Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Wednesday general audience on May 22, 2024, at the Vatican. (Credit: Vatican Media)
Rome Newsroom, May 28, 2024 / 12:35 pm (CNA).
The Vatican on Tuesday issued an apology after Pope Francis’ use of an offensive word in Italian regarding seminarians who identify as gay.
Matteo Bruni, the Holy See spokesman, said in Tuesday’s press statement that the Holy Father was “aware of the articles recently published about a conversation, behind closed doors, with the bishops” of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI).
Italian media reported that Pope Francis had met with the CEI on May 20 in the Vatican’s Synodal Hall. At that meeting the pope was asked about the admission of declared gay men to the seminary.
Telling the bishops that gay men should not be admitted to priestly formation, the pope argued “there is too much ‘frociaggine’ in seminaries,” a slur translated as “faggotry” or “faggotness.”
Bruni told journalists that the pope “never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms, and he apologizes to those who felt offended by the use of a term reported by others.”
Quoting several unnamed bishops, Corriere della Sera suggested that the pope did not understand the gravity of the term in Italian.
The Vatican nearly two decades ago addressed the topic of gay-identified men entering Catholic seminaries. In 2005 the Congregation for Catholic Education issued an instruction titled “Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders.”
The document stated that “it is necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called ‘gay culture.’”
The instruction went on to note the difference between those who display “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” and those “dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem.”
Pope Francis upheld the ruling in 2016. In 2018 he again told Italian bishops to carefully vet candidates.
La Repubblica noted the Italian bishops during their meeting in Assisi last November approved a new Ratio Formationis Sacerdotalis, a document detailing the admission criteria and standards for men in Italy’s seminaries.
The Italian paper added that the document “has been under consideration by the Vatican Dicastery for the Clergy for final approval.”
Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh wrote on X on Tuesday that the pope’s “concern is with gay men seeing the priesthood as a way of living out their sexuality, and the gay subculture in many seminaries.”
The pope has at times been hailed for his outreach to the LGBT-identified community.
During an in-flight press conference in 2013, the pope responded to a question from a journalist on his experience as a confessor to homosexual persons by asking rhetorically: “Who am I to judge that person?”
The pope expanded on these remarks in a 2016 book-length interview titled “The Name of God Is Mercy,” where he said he was “paraphrasing by heart” the Catechism of the Church, which states that “these people should be treated with delicacy and not be marginalized.”
“I am glad that we are talking about ‘homosexual people,’” the pope continued, “because before all else comes the individual person, in his wholeness and dignity.”
In December of last year, meanwhile, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued Fiducia Supplicans, a declaration allowing for nonliturgical blessings for couples in “irregular” situations, including same-sex couples.
Responding to the strong criticism the document received, Pope Francis said in February that to be “scandalized” by gay couple blessings is “hypocrisy.”
“No one is scandalized if I give a blessing to an entrepreneur who perhaps exploits people: and this is a very serious sin,” the pope said in the interview to the Italian weekly print periodical Credere.
“Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual … This is hypocrisy! We must all respect each other. Everyone,” the Holy Father said.
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Vatican City, Dec 23, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
The Knights of Columbus have donated a state-of-the-art mobile broadcasting van to the Vatican, just in time for the start of the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year…. […]
Pope Francis with Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, at the consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 27, 2022 / 08:31 am (CNA).
Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals for the Catholic Church during a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday.
“Jesus calls us by name; he looks us in the eye and he asks: Can I count on you?” Pope Francis said in a homily addressed to the College of Cardinals and its new members on Aug. 27.
“The Lord,” he said, “wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
The pope’s reflection followed a reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 49-50: “In that time, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!’”
“The words of Jesus, in the very middle of the Gospel of Luke, pierce us like an arrow,” Francis said.
“The Lord calls us once more to follow him along the path of his mission,” he said. “A fiery mission – like that of Elijah – not only for what he came to accomplish but also for how he accomplished it. And to us who in the Church have been chosen from among the people for a ministry of particular service, it is as if Jesus is handing us a lighted torch and telling us: ‘Take this; as the Father has sent me so I now send you.’”
