Both the pope of the Catholic Church and the president of Iran are sounding better

Two religious leaders have been in the news recently starting to soften their stances. The pope of the Catholic Church and the President of Iran.

The pope seems to be putting church opposition against gay people more into the background and not emphasizing it. At least he's starting to put more compassion for all of humanity into the foreground.

The president of Iran is starting to talk about Jewish people in a positive way and a Jewish person even came to New York as part of the Iranian delegation to the recent UN conference. He's trying to improve relations with the US and other western nations as well. Hopefully, these are steps toward a more accepting and peaceful world.

Some folks might say that the president of Iran isn't a religious leader, but since Iran is basically a theocracy, I would qualify him as a religious leader also.

Seems like both the pope and the political / religious leader of Iran are starting to move toward more acceptance of diversity within the institutions that they lead. I'm cautiously hopeful.