While speaking at a church in Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Saturday afternoon, Pope Francis warned against the “global war to destroy marriage” and specifically cited gender theory as the “great enemy of marriage” today.

Catholic Culture is reporting on the comments made during the Holy Father’s three-day pilgrimage to the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Speaking to priests, religious and seminarians who had gathered in Tbilisi’s Church of the Assumption, he spoke about the threats facing the institution of marriage, particularly gender theory which had been mentioned by one of the speakers at the event.

“You, Irina, mentioned a great enemy to marriage today: the theory of gender,” the pope said. “Today there is a world war to destroy marriage. Today there are ideological colonizations which destroy, not with weapons, but with ideas. Therefore, there is a need to defend ourselves from ideological colonizations.”

This is not the first time Francis spoke out about gender theory. In June of 2015, just as Bruce Jenner was transforming himself into “Caitlyn”, the pope condemned the idea of gender theory, calling it “an error of the human mind” and one that “does not recognize the order of creation.”

He has also repeatedly bemoaned the concept of ideological colonization, which he describes as attempts by wealthy nations to link foreign aid to acceptance of radical social policies such as same-sex marriage and gender theory.

During the same address in Georgia, Francis spoke of the pain experienced by children as a result of divorce.

“You do not know, dear brothers and sisters, you do not know how much children suffer, the little ones, when they witness the arguments and the separation of parents! Everything should be done to save a marriage.”

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