Father Timothy Radcliffe told the Synod on Synodality delegates that the time before the 2024 assembly “will be probably the most fertile time of the whole synod, the time of germination.” (Credit: Vatican Media)
CNA Newsroom, Sep 23, 2024 / 13:25 pm (CNA).
Just days after organizers of the second session of the Synod on Synodality in October said topics were not the focus of discussions, two prominent participants have publicly weighed in on the question of Catholics identifying as LGBTQ.
Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe and Jesuit Father James Martin on Sept. 19 published personal reflections on pastoral approaches to Catholics experiencing same-sex attraction.
Radcliffe, who served as a spiritual assistant at the 2023 synod assembly, has courted controversy in the past with statements on same-sex attraction. He wrote in the Sept. 19 edition of L’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Holy See, about being on “the synodal path with gay Catholics.”
The 79-year-old Dominican wrote that same-sex “desires,” like all desires, are “God-given” and need to be “educated” rather than denied. Radcliffe praised “mature gay Catholics” in “committed relationships.”
“Church teaching is already developing as it is refreshed by lived experience: gay people are no longer seen only in terms of sexual acts but as our brothers and sisters who, according to Pope Francis, can be blessed,” Radcliffe added.
Strong opposition at the synod
Meanwhile, Father James Martin on Sept. 19 for America Magazine covered conversations he had with synod delegates over the past year regarding what he described as “LGBTQ issues.”
Father James Martin, SJ. Credit: Flickr by Shawn (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The controversial Jesuit, who attended the 2023 synod as a papal appointee, reported encountering strong opposition.
The priest, who founded the pro-LGBTQ group Outreach, outlined several objections he heard from synod participants, including that LGBTQ ideology represents a form of neo-colonialism imposed on traditional cultures.
“In the end, the best way to help those who oppose” LGBTQ, Martin wrote, “is to meet them, listen to them, and come to know them as beloved children of God, that is, our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Critics have over the years accused Martin of rejecting Catholic teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual acts, but he has insisted that he does not reject the teaching of the Church.
The Church’s consistent teaching on homosexuality is outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states that while individuals with homosexual tendencies “must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity,” homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered” and “under no circumstances can they be approved” (CCC, 2357–2358).
The catechism further emphasizes that persons experiencing same-sex attraction “are called to chastity” and can draw nearer to Christian perfection through self-mastery, prayer, and sacramental grace (CCC, 2359).
Apostolates like Courage International offer spiritual support and fellowship for Catholics seeking to live according to Church teaching on this issue. Courage takes a chastity-based approach, helping members grow in holiness while embracing the Church’s vision of human sexuality.
The articles by Radcliffe and Martin come as the Synod on Synodality prepares to hold its second and final session from Oct. 2–27 at the Vatican.
The gathering of bishops and other participants is expected to discuss a range of issues related to the Church’s mission and internal life.
Controversial topics — such as LGBTQ questions — have been delegated to the competency of 15 study groups, whose mandate extends beyond the October synod to June 2025.
These groups will provide an update on their work at the beginning of the synod session in October.
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Vatican City, Oct 23, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- The Pontifical Swiss Guard announced Friday that two more of its members have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The world’s smallest but oldest standing army said in a statement Oct. 23 that… […]
Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Oct. 5, 2016. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA
CNA Staff, Mar 13, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
March 13 marks the anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the 266th successor of St. Peter. Here is a timeline of key events during his papacy:
2013
March 13 — About two weeks after Pope Benedict XVI steps down from the papacy, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is elected pope. He takes the papal name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and proclaims from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica: “Let us begin this journey, the bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome, which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another.”
March 14 — The day after he begins his pontificate, Pope Francis returns to his hotel to personally pay his hotel bill and collect his luggage.
July 8 — Pope Francis visits Italy’s island of Lampedusa and meets with a group of 50 migrants, most of whom are young men from Somalia and Eritrea. The island, which is about 200 miles off the coast of Tunisia, is a common entry point for migrants who flee parts of Africa and the Middle East to enter Europe. This is the pope’s first pastoral visit outside of Rome and sets the stage for making reaching out to the peripheries a significant focus.
Pope Francis gives the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 2, 2013. Elise Harris/CNA.
July 23-28 — Pope Francis visits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to participate in World Youth Day 2013. More than 3 million people from around the world attend the event.
July 29 — On the return flight from Brazil, Pope Francis gives his first papal news conference and sparks controversy by saying “if a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” The phrase is prompted by a reporter asking the pope a question about priests who have homosexual attraction.
Nov. 24 — Pope Francis publishes his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel). The document illustrates the pope’s vision for how to approach evangelization in the modern world.
2014
Feb. 22 — Pope Francis holds his first papal consistory to appoint 19 new cardinals, including ones from countries in the developing world that have never previously been represented in the College of Cardinals, such as Haiti.
March 22 — Pope Francis creates the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The commission works to protect the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, such as the victims of sexual abuse.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his general audience on Nov. 29, 2014. Bohumil Petrik/CNA.
Oct. 5 — The Synod on the Family begins. The bishops discuss a variety of concerns, including single-parent homes, cohabitation, homosexual adoption of children, and interreligious marriages.
Dec. 6 — After facing some pushback for his efforts to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis discusses his opinion in an interview with La Nacion, an Argentine news outlet: “Resistance is now evident. And that is a good sign for me, getting the resistance out into the open, no stealthy mumbling when there is disagreement. It’s healthy to get things out into the open, it’s very healthy.”
2015
Jan. 18 — To conclude a trip to Asia, Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Manila, Philippines. Approximately 6 million to 7 million people attend the record-setting Mass, despite heavy rain.
March 23 — Pope Francis visits Naples, Italy, to show the Church’s commitment to helping the fight against corruption and organized crime in the city.
May 24 — To emphasize the Church’s mission to combat global warming and care for the environment, Pope Francis publishes the encyclical Laudato Si’, which urges people to take care of the environment and encourages political action to address climate problems.
Pope Francis at a Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 17, 2015. Bohumil Petrik.
Sept. 19-22 — Pope Francis visits Cuba and meets with Fidel Castro in the first papal visit to the country since Pope John Paul II in 1998. During his homily, Francis discusses the dignity of the human person: “Being a Christian entails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it.”
Sept. 22-27 — After departing from Cuba, Pope Francis makes his first papal visit to the United States. In Washington, D.C., he speaks to a joint session of Congress, in which he urges lawmakers to work toward promoting the common good, and canonizes the Franciscan missionary St. Junípero Serra. He also attends the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, which focuses on celebrating the gift of the family.
Pope Francis speaks to the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24, 2015. . L’Osservatore Romano.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis begins the second Synod on the Family to address issues within the modern family, such as single-parent homes, cohabitation, poverty, and abuse.
Oct. 18 — The pope canonizes St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azélie “Zelie” Guérin. The married couple were parents to five nuns, including St. Therese of Lisieux. They are the first married couple to be canonized together.
Dec. 8 — Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy begins. The year focuses on God’s mercy and forgiveness and people’s redemption from sin. The pope delegates certain priests in each diocese to be Missionaries of Mercy who have the authority to forgive sins that are usually reserved for the Holy See.
2016
March 19 — Pope Francis publishes the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, which discusses a wide variety of issues facing the modern family based on discussions from the two synods on the family. The pope garners significant controversy from within the Church for comments he makes in Chapter 8 about Communion for the divorced and remarried.
April 16 — After visiting refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis allows three Muslim refugee families to join him on his flight back to Rome. He says the move was not a political statement.
Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Feb. 24, 2016. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
July 26-31 — Pope Francis visits Krakow, Poland, as part of the World Youth Day festivities. About 3 million young Catholic pilgrims from around the world attend.
Sept. 4 — The pope canonizes St. Teresa of Calcutta, who is also known as Mother Teresa. The saint, a nun from Albania, dedicated her life to missionary and charity work, primarily in India.
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 — Pope Francis visits Georgia and Azerbaijan on his 16th trip outside of Rome since the start of his papacy. His trip focuses on Catholic relations with Orthodox Christians and Muslims.
Oct. 4 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to Amatrice, Italy, to pray for the victims of an earthquake in central Italy that killed nearly 300 people.
2017
May 12-13 — In another papal trip, Francis travels to Fatima, Portugal, to visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition to three children in the city.
July 11 — Pope Francis adds another category of Christian life suitable for the consideration of sainthood: “offering of life.” The category is distinct from martyrdom, which only applies to someone who is killed for his or her faith. The new category applies to those who died prematurely through an offering of their life to God and neighbor.
Pope Francis greets a participant in the World Day of the Poor in Rome, Nov. 16, 2017. L’Osservatore Romano.
Nov. 19 — On the first-ever World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis eats lunch with 4,000 poor and people in need in Rome.
Nov. 27-Dec. 2 — In another trip to Asia, Pope Francis travels to Myanmar and Bangladesh. He visits landmarks and meets with government officials, Catholic clergy, and Buddhist monks. He also preaches the Gospel and promotes peace in the region.
2018
Jan. 15-21 — The pope takes another trip to Latin America, this time visiting Chile and Peru. The pontiff meets with government officials and members of the clergy while urging the faithful to remain close to the clergy and reject secularism. The Chilean visit leads to controversy over Chilean clergy sex abuse scandals.
Aug. 2 — The Vatican formally revises No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which concerns the death penalty. The previous text suggested the death penalty could be permissible in certain circumstances, but the revision states that the death penalty is “inadmissible.”
Aug. 25 — Archbishop Carlo Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States, publishes an 11-page letter calling for the resignation of Pope Francis and accusing him and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse including allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pope initially does not directly respond to the letter, but nine months after its publication he denies having prior knowledge about McCarrick’s conduct.
Aug. 25-26 — Pope Francis visits Dublin, Ireland, to attend the World Meeting of Families. The theme is “the Gospel of family, joy for the world.”
Pope Francis at the 2018 World Meeting of Families in Ireland. Daniel Ibanez/CNA.
Oct. 3-28 — The Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment takes place. The synod focuses on best practices to teach the faith to young people and to help them discern God’s will.
2019
Jan. 22-27 — The third World Youth Day during Pope Francis’ pontificate takes place during these six days in Panama City, Panama. Young Catholics from around the world gather for the event, with approximately 3 million people in attendance.
Feb. 4 — Pope Francis signs a joint document in with Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of Al-Azhar, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, titled the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.” The document focuses on people of different faiths uniting together to live peacefully and advance a culture of mutual respect.
Pope Francis and Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of al-Azhar, signed a joint declaration on human fraternity during an interreligious meeting in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb. 4, 2019. Vatican Media.
Feb. 21-24 — The Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, which is labeled the Vatican Sexual Abuse Summit, takes place. The meeting focuses on sexual abuse scandals in the Church and emphasizes responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
Oct. 6-27 — The Church holds the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, which is also known as the Amazon Synod. The synod is meant to present ways in which the Church can better evangelize the Amazon region but leads to controversy when carved images of a pregnant Amazonian woman, referred to by the pope as Pachamama, are used in several events and displayed in a basilica near the Vatican.
Oct. 13 — St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and a cardinal, is canonized by Pope Francis. Newman’s writings inspired Catholic student associations at nonreligious colleges and universities in the United States and other countries.
2020
March 15 — Pope Francis takes a walking pilgrimage in Rome to the chapel of the crucifix and prays for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic. The crucifix was carried through Rome during the plague of 1522.
March 27 — Pope Francis gives an extraordinary “urbi et orbi” blessing in an empty and rain-covered St. Peter’s Square, praying for the world during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope Francis venerates the miraculous crucifix of San Marcello al Corso in St. Peter’s Square during his Urbi et Orbi blessing, March 27, 2020. Vatican Media.
2021
March 5-8 — In his first papal trip since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis becomes the first pope to visit Iraq. On his trip, he signs a joint statement with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani condemning extremism and promoting peace.
July 3 — Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis, is indicted in a Vatican court for embezzlement, money laundering, and other crimes. The pope gives approval for the indictment.
July 4 — Pope Francis undergoes colon surgery for diverticulitis, a common condition in older people. The Vatican releases a statement that assures the pope “reacted well” to the surgery. Francis is released from the hospital after 10 days.
July 16 — Pope Francis issues a motu proprio titled Traditionis Custodes. The document imposes heavy restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
Dec. 2-6 — The pope travels to Cyprus and Greece. The trip includes another visit to the Greek island of Lesbos to meet with migrants.
Pope Francis greets His Beatitude Ieronymos II in Athens, Greece on Dec. 5, 2021. Vatican Media
2022
Jan. 11 — Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a record store in Rome called StereoSound. The pope, who has an affinity for classical music, blesses the newly renovated store.
March 19 — The pope promulgates Praedicate Evangelium, which reforms the Roman Curia. The reforms emphasize evangelization and establish more opportunities for the laity to be in leadership positions.
May 5 — Pope Francis is seen in a wheelchair for the first time in public and begins to use one more frequently. The pope has been suffering from knee problems for months.
Pope Francis greeted the crowd in a wheelchair at the end of his general audience on Aug. 3, 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
July 24-30 — In his first papal visit to Canada, Pope Francis apologizes for the harsh treatment of the indigenous Canadians, saying many Christians and members of the Catholic Church were complicit.
2023
Jan. 31-Feb. 5 — Pope Francis travels to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. During his visit, the pope condemns political violence in the countries and promotes peace. He also participates in an ecumenical prayer service with Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields.
Pope Francis greets a young boy a Mass in Juba, South Sudan on Feb. 5, 2023. Vatican Media
March 29-April 1 — Pope Francis is hospitalized for a respiratory infection. During his stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, he visits the pediatric cancer ward and baptizes a newborn baby.
April 5 — The pope appears in the Disney documentary “The Pope: Answers,” which is in Spanish, answering six “hot-button” issues from members of Gen Z from various backgrounds. The group discusses immigration, depression, abortion, clergy sexual and psychological abuse, transgenderism, pornography, and loss of faith.
April 28-30 — Pope Francis visits Hungary to meet with government officials, civil society members, bishops, priests, seminarians, Jesuits, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers. He celebrates Mass on the final day of the trip in Kossuth Lajos Square.
Pope Francis stands on an altar erected outside the Parliament Building in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos’ Square during a public outdoor Mass on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media
June 7 — The Vatican announces that Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery that afternoon under general anesthesia due to a hernia that is causing painful, recurring, and worsening symptoms. In his general audience that morning before the surgery, Francis says he intends to publish an apostolic letter on St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “patroness of the missions,” to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.
June 15 — After successful surgery and a week of recovery, Pope Francis is released from Gemelli Hospital.
Aug. 2-6 — Pope Francis travels to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023, taking place from Aug. 1-6. He meets with Church and civil leaders ahead of presiding at the welcoming Mass and Stations of the Cross. He also hears the confessions of several pilgrims. On Aug. 5, he visits the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima, where he prays the rosary with young people with disabilities. That evening he presides over the vigil and on Sunday, Aug. 6, he celebrates the closing Mass, where he urges the 1.5 million young people present to “be not afraid,” echoing the words of the founder of World Youth Days, St. John Paul II.
