Vatican City, Jun 5, 2018 / 07:53 am (CNA).- In a letter to Catholics in Chile on May 31, Pope Francis said he is ashamed of the Church’s failure to listen to victims, and urged all the baptized to make a commitment to ending the culture of abuse and cover-up.
Please find below CNA’s translation of the full text of Pope Francis’ May 31 letter:
To the Pilgrim People of God in Chile
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This past April 8, I called my brother bishops to Rome to seek together in the short, medium and long term the ways of truth and life in face of an open, painful and complex wound which for a long time has not stopped bleeding.[1] And I suggested that they invite the entire faithful Holy People of God to place themselves in a state of prayer so the Holy Spirit might give us the strength to not fall into the temptation of getting wound up in empty word games, in sophisticated diagnostics, or in vain gestures which would not allow us the necessary courage to look directly at the pain caused, the face of its victims, the magnitude of the events. I invited them to look to where the Holy Spirit is moving us, since “closing our eyes to our neighbor also blinds us to God.”[2]
With joy and hope I received the news that there were many communities, towns, and chapels where the People of God were praying, especially the days we were gathered together with the bishops: the People of God on their knees who implore the gift of the Holy Spirit to find the light in the Church, “wounded by her sin, granted mercy by her Lord, and so that every day she may become prophetic in her vocation.”[3] We know that prayer is never in vain and that “in the midst of darkness something new always buds forth, that sooner or later bears fruit.”[4]
1. To appeal to you, to ask for your prayers was not a practical recourse nor was it a simple goodwill gesture. On the contrary, I wanted to frame things in their precise and valuable place and put the issue where it ought to be: the condition of the People of God “the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in His temple.”[5] The faithful Holy People of God are anointed with the grace of the Holy Spirit; therefore when we reflect, think, evaluate, discern, we must be very attentive to this anointing. Whenever as a Church, as pastors, as consecrated persons, we have forgotten this certainty, we have lost our way. Whenever we try to supplant, silence, look down on, ignore or reduce into small elites the People of God in their totality and differences, we construct communities, pastoral plans, theological accentuations, spiritualities, structures without roots, without history, without faces, without memory, without a body, in the end, without lives. To remove ourselves from the life of the People of God hastens us to the desolation and to a perversion of ecclesial nature; the fight against a culture of abuse requires renewing this certainty.
As I said to the young people in Maipú, I want to specially tell each one of you: “Holy Mother the Church today needs the faithful People of God to challenge us […] you need to take out your adult ID card, as spiritual adults, and have the courage to tell us ‘I like this,’ ‘this is the way I think we should go,’ ‘that’s not going to work,’ …Tell us what you feel and think.”[6] This is capable of involving all of us in a Church with a synodal character which knows how to put Jesus in the center.
The People of God does not have first, second or third-class Christians. Their participation is not a question of goodwill, concessions, rather it is constitutive of the nature of the Church. It is impossible to imagine a future without this anointing operating in each one of you, which certainly demands and requires new forms of participation. I urge all Christians to not be afraid to be the protagonists of the transformation that is demanded today and to propel and promote creative alternatives in the daily search for Church that every day wants to put what is important in the center. I invite all the diocesan organizations from whatever area they may be to consciously and lucidly seek areas of communion and participation so that the Anointing of the People of God may find its concrete mediations to express itself.
The renewal of the Church hierarchy by itself does not create the transformation to which the Holy Spirit moves us. We are required to together promote a transformation of the Church that involves us all.
A prophetic Church and, therefore, full of hope, demands of everyone an eyes-wide-open mysticism, that questions, that is not asleep.[7] Do not let yourselves be robbed of the anointing of the Spirit.
