A book has been released in Italy which shows Pope Francis’ real thoughts about trans people – it’s not great.

The most lenient pontiff to reside as the vocal piece of God has gone on record as saying that trans people destroy creation.

“Let’s think also of genetic manipulation, of the manipulation of life, or of the gender theory, that does not recognise the order of creation,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis met with a trans man earlier this year as the man had been shunned by his parish – but it seems that his opinions on trans people aren’t actually so forward-thinking.

GayStarNews reports that Pope Francis “has claimed people who ‘manipulate’ their bodies are similar to ‘Herods’ that ‘destroy, that plot designs of death, that disfigure the face of man and woman, destroying creation.'”

The book, titled Pope Francis: This Economy Kills (catchy), calls on Christians to safeguard God’s order of creation.

“The true custody of creation does not have anything to do with the ideologies that consider man like an accident, like a problem to eliminate.”

According to the National Catholic Reporter, this is not the first time Pope Francis has spoken out against gender theory. In a press conference in January, he equated teaching gender theory with the ideology of Hitler Youth.

He criticised what he called the “ideological colonisation” of less developed countries by those with more resources.

He told the story of a public education minister he knew who was offered money to construct new schools for the poor – to receive the money, the teacher would have to teach gender theory.

“This is the ideological colonisation,” Pope Francis said. “It colonises the people with an idea that changes, or wants to change, a mentality or a structure.”

“It is not new, this,” he continued. “The same was done by the dictators of the last century. They came with their own doctrine – think of the Balilla [youth groups of Fascist Italy], think of the Hitler Youth.”