Pope Francis waves at the crowd of 1.5 million people who attended the closing Mass of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 6, 2023. Vatican Media.
Aug. 31-Sept. 4 — Pope Francis travels to Mongolia, the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign country. The trip makes Francis the first pope to visit the Asian country that shares a 2,880-mile border with China, its most significant economic partner. Mongolia has a population of about 1,300 Catholics in a country of more than 3 million people.
Pope Francis meets with local priests and religious of Mongolia, which includes only 25 priests (19 religious and six diocesan), 33 women religious, and one bishop — Cardinal Giorgio Marengo — in Ulaanbaatar’s Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Sept. 2, 2023. Credit: Vatican Media
Sept. 22-23 — On a two-day trip to Marseille, France, Pope Francis meets with local civil and religious leaders and participates in the Mediterranean Encounter, a gathering of some 120 young people of various creeds with bishops from 30 countries.
Pope Francis asks for a moment of silence at a memorial dedicated to sailors and migrants lost at sea on the first of a two-day visit to Marseille, France, Sept. 22, 2023. A Camargue cross, which comes from the Camargue area of France, represents the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The three tridents represent faith, the anchor represents hope, and the heart represents charity. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Oct. 4-29 — The Vatican hosts the first of two monthlong global assemblies of the Synod on Synodality, initiated by Pope Francis in 2021 to enhance the communion, participation, and mission of the Church. Pope Francis celebrates the closing Mass of the synod at St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29. The second and final global assembly will take place at the Vatican in October 2024.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
Nov. 25 — Pope Francis visits the hospital briefly for precautionary testing after coming down with the flu earlier in the day. Although he still participates in scheduled activities, other officials read his prepared remarks. The Vatican on Nov. 28 cancels the pope’s planned Dec. 1–3 trip to Dubai for the COP28 climate conference, where he was scheduled to deliver a speech, due to his illness.
Dec. 18 — The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issues the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorizes nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and couples in “irregular situations.” Various bishops from around the world voice both support for and criticism of the document.
2024
Jan. 4 — Amid widespread backlash to Fiducia Supplicans, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, publishes a five-page press release that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.”
Jan. 14 — Pope Francis for the first time responds publicly to questions about Fiducia Supplicans in an interview on an Italian television show. The pope underlines that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”
Feb. 11 — In a ceremony attended by Argentine president Javier Milei, Pope Francis canonizes María Antonia of St. Joseph — known affectionately in the pope’s home country as “Mama Antula” — in a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica. The president and the former archbishop of Buenos Aires embrace after the ceremony. Pope Francis, who has not returned to his homeland since becoming pope in 2013, has said he wants to visit Argentina in the second half of this year.
Pope Francis meets with Argentina President Javier Milei in a private audience on Feb. 12, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Feb. 28 — After canceling audiences the previous Saturday and having an aide read his prepared remarks at his Wednesday audience due to a “mild flu,” Pope Francis visits the hospital for diagnostic tests but returns to the Vatican afterward.
March 2 — Despite having an aide read his speech “because of bronchitis,” the pope presides over the inauguration of the 95th Judicial Year of the Vatican City State and maintains a full schedule.
March 13 — Pope Francis celebrates 11 years as Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Vatican City, May 22, 2017 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis was asked last week about his upcoming meeting with U.S. president Donald Trump, he made headlines for answering that he always tries to look for common ground.
Given that they have vocally disagreed on prominent issues in the past, what will the areas of shared agreement be?
The two are set to meet at the Vatican Wednesday, May 24, at 8:30 a.m., before Pope Francis’ weekly general audience.
President Trump arrives to Italy May 23 after stopping in both Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of his first international trip, which lasts nine days. He will also attend a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and a G7 summit in Sicily on May 26.
Perhaps the most prominent area of disagreement between Trump and Francis is immigration.
During a Feb. 18, 2016, in-flight press conference, the Pope was asked to respond to Donald Trump’s immigration stand, particularly his threat to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pope Francis responded saying “a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.” However, he also said that he would “give the benefit of the doubt” to the political candidate.
One week prior, Trump had bashed Pope Francis as a “pawn” for the Mexican government and “a very political person” who does not understand the problems of the United States.
After the fact, then-Holy See spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio that the Pope’s comment “was never intended to be, in any way, a personal attack or an indication of how to vote” and had repeated a longstanding theme of his papacy: bridge-building.
During Trump’s time in office so far, U.S. bishops – who have Francis’ full backing on the issue – have been critical of Trump’s moves on immigration, criticizing the “ban” he implemented in his first week in office halting refugee admissions for 120 days – indefinitely for Syrian refugees – and temporarily banning visa permissions for people seeking entry to the United States from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Trump and Francis also have very divergent opinions on climate change. Francis insisted on the need to protect creation in his environmental encyclical Laudato Si, saying problems such as global warming are caused by human activity.
The Pope gave his full support of the Paris Climate deal in 2015, sending Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 summit as his personal delegate to the gathering.
Trump later threatened to back out of the deal, but delayed the process until after the G7 summit he’ll be participating in this week.
While there will certainly be these and other points the two disagree on, there are several issues – other than their shared disregard for formal protocol – that could actually bring the two together.
These, to name a few, could be: pro-life issues, above all defense of the unborn; religious freedom, particularly for Christians in the Middle East; and the push for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Since his campaign days, Trump has identified himself as pro-life, and even gave a shout-out to the Jan. 27 March for Life in Washington D.C. in a clip of an interview with David Muir of ABC.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence became the first vice president to participate in the event, giving a keynote speech that stressed the “sanctity of life.”
Pro-life issues are likely to be at least one strong point of union for Trump and Francis, who has often spoken out against abortion and other concerns such as euthanasia, calling them in one audience in 2014 “sins against God.”
He has also encouraged the use of conscientious objection based on religious convictions, at one point describing it as “a basic human right.”
When it comes to the Trump administration, the pro-life issue remains a big issue for many U.S. Catholics, who praised the president’s reinstatement of the “Mexico City Policy,” which prohibits U.S. funding of non-government organizations that either promote or perform abortions through family-planning funds.
Trump was also lauded for his appointment of Niel Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away last year. Gorsuch has been praised not only for his pro-life stance, but also for his commitment to religious freedom.
Pope Francis and Trump are also likely to share concern for persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.
Both Trump and Francis have called for greater solidarity and protection of persecuted Christians.
Francis has repeatedly spoken out on modern persecution, saying there are more martyrs today than in the early Church, with the “ecumenism of blood” having become a watermark phrase of his pontificate.
Trump himself said during his campaign that protecting persecuted Christians would be a priority. As evidence of this intent, at a May 11 summit on persecuted Christians U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said, “We’re with you, we stand with you,” and assured of both his and Trump’s prayers.
As with any political figure, questions still loom as to how much Trump will actually do, especially if differing political opinions get in the way. But overall, the topic will likely be a point of agreement and collaboration with the Vatican.
And while Trump’s previous rhetoric on Islam is something Francis would likely hastily disagree with, a recent shift in the president’s tone is something the Pope would certainly welcome.
During his election campaign, Trump called for the “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” and voicing his opinion that “Islam hates us.”
However, so far Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims has cooled during his first international trip abroad.
In his May 21 speech at the Arab Islamic American Summit in Ridyadh, Saudi Arabia, Trump avoided the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” referring instead to “the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires.”