2. “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3:8) This is how Jesus responded to Nicodemus in the conversation they were having on the possibility of being born again in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
At this time in the light of this passage it is good for us to look back at our personal and communal history: The Holy Spirit blows where and how he wills with the sole purpose of helping us to be born again. Far from letting us get boxed up in schemes, modalities, fixed or obsolete structures, far from letting yourself be resigned or “letting down your guard” in the face of events, the Spirit is continually in movement to widen your horizons, to make the person who has lost hope[8] to dream, to do justice in truth and charity, to purify from sin and corruption, and always invited to necessary conversion. Without looking at this with faith, everything we could say or do would be useless. This certainty is essential to look at the present without evasions but with bravery, with courage, but wisely, with tenacity but without violence, with passion but without fanaticism, with constancy but without anxiety, and thus change all that which today puts at risk the integrity and dignity of every person; since the solutions that are needed demand facing the problems without getting trapped in them or, what would be worse, repeating the same mechanisms that we want to eliminate.[9] Today we are challenged to look straight ahead, assume and suffer the conflict, and thus be able to resolve and transform it in a new direction.[10]
3. In the first place, it would be unfair to attribute this process just to the recently experienced events. Every process of review and purification that we are experiencing is possible thanks to the effort and perseverance of specific individuals, who even against all hope or stains of discredit, did not tire of seeking the truth; I am referring to the victims of abuses of sexuality, power and authority and to those who at the time believed and accompanied them. Victims whose cry reached the heavens.[11] I would like once more to publicly thank all of them for their courage and perseverance.
This recent time is a time of listening and discernment to arrive at the roots that allowed such atrocities to occur and be perpetuated and thus find solutions to the abuse scandal, not merely with containment strategies—essential but insufficient—but with the measures necessary to take on the problem in its complexity.
In this regard I would like to pause on the word “listening,” since discerning supposes learning how to listen to what the Spirit wants to tell us. And we will only be able to do it if we are capable of listening to the reality of what is going on.[12]
I believe that here resides one of our main faults and omissions: not knowing how to listen to the victims. Thus partial conclusions were drawn which lacked crucial elements for a healthy and clear discernment. With shame I must say that we did not know how to listen and react in time.
The visit of Archbishop Scicluna and Monsignor Bertomeu was born when we saw that there were situations that we did not know how to see and hear. As a Church we could not continue to walk ignoring the pain of our brothers. After reading the report, I wanted to personally meet with some of the victims of sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience, to listen to them and to ask forgiveness for our sins and omissions.
4. In these meetings, I noted how the lack of recognition/listening to their stories, as well as the recognition/acceptance of the errors and omissions in the entire process impedes us from making headway. A recognition that ought to be more than an expression of goodwill toward the victims, rather that ought to be a new way to for us to adopt a new attitude before life, before others and before God. Hope for tomorrow and confidence arises from and grows in taking on the fragility, the limitations and even the sins in order to help us go forward. [13]
The “never again” to the culture of abuse and the system of cover up that allows it to be perpetuated demands working among everyone in order to generate a culture of care which permeates our ways of relating, praying, thinking, of living authority; our customs and languages and our relationship with power and money. We know today that the best thing we can say in face of the pain caused is a commitment to personal, communal, and social conversion that learns to listen to and care for especially the most vulnerable. It is therefore urgent to create spaces where the culture of abuse and cover up is not the dominant scheme, where a critical and questioning attitude is not confused with betrayal. We have to promote this as a Church and to seek with humility all the actors that make up the social reality and promote ways of dialogue and constructive confrontation to move toward a culture of care and protection.
To attempt this enterprise by ourselves alone, or with our efforts and tools, would shut us up in dangerous voluntaristic dynamics that would perish in the short term.[14] Let us allow ourselves to be helped and to help create a society where the culture of abuse does not find the space to perpetuate itself. I exhort all Christians and especially those responsible for centers of higher education, formal or informal, healthcare centers, institutes of formation and universities, to join together with the dioceses and with all of civil society to lucidly and strategically promote a culture of care and protection. Let each of these spaces promote a new mentality.
5. The culture of abuse and cover up is incompatible with the logic of the Gospel, since the salvation offered by Christ is always an offer, a gift that demands and requires freedom. Washing the feet of the disciples is how Christ shows us the face of God. It is never by way of coercion or obligation but by way of service. Let us say it clearly, every means that attacks freedom and a person’s integrity is anti-Gospel. Therefore it is also necessary to create processes of faith where we learn to know when it is necessary to doubt and when not to. “Doctrine, or better our understanding and expression of it ‘is not a closed system, deprived of dynamics capable of bringing up questions, doubts, questionings,’ since the questions of our people, their anxieties, their fights, their dreams, their struggles, possess an hermeneutical value that we cannot ignore if we want to take seriously the principle of incarnation.[15] I invite all centers of religious formation, theology schools, institutes of higher learning, seminaries, houses of formation and spirituality to promote a theological reflection that is capable of rising to the challenge of the present time, to promote a mature, adult faith that assumes the vital humus of the People of God with their searching and questioning. And thus, to then promote communities capable of fighting against abusive situations, communities where exchanges, debate and confrontation are welcome.[16] We will be fruitful to the extent that we empower and open communities from within and thus free ourselves from closed and self-referential thoughts full of promises and mirages which promise life but which ultimately favor the culture of abuse.
