The Catholic Church has an important role in safeguarding the sanctity of life and the Holy Sacrament of Marriage.
This from frontpagemag.com.
This is what makes the recent pronouncement of Pope Francis—allowing priests to “bless” same-sex couples—especially distressing. What act of apostasy will be next, advocating the impermissible act of killing an innocent human being?
John Zmirak, a Senior Editor of The Stream, and author of the new Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism, wrote on Tuesday:
Today I got one of those emails nobody wants to receive. You know, the ones where a journalist informs you that the leader of your church has authoritatively endorsed grave, unrepented sin; mocked not just timeless and current church teaching but the natural law itself; and opened up faithful clergy to persecution by the State.
Specifically, quoting from the Washington Times:
Pope Francis on Monday approved letting priests bless same-sex couples, sparking criticism from conservative Catholics and praise from the LGBTQ community.
Such blessings would not rise to the level of church-sanctioned same-sex marriages, the Vatican cautioned, but would offer gay Catholics the opportunity to seek God’s mercy without being subjected to ‘an exhaustive moral analysis.’
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the declaration, ‘Fiducia supplicans,’ with the pope’s approval but not his signature less than three months after a papal letter said such blessings were possible so long as they ‘do not transmit a wrong conception of marriage.’
Many—Catholics and non-Catholics alike—believe this a step in the wrong direction.
It is theological double-talk, spiritual drivel, and a mockery of the Word of God. Surely, faithful Catholics around the world will reject this apostate message. It has no support in Scripture, in divine morality, or in historic Church tradition, whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant.
And so, “rather than try to parse the theological nuances of the Pope’s statement, which in the end helps no one and harms many,” the following is a layman’s guidance:
– No priest or Pope or pastor or spiritual leader can bless something that God Himself does not bless. Their words are empty and void of divine power or authority. They are human utterances and nothing more.
– As much as a gay couple may be in love, as much as they may revere the traditions of their Church (at least, some of the traditions), and as much as they may be models of kindness and loyalty, the fact is that male + male or female + female represents a fundamental violation of the meaning of marriage, not to mention a fundamental violation of the nature and purpose of humanity.
How then, can a priest bless a couple whose very relationship goes against the order and plan of God?
And, speaking in particular of two gay men, how can a priest, representing the Lord, bless them when the Lord Himself deems their sexual relationship to be something detestable in His sight (Leviticus 18:22) and when Paul says that those who practice such things will be excluded from the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
And an expected response:
You fundamentalists are always attacking homosexuality. What about adultery? What about other kinds of sexual immorality? What about all you Bible-thumping Christians who are addicted to porn?
But this is exactly the point.
If a Christian leader said, “We are now blessing couples living in adultery,” there would be outrage.
If that leader said, “We are now offering special blessings for all the couples living together out of wedlock,” imagine the objections throughout the church.
Or what about a church-sponsored weekly porn night where after worship and prayer, the congregants would watch porn? Imagine the outrage.
But that is not happening, except perhaps in the case of divorces without biblical justification, followed by illegitimate marriages which are sometimes ‘blessed’ by compromised clergy.
Otherwise, no major Church leaders are sanctioning adultery or fornication or pornography. But some are sanctioning same-sex unions (or, in more compromised settings, same-sex “marriages”).
And this is why many in the church are responding to the recent pronouncement of a Marxist Pope.
There must be a reply to this Pope’s un-Godly pronouncement.
By saying that, “Such blessings would not rise to the level of church-sanctioned same-sex marriages” is meaningless.
Really now, is this Marxist Pope telling us a gay couple can live together, can be emotionally and physically intimate, and can commit to lifelong faithfulness without transmitting a wrong conception of marriage?
The “blessings” would sanction something God does not sanction and give false assurances to the couples involved. And is there a gay Catholic on the planet who would not see this as another step in the direction of the ultimate goal, namely, the full acceptance of gay relationships by the Catholic Church?
What will now happen with the Catholic Church?
That is for Catholics to answer, but without question, this could lead to a major rift because the strong, conservative elements of the Church will reject this pronouncement outright, whatever the cost.
As for the gay Catholic couples who see this “as a beacon of hope and a sign of the humanity and compassion of the Church,” please understand, Conservative Catholics of the church do not doubt your love for one another, they, however, strongly believe God has a better way, and He never intended for you to unite as you have with someone of the same sex.
Cry, Our Beloved Catholic Church.