“The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their country and, frankly, for their families and for their children,” Trump said, speaking to leaders from more than 50 predominantly Muslim countries.
The choice is “between two futures,” and “it is a choice America cannot make for you,” he said, adding that “a better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists.”
He said he didn’t come to “lecture,” but to seek an end to terrorism and the beginning of peace in the Middle East region, noting that roughly 95 percent of terrorist victims are themselves Muslim.
The president said he wants a partnership with people who share the same “interests and values” as the U.S., calling Islam one of the “great faiths” with an “ancient heritage” that has served as the “cradle of civilization.”
In addition, Trump said the problem of terrorism is not “a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it…This is a battle between good and evil.”
The U.S. president’s more moderate tone on Islam, and indeed his unprecedented praise of some aspects of Muslim culture, is something Pope Francis would likely appreciate. The Pope has on multiple occasions warned against “Islamophobia,” insisting that not all Muslims are terrorist.
However, while the two might have new-found common ground in terms of how they refer to the Muslim community, at least in the public sphere, Francis will likely take issue with the weapons deal signed by Trump and Saudi King Salman.
The deal guarantees the Middle Eastern powerhouse some $350 billion in weapons over the next 10 years, with $110 billion going into effect immediately.
Francis has consistently called for an end to the arms trade, criticizing nations that sell weapons to warring countries in order to keep the conflicts going that line their own pockets. The Pope has used almost countless occasions to insist for an end to this “scourge.”
Saudi Arabia has also been criticized by many other Middle Eastern nations for funding ISIS, most directly through weapons sales.
But regardless of the deal, terrorism is sure to be one of the key topics discussed, and if Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia is an indication of how he intends to address the issue from here on out, the two just might be able agree on this point.
After leaving Saudi Arabia, Trump flew to Israel for an official visit in a bid to cement Israeli ties and help move forward on a peace deal with Palestine. After arriving this morning, he voiced hopes to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin of a broader peace deal in the region.
“You have a great opportunity right now. Great feeling for peace throughout the Middle East. People have had enough of the bloodshed and the killing. I think we’re going to start see things starting to happen,” he told Rivlin.
In a speech to Israeli Prime Minister on the tarmac, Trump said: “We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace, but we can only get there working together. There is no other way.”
In a previous encounter, Trump had asked Netenyahu to “hold off” on building more settlements in order help give space to further peace discussions in the region.
Earlier this month Trump met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, telling him that when it comes to a deal that pleases both parties, “we will get it done.”
The commitment to a two-state solution has been a longstanding priority for the Vatican, which was reinforced during a recent 2015 agreement between Palestine and the Holy See to promote religious freedom in the area.
Trump himself, however, has said his administration is not married to the idea of a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict, deviating from previous administrations on the issue.
While the Vatican and Trump might not agree on what exactly a peace deal looks like, it’s likely to be a shared concern.
Another topic that could be a point of union between the Pope and the president is human trafficking; not necessarily because Trump himself has been a hardliner on the issue, but more likely because the president’s daughter and high-profile adviser Ivanka Trump has made a commitment to it.
It is in this capacity that she is participating in each of the nine days of Trump’s first trip abroad as president, including the public portion of his meeting with Francis.
While in Italy, Ivanka is also set to meet with the Community of Sant’Egidio, a group often praised by Pope Francis for their work with the poor and refugees, to discuss putting an end to human trafficking.
During the meeting, the Ivanka is expected to meet with several women who are victims of trafficking, and discuss various ways in which the Church and the U.S. government can collaborate on the issue.
So while there are clearly many areas in which Pope Francis and Trump diverge, the meeting will likely find both men seeking to find common ground.
Francis himself during his May 13 press conference refrained from making a premature evaluation of Trump, saying “I never make a judgment of a person without listening to them. I believe that I should not do this.”
When the two finally meet, “things will come out, I will say what I think, he will say what he thinks, but I never, ever, wanted to make a judgment without hearing the person.”
Peace and friendship are things that can’t be forced, he said, explaining that they take daily effort and are “handcrafted.”
“Respect the other, say that which one thinks, but with respect, but walk together,” he said. Even if someone thinks differently, “be very sincere,” and respectful.
Maybe I missed it but I haven’t seen Pope Francis or any of the priests who are proponents of the LBGT community admit that it is a grave sin to commit sodomy, and repentance and reconciliation is required.
— July 30, 2013. During his first press conference, Pope Francis says “Who am I to judge?” when asked about a purportedly gay priest. “On that occasion I said this: If a person is gay and seeks out the Lord and is willing, who am I to judge that person?” the pope later explained. “I was paraphrasing by heart the Catechism of the Catholic Church where it says that these people should be treated with delicacy and not be marginalized.”
“I am glad that we are talking about ‘homosexual people’ because before all else comes the individual person, in his wholeness and dignity,” he continued. “And people should not be defined only by their sexual tendencies: let us not forget that God loves all his creatures and we are destined to receive his infinite love.”
“I prefer that homosexuals come to confession, that they stay close to the Lord, and that we pray all together,” said Pope Francis. “You can advise them to pray, show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it.”
— Jan. 24, 2023: Pope Francis declares in an Associated Press interview that “Being homosexual is not a crime.” “It’s not a crime. Yes, but it’s a sin. Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime,” said Pope Francis.
— Jan. 28, 2023: Pope Francis clarifies his comments to AP which implied that while homosexual activity was not a crime it is a sin in the eyes of the church. “When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin.”
“In the end, the best way to help those who oppose” LGBTQ, Martin wrote, “is to meet them, listen to them, and come to know them as beloved children of God, that is, our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Sorry James, but people who oppose the vile LGBTLMNOP agenda don’t need help, from you or from your sycophants. You need to repent or be laicized.
Is there a process by which the Catholic Church, assailed and assaulted, pilloried and subverted — by its own leader and his diabolical henchmen — throws in the towel and declares itself null and void?
It’s hard to see how the Church can survive much more of this abuse.
It won’t declare itself to be null and void, it will describe itself as being “welcoming” and “inclusive.” The end result will be the same, however. A lifeless church filled with unbelievers.
Christ said that He would be with His Church until the end of time, and we have to rely on that no matter what traitors try to do to it. It is mind-boggling that in spite of everything, it is still vigorous in administering valid Sacraments (including confession) and preaching Jesus.
To be sure Synodaling is a gay affair. So why are these guys talking about fertility and germination? Maybe they meant the futility of the Faith in the German nation?
Was I poorly educated? Where in this article are “prelates” named? That term, I thought, was usually reserved for bishops. Or was that headline nothing more than click bait?
“The 79-year-old Dominican wrote that same-sex desires, like all desires, are God-given”. According to Fr Radcliffe’s logic the desire for adult men to sexually penetrate other men, must also include as God-given the desire to sexualize and rape young boys, and girls.
Like most considering homosexuality as a good, Fr Radcliffe follows his sentiments, meaning well although more likely given to, realistically speaking, moral derangement. It doesn’t require genius to agree that the natural desires are given us by God. However, the unnatural desires by Man. Native desires are what Aquinas called appetites. Man is a moral as well as a rational being, and inclines by the will his natural desires for good or for evil. It defies reasoned knowledge of the infinite good that is God that he would place desires in his children that contradict their biology, their physical body. That men should by nature seek to sexually penetrate other men, or more egregiously boys, and little girls.
No, Fr Radcliffe OP, similar to Diocesan Fr Maurizio Chiodi recently assigned to the Synod select committee, Synod Relator General Cardinal Hollerich SJ, Fr James Martin SJ all suffer from moral derangement, an equal opportunity disease.
