Elton John Says Jesus Would Be OK With Gay Marriage

In an interview with Sky News, singer Elton John told Dermot Murnaghan that opponents of same-sex marriage might want to take another look at the New Testament.

"The church hierarchy, the traditionalists, might be up in arms about it but times have changed," said John. "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. He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that is what the church should be about."

But John sees a light at the end of the tunnel, citing Pope Francis whom he calls "wonderful".

"He's excited me so much by his humanity," said the singer of the reigning leader of the Roman Catholic Church. "He's taken everything down to the humility of faith. 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."

As for a possible marriage to his longtime partner David Furnish in John's native England, the 67-year-old said it could take some time because they're already in a civil partnership, but promises that when it does happen, "it will be very quiet and off the cuff—we had our big shebang when we had our civil union."