The pope ended his homily mentioning that one cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was not present. Francis asked for prayers for the African prelate, explaining Baawobr had been taken ill.
At the beginning of the consistory, Pope Francis pronounced the opening prayer of the ceremony in Latin.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Creed. They then pronounced an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors.
Each cardinal then approached Pope Francis, kneeling before him to receive the red birretta, the cardinal’s ring, and a document naming the titular church he has been assigned.
Pope Francis embraced each new cardinal, saying to him: “Pax Domini sit semper tecum,” which is Latin for “the peace of the Lord be with you always.” Each cardinal responded: “Amen.”
The new cardinals also exchanged a sign of peace with a number of the members of the College of Cardinals, representative of the whole college.
While placing the red biretta on the head of each cardinal, the pope recited these words: “To the glory of almighty God and the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church.”
As he gave each new cardinal the ring, Francis said: “Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is strengthened.”
In his homily, the pope said: “The Lord wants to bestow on us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his boundless and unconditional love, for his heart is afire with the mercy of the Father.”
He also recalled another kind of fire, that of charcoal. “This fire,” he said, “burns in a particular way in the prayer of adoration, when we silently stand before the Eucharist and bask in the humble, discreet and hidden presence of the Lord. Like that charcoal fire, his presence becomes warmth and nourishment for our daily life.”
“A Cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether dealing with great questions or handling everyday problems, with the powerful of this world or those ordinary people who are great in God’s eyes,” he said.
The pope named three men as examples for the cardinals to follow: Saint Charles de Foucauld, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, and Cardinal Van Thuân.
The consistory to create cardinals also included a greeting and thank you to Pope Francis, expressed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the liturgy dicastery, on behalf of all the new cardinals.
Cardinal Arthur Roche speaking on behalf of the new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27. 2022. Daniel Ibáñez / CNA
“All of us, coming from different parts of the world, with our personal stories and different life situations, carry out our ministry in the vineyard of the Lord. As diocesan and religious priests, we are at the service of preaching the Gospel in many different ways and in different cultures, but always united in the one faith and the one Church,” Roche said.
“Now, in manifesting your trust in us, you call us to this new service, in an even closer collaboration with your ministry, within the broad horizon of the universal Church,” he continued. “God knows the dust of which we are all made, and we know well that without Him we are capable of falling short.”
Roche quoted Saint Gregory the Great, who once wrote to a bishop: “We are all weak, but he is weakest of all who ignores his own weakness.”
“However, we draw strength from you, Holy Father,” he said, “from your witness, your spirit of service and your call to the entire Church to follow the Lord with greater fidelity; living the joy of the Gospel with discernment, courage and, above all, with an openness of heart that manifests itself in welcoming everyone, especially those who suffer the injustice of poverty that marginalizes, the suffering of pain that seeks a response of meaning, the violence of wars that turn brothers into enemies. We share with you the desire and commitment for communion in the Church.”
At the end of the consistory to create cardinals, Pope Francis convened a consistory for the cardinals to give their approval to the canonizations of Blessed Artemide Zatti and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini.