…and they likely suffer from Same Sex Attraction, themselves, which actually Archbishop Vigano accused Francis of in the not distant past. Heard against the backdrop of so many of the mindboggling appointments that Francis has made, including roles that he has given to these two perverts, it simply cannot be seen as a wild accusation. Morally broken men are at the helm of the Barque of Peter.
Dear Father. Your graphic elocution describes our current dilemma of today’s Sodom and Gomorrah well. The worn dilemma as to whether they are born GAY or choose that lifestyle remains. I have had difficulty with the choice issue. One can only wonder why they would exit the closet to openly admit their Gayness when they are rejected by society with disdain?
I am a military veteran. I remember when Gays were discharged as “undesirables”. In the 60s I processed those discharges at the Pentagon. Enter “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Time: President Bill Clinton attempted to unilaterally repeal the ban after taking office in 1993. The effort foundered. Congress instead passed a law under which gays could serve as long as they kept quiet about their orientation. But while the Pentagon agreed to stop asking about sexual orientation during the recruiting process, it continued to investigate those serving in the military. Since 1994 more than 12,000 service members have been discharged because of their sexual orientation.
It is estimated that the US Gay population is 5.5%. That excludes Gays still in the closet. I have always thought what would I do to if my child was Gay? My sister-in-law, a staunch Catholic, disowned her son when he came out. Sadly, he was the closest of her four children to her. He never returned.
UCLA Williams Institute of law: LGBT identification varies by age. Nearly one in six young adults 18 to 24 identifies as LGBT.
Is continued isolation an “answer” to solving the Gay issue? Does the damning rhetoric here provide progress? I don’t see that. I still consider the LGBTQ community our separated brethren. I hope others will. We need to lower the attack rhetoric.
“I still consider the LGBTQ community our separated brethren. I hope others will. We need to lower the attack rhetoric.”
Those who are committed to living in blatant, willful disobedience to God- whether due to biology or choice – are not “our separated brethren.” They are under divine judgment. The wise response is to keep our distance so as not to be consumed when the fire falls.
Homosexualism is crime. It has to be treated as crime. Just like abortion. Just like trans; drugs. Law handles it on a scale. Sidelining law on it is crime.
Sharing the truth is not “damning rhetoric”. Fact of life like all crime and/or all good helps. The “open acceptance out of the closet” worsens the problems.
A well articulated overview morganD. There are instances when homosexual tendencies, SSA begins at a very early age, and there are no biological indicators why, such as lack of hormones. There are indications that most others willfully acquire the behavior at a later stage. That the behavior has shown a marked, growing increase in past decades circa the sexual revolution and the wide use of mind altering drugs. An amoral mentality of freedom that believes anything goes.
Yes. You’re correct that insulting accusations are neither helpful to the person nor is it morally correct. I call it a moral derangement especially in regards to the prelates Cdl Hollerich, Cdl McElroy, priests given ranking appointments Fr James Martin Vat communications, Fr Radcliffe within the Synod who promote normalizing homosexuality, at least among consensual adults [it is a disorder or derangement of order]. That’s because it’s a disorder primarily of the will. Considering causality, whether it’s psychological, or perhaps due to physical impairment the Church is obliged to condemn the same sex act as immoral because it abrogates the natural law, although the attraction itself is not, likely because the person may not be entirely culpable, whereas in instances when it’s freely adopted it’s sinful.
If we study the phenomenon historically we find periods among cultures when the increase in the behavior burgeons. As it did among the Romans who initially disdained and condemned it as effeminate. The Apostle Paul addresses the sudden increase in practice among the Romans due to their disfavor with God regarding his existence evident in nature. As you suggest charity should be the rule, though there are scenarios in which perpetrators merit measured retribution.
morganD: spare us the homosexual playbook lines. You’re castigating those who disapprove of unnatural acts because we just won’t submit to it the common zeitgeist.
Morgan D.,
Yes, “we need to lower the attack rhetoric.”
Unfortunately, the rhetoric is in reaction to the more radicalized homosexual faction and its aggression to redefine “marriage,” and then the capitulation of get-along-go-along corporate America and even the inventive rhetoric of the U.S. Supreme Court. Over a century ago Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. already signaled our modernday undermining of human civilization, in only a few decades:
“. . . I often doubt whether it would not be a gain if every word of moral significance could be banished from the law altogether. . . .” (Harvard Law Review, 1895). Earlier, he also had written: “I think that the sacredness of human life is a PURELY MUNICIPAL IDEA of no validity outside the jurisdiction” (cited in Mark de Wolfe, ed., The Pollock-Holmes Letters, 1874-1932, 1942, Vol. 2, p. 36, CAPS added).
Yes indeed, a friend (with four children, the last of which is a recent public school escapee, er I mean graduate) spoke about how “identifying” as part of the alphabet groups results in special treatment; especially attractive at a time when one starts to crave external affirmation.
Thanks for adding my oversight.
If Martin were to publicly reveal a homosexual inclination would anybody be shocked?
Interesting how he’s used his Wharton MBA to make his disordered advocacy into cottage industry.
To “Rev.” Radcliffe, “Rev.” Martin and their ring-leader Pontiff Francis:
I have a dear friend in Christ who took your bad counsel as a young man, and lived the G and B lifestyle of your LGBTQ ideology. He left it and stopped listening to false men like you, and he told me the truth that this “gift” you are promoting is “Satanic,” and the people he encountered were openly and literally Satan worshippers. He suffers grievously with STDs and AIDS (thanks to your counsel), and knows he is dying, middle-aged, from the ravages of this lifestyle you encourage on the young.
He says this about your LGBTQ ideology: “It is insanity for adults to teach children and young people that it is OK for a man to inseminate another person’s intestines.”
Listen to him, and perhaps in turn, repent of your ideology if sexual sinfulness and the spirit of fornication and sodomy and death, and consider following Jesus instead.
Every now and then it is necessary simply to state that Everyone is welcome in Christ’s House – LGBTQ++ & whatever, but – it’s HIS house and HE makes the rules.”
Exactly. And those who choose not to live under His authority will be cast out of His presence, for all eternity. People should take sin seriously. God certainly does.
Yes. Define prominent.
If, by prominent, you mean showing up everywhere, Fr. Martin is certainly prominent today. Fr. Radcliffe may have been prominent at one time.
If one believes that God positively wills sinful desires, then one believes either that God wishes us ill, or that those desires aren’t actually sinful. Either way, one has departed from Catholic faith and teaching. One has become an Episcopalian or some other phony type which instrumentalizes Christ in the service of narcissism. If these priests believe some other sect has the truth, why do they not join join that sect and evangelize for it? It is due to their pride and their lusts.
There has been far too much dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight regarding these pathetic losers. No one who clings to, works to justify and promulgates grievous and disgusting sins of the flesh is, at the same time, in Christ. That is the root lie which all of these poor souls and, indeed, bergoglio himself have embraced. In their obstinacy, let them dance. Just don’t make the deadly mistake of cutting in.
Lukewarmness has no rights, but it often can illuminate that which is True, in this case, shedding light on the counterfeit church that has been attempting to subsist in The True Church Of Christ, which exists “Through, With, And In Christ, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque).
“I know your deeds…because you are lukewarm, I am about to spit you out of My mouth.” – Jesus The Christ.
Jesus promises that “those who overcome lukewarmness” and return to The Catholic Faith, will be Saved.
We can know through Faith and reason, that “spiritual ambivalence “, is not of The Holy Ghost.