I would like to make a brief reference to the pastoral ministry of popular devotion carried out in many of your communities since it is an invaluable treasure and authentic school of the heart for our people and in the same act the heart of God. In my experience as a pastor I learned to discover that pastoral ministry of popular devotion is one of the few places where the People of God is sovereign from the influence of that clericalism that seeks to always control and stop the anointing of God on his people. Learning from popular piety is to learn to enter into a new kind of relationship of listening and spirituality that demand a lot of respect and does not lend itself to quick and simplistic readings since popular piety “reflects a thirst for God that only the poor and simple can know.” [17]
To be “the Church that goes out” also is to allow itself to be helped and to be challenged. Let us not forget that “the wind blows where it wills: you hear its sound but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3:8)
6. As I told you, during the meetings with the victims I was able to see that the lack of recognition prevents us from getting anywhere. That is why I think it is necessary to share with you that I rejoiced and it gave me hope to confirm in conversation with them their recognition of people that I like to call “the saints next door.”[18] We would be unfair if alongside our pain and our shame for those structures of abuse and cover up that have been so much perpetuated and have done so much evil, we would not recognize the many faithful lay people, consecrated men and women, priests and bishops who give life through love in the most obscure areas of the beloved land of Chile. All of them are Christians who know how to weep with those who weep, who hunger and thirst for justice, who look and act with mercy;[19] Christians who try every day to illumine their lives in the light of the standards by which we will be judged: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.” (Mt 25:34-36)
I recognize and am thankful for their courage and constant example – in turbulent, shameful and painful moments they continue to make a stand with joy for the Gospel. That witness does me a lot of good and sustains me in my own desire to overcome selfishness to give more fully of myself.[20] Far from diminishing the importance and seriousness of the evil caused and seeking the root of the problem, it also commits us to recognize the acting and operating power of the Holy Spirit in so many lives. Without looking at this, we would remain half-way there and we could enter into a logic that far from seeking to empower what is good and remedy what is wrong, it would partialize the reality, falling into grave injustice.
Accepting the successes, as well as the personal and communal limitations, far from being just one more news item, becomes the initial kickoff of every authentic process of conversion and transformation. Let us never forget that Jesus Christ risen presents himself to his own with his wounds. Moreover, it is precisely from his wounds that Thomas can confess his faith. We are invited to not dissimulate, hide, or cover over our wounds.
A wounded Church is able to understand and be moved by the wounds of today’s world, make them its own, suffer them, accompany them and move to heal them. A wounded Church does not put itself at the center, does not think it is perfect, does not seek to cover up and dissimulate its evil, but places there the only one who can heal the wounds and he has a name: Jesus Christ.[21]
This certainty is that which will move us to seek in season and out of season, the commitment to create a culture where each person has the right to breathe an air free of every kind of abuse. A culture free of the cover ups which end up vitiating all our relationships. A culture which in the face of sin creates a dynamic of repentance, mercy and forgiveness, and in face of crime, accusation, judgment and sanction.
7. Dear brothers, I began this letter telling you that appealing to you is not a practical recourse or a gesture of goodwill, on the contrary it is to invoke the anointing which as the People of God you possess. With you the necessary steps for ecclesial renewal and conversion will be able to be taken, that will be sound and long term. With you the necessary transformation can be generated that is so needed. Without you nothing can be done. I exhort all the faithful Holy People of God who live in Chile to not be afraid to get involved and go forward moved by the Holy Spirit in search of a Church which is increasingly more synodal, prophetic and hopeful; less abusive because it knows how to place Jesus at the center, in the hungry, the prisoner, the migrant, and the abused.
I ask you to not cease praying for me. I pray for you and I ask Jesus to bless you and the Virgin to care for you.
Francis
Vatican May 31, 2018, Feast of the Visitation of Our Lady.
[1]Cf. Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of Chile following the report of His Excellency Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna, April 8, 2018
[2]BENEDICT XVI Deus Caritas Est, 16.