The new cardinals are:
— Cardinal Arthur Roche, 72, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and former Bishop of Leeds (England);
— Lazarus You Heung-sik, 70, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy and former Bishop of Daejeon (South Korea);
— Jean-Marc Noël Aveline, 63, Archbishop of Marseille, the first French diocesan bishop to get the honor during Pope Francis’ pontificate;
— Peter Ebere Okpaleke, 59, Bishop of Ekwulobia in the central region of Nigeria, who was created bishop in 2012 by Benedict XVI;
— Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, 77, Archbishop of Manaus, in Brazil’s Amazon region, a Franciscan who played a leading role during the Amazon Synod and as Vice President of the recently created Amazonian Bishops’ Conference;
— Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão, 69, Archbishop of Goa (India), appointed bishop by St. John Paul II in 1993;
— Robert McElroy, 68, Bishop of San Diego (United States), whose diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by the President of the USCCB, Archbishop José Gomez;
— Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, 68, a Salesian, since 2019 the Archbishop of Dili (East Timor);
— Oscar Cantoni, 71, Bishop of Como (Italy), appointed in January 2005 by St. John Paul II, who is suffragan to Milan;
— Archbishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., 77, president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State; the Spaniard is the first Legionary of Christ to become a cardinal;
— Anthony Poola, 60, Archbishop of Hyderabad (India), a bishop since 2008 and the first dalit to become a cardinal;
–Paulo Cezar Costa, 54, Archbishop of Brasilia (Brazil), the fourth archbishop of the Brazilian capital to become a cardinal;
— Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 62, Bishop of Wa (Ghana), former Superior General of the White Fathers, and bishop since 2016;
— William Goh Seng Chye, 65, Archbishop of Singapore since 2013;
— Adalberto Martinez Flores, 71, Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay) and the first Paraguayan cardinal;
— Giorgio Marengo, 47, Italian Missionary of the Consolata and Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, the youngest cardinal in recent history, along with Karol Wojtyla, who also was created a cardinal at 47, during the consistory of June 26, 1967.
Furthermore, Pope Francis appointed the following prelates over the age of 80, who are therefore excluded from attending a future conclave.
Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena (Colombia); Arrigo Miglio, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari (Italy); Fr. Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit and former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, who extensively collaborated in the drafting of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium; and Fortunato Frezza, 80, (Italy) currently a Canon at the Basilica of St. Peter, who collaborated for several years at the Secretariat General for the Synod of the Bishops.
Pope Francis had originally also nominated Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy, 80, who later declined to accept the post because of criticism of his response to clergy abuse cases.
Finally he’s annoyed about something he should be annoyed about. Too bad the stupid term homophobic is used to describe this proper reaction. Stupid because it fails to recognize that it is impossible to fear homosexuals, it is only possible to fear the social damage they do and the damage done by those who refuse to acknowledge the damage they do.
Active homosexuals are in a known state of sin. Perhaps a less derogatory term could have been used but that would not have changed the substance of what he said. Part of his situation of course is the expectation he has set in place that homosexuality will soon be given the stamp of approval. The question I would have if I were the Pope is, which Bishop in this closed meeting betrayed me to the press? The betrayal ironically only proves the point that there are too many gays in the seminaries, as well as in the ranks of the Bishops. Otherwise why the betrayal? To embarrass him? Gays should be welcomed to Mass as fellow believers. They should not be used as moral role models in the priesthood.
“Gays should be welcomed to Mass as fellow believers.” Really, dear LJ?
Inclusion in our Holy Masses is a form of authentication and of inclusion in the community life of our parish.
It should be obvious to all informed Catholics that we are not permitted by The LORD to authenticate unrepentant sin. We’d also be foolish to expose our families to the immoral proselytizing that always accompanies unrepentant homosexuals & others who have chosen sinfully deviant lifestyles.
Yes! I do love the sinner but, yes! I do know that keeping parish community families spiritually & physically safe is of the highest importance.
How should we think of those who claim to be believers but have chosen to reject key parts of our belief system?
Saint James pointed out that even demons are believers in the one God who we worship (James 2:19).
Love is THE way, but it needs to be wise & discerning. There is such a thing as foolishly irresponsible love.