Under the radar was (and is) the U.S. retail ban on the movie “Kubi” by Takeshi Kitano (2023). The very violent but historical accurate movie of the rise of power of the samurai warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1500’s offends the LGBTQ community because of the real practice of the samurai involving homosexual acts to demonstrate fidelity and allegiance. Very much a learned, social norm, not of love, nor attraction but as a symbol of power of one man over another – like contemporary American prisons. If the Pope cannot see this is the return of paganism then we need to continue to pray for him and for the Holy Spirit to protect our church.
Enough about these lifestyle choices! The most important thing is to get to heaven. The English comedian Kenny Everett was a successful comic in the early 80s and was a baptised Catholic, but accepted the lifestyle choice forested by Radcliffe and Martin. He died, but not before his devoted sister pressed him to reconcile with the Church which he readily did and a Catholic priest spent a day helping him to go through his life. The priest said it was one of the most beautiful experiences of his life. THAT IT WHAT SHOULD BE SPOKEN ABOUT: THE Four LAST THINGS!! NOT CLIMATE, NOT ADAM AND STEVE BUT GETTING TO HEAVEN!!! HEAR THAT MARTIN, RADCLIFFE AND POPE FRANCIS??
Father Peter hit the nail on the head — “moral derangement.” I would add an accompanying pathology presently boldly on display at the Holy See — “theological derangement.”
Time to put the dogs back on the leash.
We are witnessing the deliberate deconstruction of Roman Catholicism from within by sociopaths who will lie to your face with a stole around their shoulders. Exhibit A: James Martin insisting that he is in conformity to the teaching of the Church. No, he is not, he is a liar, as are each of his enabling superiors and confreres in this subterfuge.
When are we going to start to say the truth to the faces of those who would deceive us? We are all sporting ecclesiastical Stockholm Syndrome.
The ‘online Synod ‘ here at CWR – good in its own way ..we are blessed in our times to be able to take in good surprises of our times including the approval of Medjugorje …the deeper awareness of the Divine Will revelations too , given through learned theologians such as below to add to aid in all these problems of our times which are interconnected , as often reminded by our Holy Father of the oneness in our wounds –
to trust that God is in the process of renewal of the earth -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP5TK5HhclQ&t=792s
Have listened to only a few of the talks; was good to hear in one such talk the words of Blessed Mother telling us to bring sorrows to her to respond – ‘ Love You Jesus and Mary in all our sorrows ‘- those words are like echoes of that of the Holy Father , that our oneness is in our wounds …we could trust that such occasions , persons involved in such , even generations can be brought to The Lord to say with each and all to transform pain of memories.. experiences ..of having had to leave little ones ..their pain ..pain and fear of rejection of all that likely underlie lot of the wounds around ..
The decision of the Holy Father to have a controversial figure – Fr.Chirodi as a consultant also can be seen in such a light of good intention , to help persons who feel rejected by The Church to have more trust that they too are being listened to …to help bring them to deeper ways of living in the Divine Will and its holiness as emphatically invoked by another good priest – Fr Celso – to seal holiness through intercession of Luisa and ministry of holy angels – all can join in such prayers for the Synodal occasion, all such occasions , elections.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT21uo8IzJ4
“The decision of the Holy Father to have a controversial figure – Fr.Chirodi as a consultant also can be seen in such a light of good intention, to help persons who feel rejected by The Church to have more trust that they too are being listened to.”
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and some leaders seem intent on leading lost people there. Do not make excuses for moral evil.
Please have the heart and mind of the Beloved and see with His eyes, thoughts and ways, Chiodi and his assignment is not to accomplish the Beloved’s Will but the ancient serpents…it it a work of darkness not the Beloved Light… may He bring His Good from every good and darkness
Brokeback Martin is a SJW pretending to be a priest. Any other Pope would have laicized him a long time ago and banished him to a remote monastery to pray for forgiveness.
Monasteries are not penal colonies. Best Mr. Martin go out into the world and earn his living with the insecurity and worry most of us shoulder and navigate by night some of the poisonous waters he encourages others to do. Maybe he would wake up and then come to a discernment in conformity to Christ.
Martin is the most tragic of figures. He requires our prayer, as do others who distort the the Gospel for their own consolation.
Here we go again with the false linguistics about immoral homosexual. It is not a disorder but a preferred act like all sin. These two priest are using false language to justify homosexuality. This immoral sexuality like all immoral sexual acts art not “God-given” but are evil as is the words by Radcliffe and Martin.
Christ said that He would be with His Church until the end of time, and we have to rely on that no matter what traitors try to do to it. It is mind-boggling that in spite of everything, it is still vigorous in administering valid Sacraments (including confession) and preaching Jesus.
This bears repeating.
The explosion of vocations to the Dominicans in Ireland is phenomenal! Because they believe in the charism of their founder and they are orthodox and that is attracting so many young men and women who are tired of the fluidity that now stands for Catholic thought and belief. Radcliffe is a thankfully dying remnant to the hippy generation that offered nothing, to his vision that is poison to the vision of Dominic and Francis!
The Church in distress. Come Holy Spirit…
Amen Deacon.
Maybe I missed it but I haven’t seen Pope Francis or any of the priests who are proponents of the LBGT community admit that it is a grave sin to commit sodomy, and repentance and reconciliation is required.
— July 30, 2013. During his first press conference, Pope Francis says “Who am I to judge?” when asked about a purportedly gay priest. “On that occasion I said this: If a person is gay and seeks out the Lord and is willing, who am I to judge that person?” the pope later explained. “I was paraphrasing by heart the Catechism of the Catholic Church where it says that these people should be treated with delicacy and not be marginalized.”
“I am glad that we are talking about ‘homosexual people’ because before all else comes the individual person, in his wholeness and dignity,” he continued. “And people should not be defined only by their sexual tendencies: let us not forget that God loves all his creatures and we are destined to receive his infinite love.”
“I prefer that homosexuals come to confession, that they stay close to the Lord, and that we pray all together,” said Pope Francis. “You can advise them to pray, show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it.”
— Jan. 24, 2023: Pope Francis declares in an Associated Press interview that “Being homosexual is not a crime.” “It’s not a crime. Yes, but it’s a sin. Fine, but first let’s distinguish between a sin and a crime,” said Pope Francis.
— Jan. 28, 2023: Pope Francis clarifies his comments to AP which implied that while homosexual activity was not a crime it is a sin in the eyes of the church. “When I said it is a sin, I was simply referring to Catholic moral teaching, which says that every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin.”
“In the end, the best way to help those who oppose” LGBTQ, Martin wrote, “is to meet them, listen to them, and come to know them as beloved children of God, that is, our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Sorry James, but people who oppose the vile LGBTLMNOP agenda don’t need help, from you or from your sycophants. You need to repent or be laicized.
I have a question.
Is there a process by which the Catholic Church, assailed and assaulted, pilloried and subverted — by its own leader and his diabolical henchmen — throws in the towel and declares itself null and void?
It’s hard to see how the Church can survive much more of this abuse.
It won’t declare itself to be null and void, it will describe itself as being “welcoming” and “inclusive.” The end result will be the same, however. A lifeless church filled with unbelievers.
Christ said that He would be with His Church until the end of time, and we have to rely on that no matter what traitors try to do to it. It is mind-boggling that in spite of everything, it is still vigorous in administering valid Sacraments (including confession) and preaching Jesus.
To be sure Synodaling is a gay affair. So why are these guys talking about fertility and germination? Maybe they meant the futility of the Faith in the German nation?
