The Pope's new Spanish Cardinal Fernando Sebastián Aguilar is showing his age -- and his ignorance.

Sebastián, 85, who will take up his post in the Vatican as Spain's newest cardinal in February, is already making a dramatic entrance by reportedly calling homosexuality a physical "defect" that can be cured.

Gay rights groups aren't having it -- and won't tolerate it, rightfully so.

"A lot of people complain and don't tolerate it but with all respect I say that homosexuality is a defective way of manifesting sexuality, because that has a structure and a purpose, which is procreation," Sebastián Aguilar told Malaga newspaper Sur, Yahoo! News reports.

The outspoken Spaniard's comments from an earlier interview were published on Sunday, revealing his controversial stance on homosexuality as he prepares to be officially appointed Feb. 22 as one of 19 new cardinals chosen by Pope Francis.

"We have a lot of defects in our bodies. I have high blood pressure. Am I going to get angry because they tell me that? It is a defect I have that I have to correct as far as I can," said Sebastián, who is the archbishop emeritus of the northern city of Pamplona.

Colegas, a gay and lesbian rights group released a statement in the hopes that Sebastián will retract his comment:

"We hope that Fernando Sebastian will correct his words and we note that homosexuality is not a curable disease, but homophobia is," it said.

According to The Independent, Sebastián's comments come after Pope Francis was named Person of the Year 2013 by leading gay rights magazine The Advocate after he told Brazilian reporters: "If someone is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge?"

The Spanish cardinal claims his stance doesn't contradict the Pope's: "It's one thing to be compassionate towards a homosexual person and another thing to morally justify the practice of that homosexuality," he said.

"You can tell a person what their weakness is but that doesn't justify [a decision] to respect them and help them. I think that's the Pope's position as with gay marriage and divorce," he added.

This news is the latest stirrup the Vatican has encountered -- recently the Vatican has been drilled by United Nations child protection experts regarding how Roman Catholic officials handled the decades-long sexual abuse of minors by bishops and priests.