Ever seeking to obey King Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
Are you suggesting that people in a state of sin are to be excluded from Christian life or worship until they repent? You will be a long time making converts that way. Unless Catholics go to confession EVERY day, I daresay they are in a state of sin, whether mortal or venial, by time they get to church on Sunday, even if they confess weekly. It is part of the human condition. The question is what would make people think about repenting if they are never exposed to the reason WHY they should? Or exposed to the love of Jesus by hearing the readings at church?. Christ’s critics notably accused him of “eating with sinners”. It didnt appear to bother him. And I would add that while certain gays are flamboyant in their appearance, many sinners in the pews are simply not that obvious: adulterers, thieves, etc. The sinners are there whether we approve of them or not. And we might well count ourselves in their number if we are honest. Current statistics indicate that most Catholics practice abortion and contraception in the same number as non-catholics for example. So again, saying “only non-sinners may apply” is a non-starter. If you expect people to be perfect and adhere to ALL Catholic rules before they show up in church, prepared to worship in an empty church by yourself.
Thanks, dear LJ, for so clearly laying-out this common misunderstanding of our Faith. Effectively this error says: “Since all are sinners there can be no distinctions.”
It’s also commonly said that since Jesus Christ, God-With-Us, ate & drank in the company of sinners, we should open our parish communities to unrepentant sinners.
That deliberately ignores Jesus’ instruction: “Go, & sin no more!” It ignores strong moral examples such as that of Mary of Magdala, Zachaeus, Mathew, and most outstandingly, that of Saul of Tarsus. All serious sinners, led by Jesus to repentance & new, reformed lives of obedience to God’s rules.
It also ignores the clear instructions of The Holy Spirit of God given to us by 9 Apostolic authors in the 27 texts of The New Testament and reiterated by our Magisterium in The Catechism of The Catholic Church.
It is, of course, a logical fallacy to argue that because we ASSUME there’re unrepentant liars, thieves, murderers, fornicators, adulterers, etc. joining undetected in our parish liturgies, we should therefore welcome people living unrepentant homosexual lives into our faith communities.
The Catholic Church teaches that those who are in serious sin (as clearly defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church) are excluded from receiving Holy Communion. If they persist in taking communion, they have committed sacrilege and will go straight to hell if they die unshriven.
The reason for their terrible fate is they’ve obstinately put their own ideas first rather than placing God’s instructions first, no matter what the cost may be.
If some unrepentants do get through that’s no excuse for inviting others to reap the same dreadful judgment.
After living over 80 years and working in countries all around the world, I’m certain that all true Catholic Christians carry their individual crosses of personal self-denial, every day.
Yes, humans are sinful but true Catholics are unfailingly repentant, & all gladly suffer sacrifices for the sake of God’s Kingdom.
Everything about the Catholic Church and everything in our liturgies (if we pay attention to what we all are praying) is about: “YOUR will be done, HOLY GOD, not my will.”
A decision by the Church to embrace unrepentant homosexuals in our parish communities or to bestow a priestly blessing on homosexual couples would be a public statement of: “YOUR will be flouted, HOLY GOD.”
There are many examples of homosexually attracted Catholic men & women who bravely carry their crosses of self-denial, like all the rest of us, and they are respected and warmly welcomed into our parish communities and liturgies.
In street ministry & in healing rooms I’ve lovingly ministered to homosexually attracted people and have no hesitation in saying that every one of them had a spiritual problem that fed their same-sex lust.
As with all slavery to sin, the start of getting free is admission that GOD is right, and we are wrong.
Commonly, with both lay & clergy, addiction to pornography, has first to be totally renounced. After that, ceasing socializing with homosexual people.
A decision to accept openly unrepentant sinners into a Catholic parish community subverts the Christ established foundations of our entire Faith.
As Saint Mark records: “The time has come, said Jesus, and The Kingdom of GOD is close at hand. Repent, and believe the good News!”
Hoping this is of help. Ever in Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
Is he annoyed? Is it the old Peronist tactic? Throw a bone to one constituency and the other bone to its adversary. Surely James Martin will be able to iron all this out, given he is a member of the Dicastery of Communications, a recipient of private correspondence from the Holy Father, entitled to private audiences with the Holy Father and among the people specifically invited by Francis to take part in the final phase meetings of the upcoming Synod of Bishops.