I had an email from Bishop Barron saying that this LGBTQ+ issue as well as two others are off the table now.
Quick! Alert the synod and a waiting world! All genuflect!
Radcliff and Martin have written a memo or two! A couple! Barely a millennium after St. Peter Damien wrote the entire “Book of Gomorrah.”
Was I poorly educated? Where in this article are “prelates” named? That term, I thought, was usually reserved for bishops. Or was that headline nothing more than click bait?
I’m really kind of sick of all this.
Is there anyone out there who would want either of these priests as a confessor?
So these two priests are prominent? Only in the minds of the woke.
“The 79-year-old Dominican wrote that same-sex desires, like all desires, are God-given”. According to Fr Radcliffe’s logic the desire for adult men to sexually penetrate other men, must also include as God-given the desire to sexualize and rape young boys, and girls.
Like most considering homosexuality as a good, Fr Radcliffe follows his sentiments, meaning well although more likely given to, realistically speaking, moral derangement. It doesn’t require genius to agree that the natural desires are given us by God. However, the unnatural desires by Man. Native desires are what Aquinas called appetites. Man is a moral as well as a rational being, and inclines by the will his natural desires for good or for evil. It defies reasoned knowledge of the infinite good that is God that he would place desires in his children that contradict their biology, their physical body. That men should by nature seek to sexually penetrate other men, or more egregiously boys, and little girls.
No, Fr Radcliffe OP, similar to Diocesan Fr Maurizio Chiodi recently assigned to the Synod select committee, Synod Relator General Cardinal Hollerich SJ, Fr James Martin SJ all suffer from moral derangement, an equal opportunity disease.
…and they likely suffer from Same Sex Attraction, themselves, which actually Archbishop Vigano accused Francis of in the not distant past. Heard against the backdrop of so many of the mindboggling appointments that Francis has made, including roles that he has given to these two perverts, it simply cannot be seen as a wild accusation. Morally broken men are at the helm of the Barque of Peter.
Agreed.
Dear Father. Your graphic elocution describes our current dilemma of today’s Sodom and Gomorrah well. The worn dilemma as to whether they are born GAY or choose that lifestyle remains. I have had difficulty with the choice issue. One can only wonder why they would exit the closet to openly admit their Gayness when they are rejected by society with disdain?
I am a military veteran. I remember when Gays were discharged as “undesirables”. In the 60s I processed those discharges at the Pentagon. Enter “Don’t ask, don’t tell.”
Time: President Bill Clinton attempted to unilaterally repeal the ban after taking office in 1993. The effort foundered. Congress instead passed a law under which gays could serve as long as they kept quiet about their orientation. But while the Pentagon agreed to stop asking about sexual orientation during the recruiting process, it continued to investigate those serving in the military. Since 1994 more than 12,000 service members have been discharged because of their sexual orientation.
It is estimated that the US Gay population is 5.5%. That excludes Gays still in the closet. I have always thought what would I do to if my child was Gay? My sister-in-law, a staunch Catholic, disowned her son when he came out. Sadly, he was the closest of her four children to her. He never returned.
UCLA Williams Institute of law: LGBT identification varies by age. Nearly one in six young adults 18 to 24 identifies as LGBT.
Is continued isolation an “answer” to solving the Gay issue? Does the damning rhetoric here provide progress? I don’t see that. I still consider the LGBTQ community our separated brethren. I hope others will. We need to lower the attack rhetoric.
“I still consider the LGBTQ community our separated brethren. I hope others will. We need to lower the attack rhetoric.”
Those who are committed to living in blatant, willful disobedience to God- whether due to biology or choice – are not “our separated brethren.” They are under divine judgment. The wise response is to keep our distance so as not to be consumed when the fire falls.
Homosexualism is crime. It has to be treated as crime. Just like abortion. Just like trans; drugs. Law handles it on a scale. Sidelining law on it is crime.
Sharing the truth is not “damning rhetoric”. Fact of life like all crime and/or all good helps. The “open acceptance out of the closet” worsens the problems.
President Biden positions a moral high-ground against “fact of life” -yesterday.
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/who-the-hell-do-these-people-think-they-are-biden-calls-out-trump-and-vance-for-their-responses-to-school-shootings/vi-AA1rhsKh?ocid=BingNewsSerp
A well articulated overview morganD. There are instances when homosexual tendencies, SSA begins at a very early age, and there are no biological indicators why, such as lack of hormones. There are indications that most others willfully acquire the behavior at a later stage. That the behavior has shown a marked, growing increase in past decades circa the sexual revolution and the wide use of mind altering drugs. An amoral mentality of freedom that believes anything goes.
Yes. You’re correct that insulting accusations are neither helpful to the person nor is it morally correct. I call it a moral derangement especially in regards to the prelates Cdl Hollerich, Cdl McElroy, priests given ranking appointments Fr James Martin Vat communications, Fr Radcliffe within the Synod who promote normalizing homosexuality, at least among consensual adults [it is a disorder or derangement of order]. That’s because it’s a disorder primarily of the will. Considering causality, whether it’s psychological, or perhaps due to physical impairment the Church is obliged to condemn the same sex act as immoral because it abrogates the natural law, although the attraction itself is not, likely because the person may not be entirely culpable, whereas in instances when it’s freely adopted it’s sinful.
If we study the phenomenon historically we find periods among cultures when the increase in the behavior burgeons. As it did among the Romans who initially disdained and condemned it as effeminate. The Apostle Paul addresses the sudden increase in practice among the Romans due to their disfavor with God regarding his existence evident in nature. As you suggest charity should be the rule, though there are scenarios in which perpetrators merit measured retribution.
Mortal sin can separate us all Mr. Morgan.
morganD: spare us the homosexual playbook lines. You’re castigating those who disapprove of unnatural acts because we just won’t submit to it the common zeitgeist.
Morgan D.,
Yes, “we need to lower the attack rhetoric.”
Unfortunately, the rhetoric is in reaction to the more radicalized homosexual faction and its aggression to redefine “marriage,” and then the capitulation of get-along-go-along corporate America and even the inventive rhetoric of the U.S. Supreme Court. Over a century ago Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. already signaled our modernday undermining of human civilization, in only a few decades:
“. . . I often doubt whether it would not be a gain if every word of moral significance could be banished from the law altogether. . . .” (Harvard Law Review, 1895). Earlier, he also had written: “I think that the sacredness of human life is a PURELY MUNICIPAL IDEA of no validity outside the jurisdiction” (cited in Mark de Wolfe, ed., The Pollock-Holmes Letters, 1874-1932, 1942, Vol. 2, p. 36, CAPS added).
Nearly one in six young adults 18 to 24 identifies as LGBT.
Grooming works. If this was some innate occurrence; it wouldn’t be increasing.
Grooming and gaining social credits both.
Back in the day everyone wanted to identify as an American Indian.
Yes indeed, a friend (with four children, the last of which is a recent public school escapee, er I mean graduate) spoke about how “identifying” as part of the alphabet groups results in special treatment; especially attractive at a time when one starts to crave external affirmation.
Thanks for adding my oversight.
If Martin were to publicly reveal a homosexual inclination would anybody be shocked?
Interesting how he’s used his Wharton MBA to make his disordered advocacy into cottage industry.
To “Rev.” Radcliffe, “Rev.” Martin and their ring-leader Pontiff Francis:
I have a dear friend in Christ who took your bad counsel as a young man, and lived the G and B lifestyle of your LGBTQ ideology. He left it and stopped listening to false men like you, and he told me the truth that this “gift” you are promoting is “Satanic,” and the people he encountered were openly and literally Satan worshippers. He suffers grievously with STDs and AIDS (thanks to your counsel), and knows he is dying, middle-aged, from the ravages of this lifestyle you encourage on the young.