[3]Cf. Meeting of the Holy Father Francis with priests, men and women religious, consecrated men and women, seminarians, Cathedral of Santiago de Chile, January 16, 2018.
[4] Cf. FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, 278
[5]Cf. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Lumen Gentium, 9.
[6]Cf. Meeting of the Holy Father Francis with young people at National Shrine of Maipú, January 28, 2017
[7]Cf. FRANCIS, Gaudate et Exsultate, 96
[8]Cf. FRANCIS, Homily at Solemnity of Pentecost Mass 2018
[9]It is good to recognize some of the organizations and media that have taken up the issue of abuse in a responsible way, always seeking the truth and not making out of this painful reality a means to boost program ratings.
[10]Cf. FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, 227
[11]“The Lord said ‘I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry against their taskmasters, so I know well what they are suffering’.” Ex 3:7
[12]Let us remember that this was the first word-commandment that the people of Israel received from Yahweh: “Listen Israel” (Dt 6:4)
[13]Cf. Visit of the Holy Father Francis to the Women’s Correctional Center, Santiago de Chile, January 16, 2018
[14]Cf. FRANCIS, Gaudete et Exsultate, 47-59
[15]Cf. FRANCIS, Gaudete et Exsultate, 44
[16]It is essential to carry out the much needed in the centers of formation promoted by the recent Apostolic Constitution Veritates Gaudium. By way of example, I emphasize that “in fact, are called to offer opportunities and processes for the suitable formation of priests, consecrated men and women, and committed lay people. At the same time, they are called to be a sort of providential cultural laboratory in which the Church carries out the performative interpretation of the reality brought about by the Christ event and nourished by the gifts of wisdom and knowledge by which the Holy Spirit enriches the People of God in manifold ways – from the sensus fidei fidelium to the magisterium of the bishops, and from the charism of the prophets to that of the doctors and theologians. FRANCIS, Veritates Gaudium, 3
[17]PAUL Vl, Evangelii Nuntiandi,48.
[18]Cf. FRANCIS, Gaudete et Exsultate,6-9.
[19]Cf. FRANCIS, Gaudete et Exsultate,76, 79, 82.
[20]Cf. FRANCIS Evangelii Gaudium,76
[21]Cf. Meeting of the Holy Father Francis with priests, men and women religious, consecrated men and women, seminarians, Cathedral of Santiago de Chile, January 16, 2018.
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Of course it apologizes, (unless you are tradition, then you are vilified) that’s all our church does these days…
Forget about the kerygma, it’s become alphabet (lmnopqrst+) soup…
And yet another demoralizing and discouraging action from the Vatican. I feel like Charlie Brown, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”
All is smoke and mirrors. Close the page on this pope. Say your prayers, receive the Holy Sacraments and ignore this Vatican. It’s a fraudulent, disgraceful joke.
AMEN!!!
You summed it up perfectly. A blessed advent to you and yours.
They might as well send up a signal flare announcing their intentions.
And this bit — “Walking together also means knowing how to apologize” — made me burst out laughing.
The synod on synodality: an echo chamber of malcontents.
Well, if you’re as old as I am you might recall the sappy line from the even sappier “Love Story” film. At fifteen I thought it was soooooo profound 😂😂😂😂. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry!” And now the zeitgeist proclaims the opposite…. We live in interesting times, yes? God’s Peace be with you and yours.
How very multicultural, the Church’s (?) loosely defined synod on synodality has just committed hari-kari. That didn’t take long. Pope James Martin, take a bow, but first see who has your back.
We are reminded that the efforts at the synod on the family, by the relator general, to recognize the LGBTQ community, or any categorization of persons, was rebuffed in the final report of the Synod on the Family (a slogan never actually raised at the synod). The bishops, en mass, successfully “demanded” that his editorial license be removed.
And we notice here, again, that the term “family” is curiously excluded in the vanedecum for the synod on synodality. Instead, the grab bag to which “ETC.” can and now does mean anything–rendering equivalent the traditional family and now the full spectrum (rectum?) of gender theory.
From the Vanedecum (synodal guidelines): “…women, the handicapped, refugees, migrants, the elderly, people who live in poverty, Catholics who rarely or never practice their faith, ETC. [and then] children and youth [….] people who have left the practice of the faith, people of other faith traditions, people of no religious belief, ETC.”