Far more sinister if this ‘uncertain’ & ‘accidental’ leak was cunningly planned as a way to try to assuage the anger of so many Catholics over the evidence of unrestricted clergy homosexuality (the ‘lilac mafia cartel’) & PF’s persistent public cherishings of LGBT causes, including profane couple blessings in Catholic churches.
Yet again our very unique pope & his turbocharged pr team seem to have pulled-off yet another: “Now you see me, now you don’t!” illusion for the media. “Truth? What is that?”
“Dear Pope Francis & Co.: ‘You cain’t pin me down’ ain’t agonna work on Judgment Day!”
Jesus Christ self-described as THE TRUTH, not as the truths . . . but the PF coterie will say He is in a box of suicidal conservatism, I suppose.
Always in the grace & mercy of King Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
Sadly, the Pope can never get it right or even gets credit for saying the right thing in the wrong way. He is derided when he seems to support gay rights and also when he denounces them. Let’s give the man a break already!
“Telling the bishops that gay men should not be admitted to priestly formation, the pope argued ‘there is too much frociaggine in seminaries,’ a slur translated as faggotry”. A welcome change of tone on homosexuality in the priesthood however gruff. Nevertheless it didn’t take long to subvert any good intended by adding a list of compromises, including their dignity, blessing the frociaggine. Apparently the same clever word play that says one thing but suggests another. His Holiness is a master tactician. Austen Ivereigh translated correctly, “that the pope’s concern is narrowed to gay men seeing the priesthood as a way of living out their sexuality”.
Similarly the Instruction simply confirms past failed documents on discerning vocations citing men who are openly homosexual, deep seated in their disorder. Whereas all homosexuals who don’t precisely fit that assessment are waived through. More of the same duplicitous farce that is suffocating the priesthood and Church with sexually disordered men and candidates for the episcopate.
At one time during John Paul’s pontificate a candidate with same sex attraction was to be prohibited. That was quickly compromised to where we’re at today. It’s like telling a normal young man that he’s to spend the rest of his life in close proximity with women.
As I posted elsewhere, Francis did not apologize, there not one direct quote of him in the press release….
Which press release then said the comments were made behind closed doors and only report upon…
So we have a non-apology apology for a happening which is only rumored.
And far from a hard line, only a blurred line between some homosexual sex in seminaries as opposed to too much homosexual sex in seminaries.
With this PR swan dive, is anyone actually expecting even more firm action when by Francis’ admission and despite own signing off on squelching gay admissions, it still continues? Any true action on this at all? Seminary director and staff sacking? Bishop removal?
No, only an occasion for ribald humor answered with guffaws from bishops.
We read: “’Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual … This is hypocrisy! We must all respect each other. Everyone’, the Holy Father said.”
And, yet, Fiducia Supplicans blesses NOT A homosexual, but homosexuals as “COUPLES.”
Without being judgmental, yours truly has long felt that part of Pope Francis’ difficulty with the Church in America is simply that he does not speak the universal language of English. (His recent interview on 60 Minutes was handled through a Spanish interpreter.) Another part of his difficulty, of course, is the privileged access given to certain of his appointees in the American hierarchy.
On an historic cultural scale, when spoken and written language fails we might be reminded of the magnified Iconoclastic Controversy of the 7th and 8th centuries, and public education through visual stained glass windows in Medieval times, and now the bypassing of language by gestures, signaling, and photo-ops as with poster-child James Martin, SJ and Jeannine Gramick of New Ways Ministries.
All this erosion and replacement of coherent communication is worthy of a doctoral dissertation somewhere! Probably not thoughtfully written, of course, but “aggregated and compiled” (that’s synodal-speak!) soon by AI and stored in the inclusive Cloud.
For amnesiacs and the functionally illiterate, some in red hats, all memes are equal, but some are more equal than others.
If only the current pontiff were as quick to apologize to those he termed pharisaical, rigid, doctors of the Law, backwardists, etc. Then again, those so referred to don’t have what one writer years ago referred to as “approved victim status,” so it’s doubtful that apologies will be forthcoming.