He says this about your LGBTQ ideology: “It is insanity for adults to teach children and young people that it is OK for a man to inseminate another person’s intestines.”
Listen to him, and perhaps in turn, repent of your ideology if sexual sinfulness and the spirit of fornication and sodomy and death, and consider following Jesus instead.
I’m so very sorry, Chris. Truly, a voice in the wilderness.
Every now and then it is necessary simply to state that Everyone is welcome in Christ’s House – LGBTQ++ & whatever, but – it’s HIS house and HE makes the rules.”
Exactly. And those who choose not to live under His authority will be cast out of His presence, for all eternity. People should take sin seriously. God certainly does.
Yes. Define prominent.
If, by prominent, you mean showing up everywhere, Fr. Martin is certainly prominent today. Fr. Radcliffe may have been prominent at one time.
If one believes that God positively wills sinful desires, then one believes either that God wishes us ill, or that those desires aren’t actually sinful. Either way, one has departed from Catholic faith and teaching. One has become an Episcopalian or some other phony type which instrumentalizes Christ in the service of narcissism. If these priests believe some other sect has the truth, why do they not join join that sect and evangelize for it? It is due to their pride and their lusts.
There has been far too much dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight regarding these pathetic losers. No one who clings to, works to justify and promulgates grievous and disgusting sins of the flesh is, at the same time, in Christ. That is the root lie which all of these poor souls and, indeed, bergoglio himself have embraced. In their obstinacy, let them dance. Just don’t make the deadly mistake of cutting in.
Lukewarmness has no rights, but it often can illuminate that which is True, in this case, shedding light on the counterfeit church that has been attempting to subsist in The True Church Of Christ, which exists “Through, With, And In Christ, In The Unity Of The Holy Ghost (Filioque).
“I know your deeds…because you are lukewarm, I am about to spit you out of My mouth.” – Jesus The Christ.
Jesus promises that “those who overcome lukewarmness” and return to The Catholic Faith, will be Saved.
We can know through Faith and reason, that “spiritual ambivalence “, is not of The Holy Ghost.
“Penance, Penance, Penance.”
https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2021/02/penance-penance-penance-she-came-to.html
Under the radar was (and is) the U.S. retail ban on the movie “Kubi” by Takeshi Kitano (2023). The very violent but historical accurate movie of the rise of power of the samurai warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the 1500’s offends the LGBTQ community because of the real practice of the samurai involving homosexual acts to demonstrate fidelity and allegiance. Very much a learned, social norm, not of love, nor attraction but as a symbol of power of one man over another – like contemporary American prisons. If the Pope cannot see this is the return of paganism then we need to continue to pray for him and for the Holy Spirit to protect our church.
Pardon me while I nonchalantly vomit. Fr Martin is a disgrace.
I suspect that Our Lord will soon visit upon the Church and the world the well-deserved Sodom and Gomorrah treatment.
Enough about these lifestyle choices! The most important thing is to get to heaven. The English comedian Kenny Everett was a successful comic in the early 80s and was a baptised Catholic, but accepted the lifestyle choice forested by Radcliffe and Martin. He died, but not before his devoted sister pressed him to reconcile with the Church which he readily did and a Catholic priest spent a day helping him to go through his life. The priest said it was one of the most beautiful experiences of his life. THAT IT WHAT SHOULD BE SPOKEN ABOUT: THE Four LAST THINGS!! NOT CLIMATE, NOT ADAM AND STEVE BUT GETTING TO HEAVEN!!! HEAR THAT MARTIN, RADCLIFFE AND POPE FRANCIS??
Father Peter hit the nail on the head — “moral derangement.” I would add an accompanying pathology presently boldly on display at the Holy See — “theological derangement.”
Time to put the dogs back on the leash.
We are witnessing the deliberate deconstruction of Roman Catholicism from within by sociopaths who will lie to your face with a stole around their shoulders. Exhibit A: James Martin insisting that he is in conformity to the teaching of the Church. No, he is not, he is a liar, as are each of his enabling superiors and confreres in this subterfuge.
When are we going to start to say the truth to the faces of those who would deceive us? We are all sporting ecclesiastical Stockholm Syndrome.
The ‘online Synod ‘ here at CWR – good in its own way ..we are blessed in our times to be able to take in good surprises of our times including the approval of Medjugorje …the deeper awareness of the Divine Will revelations too , given through learned theologians such as below to add to aid in all these problems of our times which are interconnected , as often reminded by our Holy Father of the oneness in our wounds –
to trust that God is in the process of renewal of the earth -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP5TK5HhclQ&t=792s
Have listened to only a few of the talks; was good to hear in one such talk the words of Blessed Mother telling us to bring sorrows to her to respond – ‘ Love You Jesus and Mary in all our sorrows ‘- those words are like echoes of that of the Holy Father , that our oneness is in our wounds …we could trust that such occasions , persons involved in such , even generations can be brought to The Lord to say with each and all to transform pain of memories.. experiences ..of having had to leave little ones ..their pain ..pain and fear of rejection of all that likely underlie lot of the wounds around ..
The decision of the Holy Father to have a controversial figure – Fr.Chirodi as a consultant also can be seen in such a light of good intention , to help persons who feel rejected by The Church to have more trust that they too are being listened to …to help bring them to deeper ways of living in the Divine Will and its holiness as emphatically invoked by another good priest – Fr Celso – to seal holiness through intercession of Luisa and ministry of holy angels – all can join in such prayers for the Synodal occasion, all such occasions , elections..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT21uo8IzJ4
“The decision of the Holy Father to have a controversial figure – Fr.Chirodi as a consultant also can be seen in such a light of good intention, to help persons who feel rejected by The Church to have more trust that they too are being listened to.”
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and some leaders seem intent on leading lost people there. Do not make excuses for moral evil.
Please have the heart and mind of the Beloved and see with His eyes, thoughts and ways, Chiodi and his assignment is not to accomplish the Beloved’s Will but the ancient serpents…it it a work of darkness not the Beloved Light… may He bring His Good from every good and darkness
Brokeback Martin is a SJW pretending to be a priest. Any other Pope would have laicized him a long time ago and banished him to a remote monastery to pray for forgiveness.
Monasteries are not penal colonies. Best Mr. Martin go out into the world and earn his living with the insecurity and worry most of us shoulder and navigate by night some of the poisonous waters he encourages others to do. Maybe he would wake up and then come to a discernment in conformity to Christ.
Martin is the most tragic of figures. He requires our prayer, as do others who distort the the Gospel for their own consolation.
I’m getting the word … nonce!
Here we go again with the false linguistics about immoral homosexual. It is not a disorder but a preferred act like all sin. These two priest are using false language to justify homosexuality. This immoral sexuality like all immoral sexual acts art not “God-given” but are evil as is the words by Radcliffe and Martin.
Christ said that He would be with His Church until the end of time, and we have to rely on that no matter what traitors try to do to it. It is mind-boggling that in spite of everything, it is still vigorous in administering valid Sacraments (including confession) and preaching Jesus.
This bears repeating.
The explosion of vocations to the Dominicans in Ireland is phenomenal! Because they believe in the charism of their founder and they are orthodox and that is attracting so many young men and women who are tired of the fluidity that now stands for Catholic thought and belief. Radcliffe is a thankfully dying remnant to the hippy generation that offered nothing, to his vision that is poison to the vision of Dominic and Francis!