A big word, this here ETC. thingy…missing in seminary training, in this day and age, is a good course in counterespionage.
Another blatant false report from the increasingly trashy CNA, which claims that “New Ways is the only group focused exclusively on ministry to people with same-sex attraction.” Not true. They are, and have always been active in promoting abortion “rights” as well.
I am glad you pointed this out. CNA continues to be cited as a source of authentic Catholic journalism by people who should know better. In fact, CNA is at best merely the bureaucratic mouthpiece of USCCB policies. At its worst, it is every bit as dissenting as the worst rags out there, such as National Catholic Reporter and CruxNow.
Mr. Baker, I do not think you are interpreting the text correctly. The antecedent to the sentence you quote is in the paragraph above. Thus, New Ways is the only group *of the four categorized as informal organizations* that is focused exclusively on ministry to people with same-sex attraction. I believe that the author was safe to assume that readers would know that there are at large several ministries with this focus, including very orthodox ones like Courage International. While I would not say that the writing in this section of the article is perfectly clear, I take issue with your crude accusation that CNA is “trashy.”
As to the apology and link to New Ways, I find these actually trashy.
So you think their venomous slanders of Archbishop Vigano were “non-trashy?”
It occurs to me, has anyone heard anything about a Vatican synod for Catholics?
The only surprise that could come from the Vatican at this point is actually standing up for the teaching of the Catholic Church.
Ape church in full bloom…
At this point in time a faithful Catholic is better off writing off everything coming from the current Vatican leadership, and the current Pope (especially his plane interviews and “off the cuff” remarks) as it has become a sad joke. I miss Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Saint John Paul II.
Homosexuality is repulsive and akin to bestiality.
May the Beloved One have Mercy on His suffering Church.
Is this not a defining moment on the contemporary episcopate from the Holy See right on down? The chess game of praxis over and above decree is nothing but nefarious and mendacious. “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.” Matthew 5:37
Recently I came across a report that the USCCB is concerned about the lack of trust the episcopate generates among the faithful. I was surprised to see that they had that much self-awareness. Their concern is obviously about cosmetics over and above personal reform. They are addicted to lip service and it will be their end.
It is gut wrenching.
One cannot but recall Elijah and his elimination of the prophets of Baal.
The Vatican handbook says to include all the baptized. That is now taken to mean including all those who officially oppose Church teaching. How interesting it will be to see the final outcome.
The full plan has always been to destroy the Catholic Church,and continues to be going
forward unabated.Just as the Germans did at the Battle of the Bulge by wearing American uniforms and changing the road signs.Today we see the same plan in play again.As the Germans Bishops started this latest assault.As this Pope & Vatican wears the uniform,but
has been changing the road signs to confuse the Faithful about which road to take to victory.
LGBTQ are not identifiers of persons. Homosexuality and other sexual disorders exist only as the most vile of contraventions to the genuine human nature a result of our being imparted the very nature of our Creator. They are mischaracterizations of what are disorders and should NEVER be referenced by the true Catholic Church in any other way than this. Illegitimately constructed organizations founded around to these disorders or disordered behaviors have no seat at any table or legitimate place in any dialogue where the constructs of genuine Catholicism are discussed or deliberated. As faithful Catholics we have no need or obligation to discuss our business with Satan or those who serve Him, whether they claim to be members of Jesus’ one true Church or not. Any pseudo Catholic, by virtue of their identification in this manner as being genuine Catholics when they are not should be summarily discharged from any deliberation concerning the constructs of our faith and ejected from our midst. This includes clerical persons and entities that embrace these deadly disorders. Enshrinement of filthy practices and the embrace of homosexual misuse of procreative and other human organs has no place where faithful Catholics are assembled. Few Catholics understand that such practices and discussions are always predatory, particularly where children can become proximate and can never be made otherwise. Any acknowledgement except outright rejection by our Church officials is the work of Satan and a betrayal of the faithful.
Yes, “predatory”…
How else to explain that a sexual disorder oriented against reproducing itself is resulting in an ever-growing number of homosexuals? So, either sexual abuse or getting locked in by early experimentation. One would expect real bishops to notice this, and instead of lending a hand (so to speak), seizing this teaching moment with such posting as the Church’s truth-speaking compassion and compassionate truth speaking, and maybe a bit about the science as well:
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html
https://news.yahoo.com/no-gay-gene-study-finds-180220669.html
For a hierarchy very concerned about losing the next generation, why be goaded now into throwing them under the bus?
