In July 2013, just a few months after officially becoming the pope, Pope Francis surprised a lot of catholics and non-catholics when he said, "A gay person who is seeking God, who is of good will – well, who am I to judge him?"

For a lot of the LGBTQ+ community, those words sounded like the beginning of a major shift in their relationship to the Catholic church, but it was all a poisoned apple.

It was February of 2015 when the pope compared transgender people to nuclear weapons. For me, that was enough, and I lost faith in him as a potential light for the LGBTQ+ community. But in the time since then, I ran into a lot of people who missed that news. A lot of folks were under the impression that Pope Francis was still acting as an agent of change for the LGBTQ+ community and the church.

I hardly paid attention to his words after the Pulse massacre. I didn’t want or trust his apologist nonsense, and I knew a lot of people would be applauding his action-less words.

Here we are, hardly one month after those words, and Pope Francis has reaffirmed my distrust. In a meeting with bishops in Poland, he called transgender people the ‘annihilation of man,’ and the ‘epoch of sin.’

If Pope Francis really wanted to bounce around names for his Hardcore band, he could have been more tactful.

So here I am, wondering how best to respond to Pope Francis’s words. I’m angry and I’m hurt, and I think the best way to express that hurt would be to meet Pope Francis in a boxing ring where we could punch it out, so long as he consents to the match.

I’m serious, though. This is me officially challenging Pope Francis to a (consensual) boxing match. If you’re reading this, Frank, I’m waiting on a response.

If I really am the ‘annihilation of man’ do you have what it takes to meet me one on one in the ring and prove it with your gloved fists? Or do you not have what Pope Urban II had?

Besides, a boxing match with two consenting participants is hardly a violent thing when both participants are there of their own free will. That is, of course, why I chose boxing. I want the pleasure of punching this transphobic joke of a pope in the face, but I don’t want to ruin my life or get arrested. So I will only fight the pope if he consents to the boxing match.

I will actually be in Europe this fall for school, so I’ve put together an Indiegogo Campaign to pay for my plane ticket to the Vatican, as well as my housing and food while I’m there.

Now, obviously this is sort of a joke, but let me be perfectly clear. If Pope Francis is willing to join me in a boxing match I will do it.

It is also worth noting that the Pope made a point of asking young people to stop playing video games recently also. This was just after a Youtuber gifted him a copy of Undertale So if I do get a chance to meet and box the Pope, I will be sure to challenge him to a round of Super Smash Bros as a follow up to our fight of the century.