Jesus would have been a supporter of gay marriage, Sir Elton John has claimed. <br />The musician, who plans to marry his civil partner David Furnish next year in a "very quiet" ceremony, said that rules preventing gay clergy from marrying and requiring Catholic priests to be celibate were "old and stupid things". <br />He told Sky News' Murnaghan programme: "The church hierarchy, the traditionalists, might be up in arms about it but times have changed. <br />"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. <br />"He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that is what the church should be about." <br /> <br />Sir Elton said he believed the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was "doing a good job" and Pope Francis was "wonderful". <br />"He's excited me so much by his humanity," the singer said of the Pope. <br />"He's taken everything down to the humility of faith. <br />"He's stripped it down to the bare bones and said it's all basically about love and inclusiveness. That has to be encouraged by the Church of England as well." <br /> <br />Sir Elton offered to introduce Russian President Vladimir Putin to members of the gay community earlier this year to show the impact of "deeply divisive" legislation. <br />He said he plans to meet with the Russian leader when he visits the country in November. <br />The performer added: "It's no good putting up a wall and saying I'm not talking to these people; the only way things get solved is by talking to people." <br /> <br />Sir Elton said that he and his partner were not able to get married until next year because they were already in a civil partnership. <br />He said the marriage would be "very quiet and very off the cuff" as the couple had a big celebration for their civil union. <br />The homosexual agenda.