Excellent perceptive response of the ever increasing perversion. Indications are that the predatory nature of this moral disease spreads with contact like a virus.
Unfortunately, as you must realize this missed opportunity is likely obeisance to papal policy, a predilection to embrace rather than instruct the disenfranchised sinner, bishops aware of being accused in the past of throwing stones. So they submit to making nice rather than rescue the sheep lost in the wilderness. A policy that appears under the guise of mercy more a new age message of, Be who you are, we love you as you are no need to repent and conform to Christ’s commandments. Some Catholics convince themselves a doctrine of surprises of doctrines contrary to Apostolic tradition is the new and blessed path. A path not the narrow one appealed to and taken by Christ.
More on the science of LGBTQ…
FIRST, the authors of a 2019 study which claimed so-called gender-transition surgery may improve the long-term mental health of recipients issued a CORRECTION, nearly a year after publication. The authors now report that: “the results demonstrated no advantage of surgery in relation to subsequent mood or anxiety disorder-related health care.”
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2020/08/04/researchers-reverse-gender-surgery-offers-no-advantage-to-mental-health/
SECOND, instead of saying “God made you that way,” maybe the Vatican megaphones might consider possible cases where inadvertent (environmental) CHEMICAL INTERFERENCE in the fetus, for example, later disrupts what God has created? The new scientific question is whether fetal absorption of EDCs (endocrine disruptive chemicals) can block normal hormonal development toward physically/emotionally integrated male and female children at birth? (Chemicals associated with endocrine-disrupting ability in humans include organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, bisphenol A, phthalates, dioxins, and furans.)
Any enthusiasm from the Pontifical Council of Whatever–or maybe from the synods!!!–for encouraging preventive action and corrective medicine (part of Laudato si’s “integral ecology”!)? But maybe the pharmaceuticals won’t see any market or money in it, especially if status quo LGBTQ is mainstream even for the Church.
In any event, sound moral theology regarding the immorality of sexual activity outside of fully human marriage still applies equally for all—for sexual-abuse victims, or locked-in experimenters, or those chemically damaged before birth, no less than for binary/complementary males and females.
Agreed the spectre of an error of nature [Aquinas assumed there were though very rare] of which there are indications, and the possibility of chemical interference we should, until more data arrives consider the disorder a predominant elective behavior. That is the reasoned, moral premise for psychiatric, psychological therapy for sufferers of the disorder [often a socio psychologic syndrome stemming from infancy]. That viable treatment is under attack as a liberty interference or against nature itself.
But at the least we do know of the indisputable ideological components. It is impossible for it to be coincidental that those committed to sexual deviancy support abortion at a rate of 98 percent according to reliable surveys. And it is equally impossible for there not to be a potentially widespread component of personal pride in the gay supporting souls of those unwilling to seriously consider the damaging repercussions of sexual deviancy.
A potential homosexual disposition would likely be more psychological. Whatever the origin, most gays have lives of a habituated pursuit of justifying an avoidance of physical burdens, a reluctance to endure discomfort with a resigned and dignified sense of manliness. In time, they learn to bond with others who share weakness.
As Fr. Mankowski asked, we can in turn ask The Pontiff Francis and his Synodal Team: “Is sodomy a sin?”
Have they not heard of https://couragerc.org/
Why is this organization not listed? Is it because they try to live according to the traditional teachings of the Church? According to the Theology of the Body by St John Paul II?
Amen! I too am asking the same question as to why Courage is not listed. The Catholic Church through this Apostolate has been helping same-sex attracted men, women, and their families since 1987 with the Truth.
The entire Synodal thingy has been to me blatantly obvious from the get go. The mission I fear is to dilute the faithful with the “marginalized” to the point that our doctrine will be nothing more than any common Christian sect. But, we will have equity, equality, and on and on……….
Have never trusted this Argentinian
Jim, fear not. This Synodal thingy has absolutely nothing to do with doctrine. It is all about structure and evangelization. Trust the Holy Spirit. Millions of Catholics all over the world are praying for it to succeed. Prayers are always answered.