I was amused to see at least one precedent for what would now be called ‘inappropriate’ papal utterances. According to the Wikipedia entry for Benedict XIV (who ruled 1740-58), this pope, though noted for his keen intellect and considered one of the best scholars to have occupied the papal throne, frequently used profane language. According to the writer of the article, he tried to cure this by having a crucifix placed in every room to discourage his colorful language.
Finally he’s annoyed about something he should be annoyed about. Too bad the stupid term homophobic is used to describe this proper reaction. Stupid because it fails to recognize that it is impossible to fear homosexuals, it is only possible to fear the social damage they do and the damage done by those who refuse to acknowledge the damage they do.
Not the most politic choice of words, but on the other hand “a rose is a rose is a rose,” said writer Gertrude Stein, an open lesbian.
They are using the terms which the LGBT propagandists use, because they belong to them.
Dear Edward J Baker – let’s also remember the spiritual damage they do to themselves and to all of us in our beloved Church.
Active homosexuals are in a known state of sin. Perhaps a less derogatory term could have been used but that would not have changed the substance of what he said. Part of his situation of course is the expectation he has set in place that homosexuality will soon be given the stamp of approval. The question I would have if I were the Pope is, which Bishop in this closed meeting betrayed me to the press? The betrayal ironically only proves the point that there are too many gays in the seminaries, as well as in the ranks of the Bishops. Otherwise why the betrayal? To embarrass him? Gays should be welcomed to Mass as fellow believers. They should not be used as moral role models in the priesthood.
“Gays should be welcomed to Mass as fellow believers.” Really, dear LJ?
Inclusion in our Holy Masses is a form of authentication and of inclusion in the community life of our parish.
It should be obvious to all informed Catholics that we are not permitted by The LORD to authenticate unrepentant sin. We’d also be foolish to expose our families to the immoral proselytizing that always accompanies unrepentant homosexuals & others who have chosen sinfully deviant lifestyles.
Yes! I do love the sinner but, yes! I do know that keeping parish community families spiritually & physically safe is of the highest importance.
How should we think of those who claim to be believers but have chosen to reject key parts of our belief system?
Saint James pointed out that even demons are believers in the one God who we worship (James 2:19).
Love is THE way, but it needs to be wise & discerning. There is such a thing as foolishly irresponsible love.
Ever seeking to obey King Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
Are you suggesting that people in a state of sin are to be excluded from Christian life or worship until they repent? You will be a long time making converts that way. Unless Catholics go to confession EVERY day, I daresay they are in a state of sin, whether mortal or venial, by time they get to church on Sunday, even if they confess weekly. It is part of the human condition. The question is what would make people think about repenting if they are never exposed to the reason WHY they should? Or exposed to the love of Jesus by hearing the readings at church?. Christ’s critics notably accused him of “eating with sinners”. It didnt appear to bother him. And I would add that while certain gays are flamboyant in their appearance, many sinners in the pews are simply not that obvious: adulterers, thieves, etc. The sinners are there whether we approve of them or not. And we might well count ourselves in their number if we are honest. Current statistics indicate that most Catholics practice abortion and contraception in the same number as non-catholics for example. So again, saying “only non-sinners may apply” is a non-starter. If you expect people to be perfect and adhere to ALL Catholic rules before they show up in church, prepared to worship in an empty church by yourself.
Thanks, dear LJ, for so clearly laying-out this common misunderstanding of our Faith. Effectively this error says: “Since all are sinners there can be no distinctions.”
It’s also commonly said that since Jesus Christ, God-With-Us, ate & drank in the company of sinners, we should open our parish communities to unrepentant sinners.
That deliberately ignores Jesus’ instruction: “Go, & sin no more!” It ignores strong moral examples such as that of Mary of Magdala, Zachaeus, Mathew, and most outstandingly, that of Saul of Tarsus. All serious sinners, led by Jesus to repentance & new, reformed lives of obedience to God’s rules.
