‘Pope Francis is my hero,’ Elton tells Aids benefit

Elton John called Pope Francis "my hero" for his compassion and push to accept gay people by 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 night in New York City. He said Francis was pushing boundaries in the Church and told the crowd: “Make this man a saint now, OK?”

“Ten years ago, one of the biggest obstacles in the fight against Aids was the Catholic Church. Today we have a pope that speaks out about it,” said John, earning cheers from attendees at Cipraini’s on Wall Street. Catholic bishops scrapped a proposed landmark welcome to gay people earlier this month, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Francis to chart a more relevant approach to ministering to Catholic families.