As it confronts perhaps the ultimate challenge to its credibility, the Catholic Church finds itself in full-fledged freefall.
Two American bishops publicly and strongly disagree about whether LGBTQ Catholics need to repent of their sexual behavior. One, the recently appointed cardinal of San Diego, argued for what he called “radical inclusion” without repentance. Another, a specialist in canon law, did more than disagree vigorously. He called his fellow prelate a heretic who should be relieved of his position.
Meanwhile, as his church burns, Pope Francis imitates that great Roman violinist, Nero.
San Diego Cardinal Robert McElroy, whom Francis promoted in August, called for “radical inclusion” of LGBTQ Catholics and removing “structures and cultures of exclusion” in a Jan. 24 article for America, the Jesuit magazine. Those “structures” include a doctrine demanding that anyone engaging in sexual sin becomes ineligible to receive Communion, which Catholics call the Eucharist, “without previous sacramental confession,” canon law states.
“The exclusion of men and women because of their marital status or their sexual orientation/activity is pre-eminently a pastoral question, not a doctrinal one,” wrote McElroy, who criticized “a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist. Unworthiness cannot be the prism of accompaniment for disciples of the God of grace and mercy.” (Emphasis in original)
For McElroy, neither repentance nor sexual behavior matter.
“The distinction between orientation and activity cannot be the principal focus,” he wrote, “because it inevitably suggests dividing the LBGT community into those who refrain from sexual activity and those who do not.”
In disregarding repentance for sexual sin, McElroy went even further.
“The effect of the tradition that all sexual acts outside of marriage constitute objectively grave sin has been to focus the Christian moral life disproportionately upon sexual activity,” he wrote. “The heart of Christian discipleship is a relationship with God the Father, Son and Spirit rooted in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church has a hierarchy of truths that flow from this…Sexual activity, while profound, does not lie at the heart of this hierarchy.”
McElroy, in perhaps his most passionate rhetoric, apparently views anything other than blind acceptance as hate.
“It is a demonic mystery of the human soul why so many men and women have a profound and visceral animus toward members of the LGBT communities,” he wrote. “The church’s primary witness in the face of this bigotry must be one of embrace rather than distance or condemnation.”
Compare McElroy’s views with the Catholic catechism:
“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. … Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
In the Bible, Leviticus listed homosexuality among other sexual behaviors considered “detestable.” Jesus defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Paul, a former Pharisee, described homosexual acts as “shameful” and practicing homosexuals as unable to “inherit the Kingdom of God.”
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. quoted the catechism in his rebuttal to McElroy, which appeared Feb. 28 in First Things magazine. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops recently elected Paprocki as chairman of its Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance.
” … it is contrary to a ‘truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith’ to reject or condemn ‘a theology of eucharistic coherence that multiplies barriers to the grace and gift of the eucharist,’ as if no such barriers existed,” Paprocki wrote in quoting McElroy’s article. “They do exist, and they are a matter of divine revelation.”
Paprocki also quoted several sections of canon law in asserting that “a cardinal of the Catholic Church, like any other Catholic who denies settled Catholic teaching, embraces heresy, the result of which is automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church,” he wrote.
Promoting heresy, Paprocki continued, would result in a cleric losing any offices, powers and privileges, and could even mean being defrocked if the problem is serious or long-standing. But Paprocki added a pivotal stipulation.
“Only the pope can remove a cardinal from office or dismiss him from the clerical state in the case of heresy or other grave crimes,” he wrote. “If he does not do so, the unseemly prospect arises of a cardinal, excommunicated … due to heresy, voting in a papal conclave.”
So what will Francis do? Probably nothing, which reflects his passive strategy to promote the LGBTQ agenda.
As FrontPage Magazine reported in December, Francis uses his rhetoric to defend historic teaching. He even called gender theory “ideological colonization” and supported the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s decision in 2021 not to allow German bishops to bless same-sex unions.
But the pope’s actions reveal apathy toward, if not support for, homosexual behavior and activism.