It also ignores the clear instructions of The Holy Spirit of God given to us by 9 Apostolic authors in the 27 texts of The New Testament and reiterated by our Magisterium in The Catechism of The Catholic Church.
It is, of course, a logical fallacy to argue that because we ASSUME there’re unrepentant liars, thieves, murderers, fornicators, adulterers, etc. joining undetected in our parish liturgies, we should therefore welcome people living unrepentant homosexual lives into our faith communities.
The Catholic Church teaches that those who are in serious sin (as clearly defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church) are excluded from receiving Holy Communion. If they persist in taking communion, they have committed sacrilege and will go straight to hell if they die unshriven.
The reason for their terrible fate is they’ve obstinately put their own ideas first rather than placing God’s instructions first, no matter what the cost may be.
If some unrepentants do get through that’s no excuse for inviting others to reap the same dreadful judgment.
After living over 80 years and working in countries all around the world, I’m certain that all true Catholic Christians carry their individual crosses of personal self-denial, every day.
Yes, humans are sinful but true Catholics are unfailingly repentant, & all gladly suffer sacrifices for the sake of God’s Kingdom.
Everything about the Catholic Church and everything in our liturgies (if we pay attention to what we all are praying) is about: “YOUR will be done, HOLY GOD, not my will.”
A decision by the Church to embrace unrepentant homosexuals in our parish communities or to bestow a priestly blessing on homosexual couples would be a public statement of: “YOUR will be flouted, HOLY GOD.”
There are many examples of homosexually attracted Catholic men & women who bravely carry their crosses of self-denial, like all the rest of us, and they are respected and warmly welcomed into our parish communities and liturgies.
In street ministry & in healing rooms I’ve lovingly ministered to homosexually attracted people and have no hesitation in saying that every one of them had a spiritual problem that fed their same-sex lust.
As with all slavery to sin, the start of getting free is admission that GOD is right, and we are wrong.
Commonly, with both lay & clergy, addiction to pornography, has first to be totally renounced. After that, ceasing socializing with homosexual people.
A decision to accept openly unrepentant sinners into a Catholic parish community subverts the Christ established foundations of our entire Faith.
As Saint Mark records: “The time has come, said Jesus, and The Kingdom of GOD is close at hand. Repent, and believe the good News!”
Hoping this is of help. Ever in Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
Is he annoyed? Is it the old Peronist tactic? Throw a bone to one constituency and the other bone to its adversary. Surely James Martin will be able to iron all this out, given he is a member of the Dicastery of Communications, a recipient of private correspondence from the Holy Father, entitled to private audiences with the Holy Father and among the people specifically invited by Francis to take part in the final phase meetings of the upcoming Synod of Bishops.
Far more sinister if this ‘uncertain’ & ‘accidental’ leak was cunningly planned as a way to try to assuage the anger of so many Catholics over the evidence of unrestricted clergy homosexuality (the ‘lilac mafia cartel’) & PF’s persistent public cherishings of LGBT causes, including profane couple blessings in Catholic churches.
Yet again our very unique pope & his turbocharged pr team seem to have pulled-off yet another: “Now you see me, now you don’t!” illusion for the media. “Truth? What is that?”
“Dear Pope Francis & Co.: ‘You cain’t pin me down’ ain’t agonna work on Judgment Day!”
Jesus Christ self-described as THE TRUTH, not as the truths . . . but the PF coterie will say He is in a box of suicidal conservatism, I suppose.
Always in the grace & mercy of King Jesus Christ; love & blessings from marty
It occurs to me that this Pope doesn’t know what he thinks. The Catholic Church is being put through the wringer with this papacy.
Sadly, the Pope can never get it right or even gets credit for saying the right thing in the wrong way. He is derided when he seems to support gay rights and also when he denounces them. Let’s give the man a break already!
Agree totally!
