' which is always a tragic defeat," he concluded.