I am an ex-catholic and wow, after what I have been reading, God led me away from this whole mess. When did the catholic church start embracing homosexuality and transgenderism since the bible clearly denounces it, i.e. Deuteronomy 22: 5-8 transgenderism is called “an abomination”. Paul’s letters clearly denounce homosexuality and any unnatural sexual act as perverted and sinful. I am beginning to wonder if the catholic church has many LGBTQ in its leadership – seems like they do, otherwise why would they allow this!
Walking away from the faith was the exact WRONG answer. Just because these reprobates, and in worst cases, should the pope himself live/preach contrary to the faith, it does not change the faith. As Christ said, “let the dead bury their own dead, you follow me.” The Catholic faith cannot and will not ever change. Follow not these current reprobates, but leaving the faith made you an apostate, a mortal sin you will have to reckon with at your particular judgment. I urge you to about face and come back…”when the ground is dry, the roots sink deeper to find moisture, and thus, the tree becomes stronger.”
Bringing the Good News to deviants is holy. Dancing with them is demonic.
The confusion is real, but the “Good”news is that the Church is NOT of this world totally. The Real Church exists as Body and Spirit. The Good Lord is not hung up on anything–he is God remember. The fight is with the World and the present Pope is the Shepherd… Rf
True, but again the Church exists to help us reach the Kingdom. The scary part is that
God is a Trinity and is both\and Divine and Human– a tough concept to wrap our
heads around. Watch how the Pro-Life issue is going to go.
So very sad to see how people who consider themselves good Catholics are so confused that they do not recognize the actual continuity from Pope John Paul II canonized by Pope Francis through the beautiful orthodoxy of Pope Benedict XVI on to this present day. Rather than take a careful look at their own openness to the mysterious, unexpected and unlikely movements of the Holy Spirit, they are quick to criticize and condemn! Do we or do we not trust the words of Christ to be with us to the end of time? Are we or are we not willing to accept the doctrine of papal infallibility? The Church goes on not based on right or left knee-jerk reactions to statements it would do us good to reflect upon and learn to recognize as faithful to the Gospel with its many surprises for the scribes and Pharisees when Jesus spoke and acted in unpredictable ways!
What are you talking about? The Holy Spirit does not “surprise” anyone with moral assertions that are contradictory to moral absoluteness. That’s one very large misunderstanding we have heard from the current Vatican staff. The problem here is, that the majority of reprobate James Martin and his followers don’t come to the table with penitent contrite hearts, rather, they want Church doctrine to change to accept their lifestyles. It does not work that way. Period. The Holy Spirit is a spirit of truth, not deceit. Homosexuality has been around for thousands of years, why is it, or should it in any way now be acceptable by the Church. God made us male and female, not to be defined by our sexuality. We are to have control of our passions. If you lose control, you repent. This ambiguous approach to what’s right or wrong is only from the evil one. At the end of the most perfect prayer, Christ says, “…deliver us from the evil one.” Thus, it is a sin to put ourselves in the devils path. You know clearly the heart of this matter. You are choosing to play naive. Also, Papal “infallibility” only exists ex cathedra, not on personal interpretation or opinion! If the pope wakes up tomorrow and says homosexuality is ok, even in certain situations, he would be wrong!!! He would not be speaking ex cathedra. Ridiculous to even have to speak to another “Catholic” about this. St Augustine says, “for I think a law that is not just, is not actually a law.”
Pray tell, on what basis are you assuming that what Francis is doing is led by the Holy Spirit?
I agree with you, Sister. Our Lord also had to put up with criticism and taunts from “religious people” the Pharisees. “When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:16-17
And why would you abuse the words of the Gospels to insult Christ and His Church to affirm purposes that are opposed Christ and His Church? Our Lord’s purpose in reaching sinners was to seek their repentance, not to endorse their sins. Contemporary Pharisees are those elitists who align themselves with an elitist secularizing Pope.
Kathleen says: “The Church goes on not based on right or left knee-jerk reactions to statements…”
The Church which follows Jesus listens to Him and does as He taught. Without hesitation Jesus rebuked and condemned error and sin by sharp verbal criticism.
“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4:8)
“But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matthew 16:23)
If sister is still confused, she could jerk her knees to take up Scripture at Mark 8:33 or Matthew 4:10 for more direction. She could study Church Fathers, St. Aquinas, St. Peter Damian, or Magisterial teaching of 1900 years.