“Telling the bishops that gay men should not be admitted to priestly formation, the pope argued ‘there is too much frociaggine in seminaries,’ a slur translated as faggotry”. A welcome change of tone on homosexuality in the priesthood however gruff. Nevertheless it didn’t take long to subvert any good intended by adding a list of compromises, including their dignity, blessing the frociaggine. Apparently the same clever word play that says one thing but suggests another. His Holiness is a master tactician. Austen Ivereigh translated correctly, “that the pope’s concern is narrowed to gay men seeing the priesthood as a way of living out their sexuality”.
Similarly the Instruction simply confirms past failed documents on discerning vocations citing men who are openly homosexual, deep seated in their disorder. Whereas all homosexuals who don’t precisely fit that assessment are waived through. More of the same duplicitous farce that is suffocating the priesthood and Church with sexually disordered men and candidates for the episcopate.
At one time during John Paul’s pontificate a candidate with same sex attraction was to be prohibited. That was quickly compromised to where we’re at today. It’s like telling a normal young man that he’s to spend the rest of his life in close proximity with women.
Sure. The problem is that there is “too much” of it. Otherwise it would be ok for him…
As I posted elsewhere, Francis did not apologize, there not one direct quote of him in the press release….
Which press release then said the comments were made behind closed doors and only report upon…
So we have a non-apology apology for a happening which is only rumored.
And far from a hard line, only a blurred line between some homosexual sex in seminaries as opposed to too much homosexual sex in seminaries.
With this PR swan dive, is anyone actually expecting even more firm action when by Francis’ admission and despite own signing off on squelching gay admissions, it still continues? Any true action on this at all? Seminary director and staff sacking? Bishop removal?
No, only an occasion for ribald humor answered with guffaws from bishops.
We read: “’Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual … This is hypocrisy! We must all respect each other. Everyone’, the Holy Father said.”
And, yet, Fiducia Supplicans blesses NOT A homosexual, but homosexuals as “COUPLES.”
Without being judgmental, yours truly has long felt that part of Pope Francis’ difficulty with the Church in America is simply that he does not speak the universal language of English. (His recent interview on 60 Minutes was handled through a Spanish interpreter.) Another part of his difficulty, of course, is the privileged access given to certain of his appointees in the American hierarchy.
On an historic cultural scale, when spoken and written language fails we might be reminded of the magnified Iconoclastic Controversy of the 7th and 8th centuries, and public education through visual stained glass windows in Medieval times, and now the bypassing of language by gestures, signaling, and photo-ops as with poster-child James Martin, SJ and Jeannine Gramick of New Ways Ministries.
All this erosion and replacement of coherent communication is worthy of a doctoral dissertation somewhere! Probably not thoughtfully written, of course, but “aggregated and compiled” (that’s synodal-speak!) soon by AI and stored in the inclusive Cloud.
For amnesiacs and the functionally illiterate, some in red hats, all memes are equal, but some are more equal than others.
If only the current pontiff were as quick to apologize to those he termed pharisaical, rigid, doctors of the Law, backwardists, etc. Then again, those so referred to don’t have what one writer years ago referred to as “approved victim status,” so it’s doubtful that apologies will be forthcoming.
Strange that some ultra trads are applauded when they use such language while condemning the Pope for using the same! Oh what fools we mortals be! 😂
The pope is condemned because of his rank hypocrisy in talking out of both sides of his mouth. He’s the fool for thinking people don’t see through it.
Apologies for deviant lifestyle choices! What would St Paul say?
Call a spade a spade; yeah who ratted him out?
they have no right to be a seminarian if they are gay..its just not right and is against God!
I was amused to see at least one precedent for what would now be called ‘inappropriate’ papal utterances. According to the Wikipedia entry for Benedict XIV (who ruled 1740-58), this pope, though noted for his keen intellect and considered one of the best scholars to have occupied the papal throne, frequently used profane language. According to the writer of the article, he tried to cure this by having a crucifix placed in every room to discourage his colorful language.