VATICAN - Pope Francis has told a gay man that God loves him during a private meeting, it has been claimed. In a private dialogue, the Pontiff is understood to have told Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests, that God loves gay people and it is fine to be homosexual. The remarks were apparently made to a victim of clerical sexual abuse and are the most striking acceptance of homosexuality by the Catholic Church to date. The remarks were made during a private meeting at the Vatican between the pair, in which the Pope offered a heartfelt apology. Cruz was a victim of Chile’s most notorious paedophile priest Fernando Karadima.