Elton John: Pope Francis is my hero

NEW YORK (AP) — Elton John (photo) has called Pope Francis “my hero” for his compassion and push to accept gays in the Roman Catholic church, at his annual AIDS benefit.

John hosted the event, An Enduring Vision: A Benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, last Tuesday night in New York City. He said Pope Francis is pushing boundaries in the church and told the crowd: “Make this man a saint now, OK?”

Catholic bishops scrapped their landmark welcome to gays earlier this month, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more relevant approach to ministering to Catholic families. An earlier draft of the document offered a welcoming tone of acceptance, but that was stripped away.

John called Pope Francis courageous and fearless.