Gay comedian Stephen K Amos was prepared to challenge Pope over homosexuality

Gearing up to meet the pontiff in the Vatican, non-believer Amos was prepared to challenge the head of the Catholic Church over its doctrines.

Amos grew up in a believing household but has never felt the need for organised faith, which made him feel like he did not belong either in a religious community, or in a potential afterlife.

The stand-up star was given an audience with Francis and braced himself for dismissive answers from the papal leader, who he believes is a progressive exception to the religious rule.

But Amos has said his meeting with Francis was life-changing and has given him “faith in human beings”.

Francis told Amos that all humans have dignity and too much attention is paid to defining adjectives such as “gay”.

The comedian said the words of tolerance from the pontiff during his secular epiphany provide a lesson for millions, and bring about a greater religious acceptance of homosexuality.

He met the religious leader as part of the BBC series Pilgrimage: The Road To Rome, which follows a group of UK celebrities travelling an ancient route from Canterbury to the seat of the Catholic Church.

Amos told the Press Association: “If he had said, to my face, ‘you’re not going to be accepted into the promised land’ et cetera, I would not have sat there and just gone ‘thanks for that’, and walked away.

“I would have asked questions, I would have gotten into…