Elton John: Jesus Would Support Gay Marriage

Sir Elton John told Sky News last weekend that he believes Jesus Christ would back same-sex marriage.

Sir Elton, who plans to marry filmmaker David Furnish next year, told the news site that Jesus would have supported the union of gay members of the clergy.

"If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen," the singer said. "He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together. And that is what the Church should be about."

Sir Elton's comments come as London's LGBT community celebrated gay Pride on June 28.

The iconic pop singer went on to laud the Catholic Church, saying it deserved credit for progress that has been made in the last few years. Sir Elton specifically mentioned Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis, calling the pontiff a "wonderful" man.

"The new Pope has been wonderful, he's excited me so much," Sir Elton said. "He's stripped it [the Church] down to the bare bones and said it's all basically about love."

The singer said that gay clergy should be allowed to get married and suggested that celibacy vow for Catholic priests should be nixed, Sky News writes.

"These are old and stupid things," he said. "If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen. He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that's what the church should be about."

When Sir Elton was asked about his own wedding, he said he won't be marrying until at least next year.

"However, when we do do, it will be very quiet and off the cuff - we had our big shebang when we had our civil union," he added.

This story is part of our special report: "Gay Marriage". Want to read more? Here's the full list.