As FrontPage Magazine reported in the same article, Francis’ appointments reflect his attitude. One is Cardinal Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and the former president of the Pontifical Council on the Family. Before coming to Rome, Paglia commissioned and personally supervised work on a homoerotic painting for his cathedral. That painting featured a scene showing the semi-nude archbishop embracing a semi-nude male.
As president of the now-defunct Pontifical Council for the Family, Paglia in 2016 approved a sex-education program for teens that a Catholic psychiatrist called “the most dangerous threat to Catholic youth that I have seen over the past 40 years.”
Another appointment is the Rev. James Martin, America’s editor-at-large who serves as a communications advisor. Martin regularly uses his speaking engagements and media platforms to promote the LGBTQ agenda. For example, Martin told a gay man at Villanova University in 2017, “I hope in 10 years you will be able to kiss your partner (in church) or, you know, soon to be your husband. Why not? What’s the terrible thing?”
Two years later, Martin admitted on Twitter that the Bible “clearly condemns” homosexual sex. “The issue,” he continued, “is precisely whether the biblical judgement is correct.”
In 2021, Martin tweeted opposition to a pastoral letter condemning gender ideology from Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Va. In February 2022, Martin likewise responded to a legal opinion from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who stated that prescribing hormone blockers and sex-change surgeries for children constituted child abuse under state law. That March, Martin opposed a proposed Idaho law banning similar procedures on children.
Not only has Francis yet to discipline Martin. The pope invited him to the Vatican in November to discuss “the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties, of LGBTQ Catholics,” Martin tweeted. The time was “indeed punctuated with smiles and laughter, and after which I indeed felt elated,” he added.
So Francis’ subtle sabotage benefits McElroy, one of his most important allies. As FrontPage Magazine also reported, McElroy stated in a voting guide for California’s 2020 primary that the pope’s positions on immigration and the environment mattered more than the church’s historic opposition to abortion and contraception.
Two-and-a-half years later, Francis made McElroy a cardinal.
The crisis holds serious implications beyond theology. As FrontPage Magazine’s Christine Williams reported, a student at a Catholic high school in Canada was suspended for insisting that only two sexes exist. That student, Josh Alexander, led a student walkout in November to support girls who opposed having transgender boys use their restrooms. Alexander and the girls tried to convince Principal Derek Lennox to intervene but Lennox did nothing.
St. Joseph’s Catholic High School suspended Alexander after the walkout. When Alexander tried to return once his suspension ended, the school had him arrested for trespassing.
Alexander, who calls himself a “born-again Christian,” tried to get support from a local priest, who refused to talk with him.
“I’m kind of shocked at how little response there has been from the church,” Alexander said on a podcast. “I even phoned one of the local churches the other day, and the pastor just told me he didn’t want to speak to me. I can’t imagine a leader of a church telling a 16-year-old kid he wouldn’t even have a discussion with him.”
But another priest reached the breaking point when Francis publicly advocated ending anti-sodomy laws in interviews surrounding his February trip to Africa, and called upon bishops to lead that effort.
“It struck me that a lot of the Holy Father’s public comments revolve around this issue of homosexuality, as though that were the centerpiece of his ministry,” the Rev. Jason Charron said on video Feb. 8. “You don’t hear a whole lot of comments coming from him calling for the defense of persecuted Christians in, oh, I don’t know, places like China?”
Charron ended by posing a provocative question:
“Who do you belong to, Francis? Do you belong to Christ or do you belong to Sodom?”
************
BREAKING: Pope Francis showed his ultimate intent regarding the issue March 7 by appointing Jesuit Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg, to his circle of close advisors, the Council of Cardinals. Last year, Hollerich publicly rejected the church’s historic teaching on homosexuality in an interview with a German Catholic news service.
“I believe that this is wrong,” Hollerich said. “But I also believe that we are thinking ahead here in teaching. As the Pope has said in the past, this can lead to a doctrinal change. Because I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this doctrine is no longer correct. I believe that it is time for us to make a fundamental revision of doctrine.”
Leviticus? That’s Jewish stuff not applicable to non Jews
Leviticus 20:13 “’If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”
Jewish stuff? This applies to everyone.
Much as I abjure homosexual relations, putting someone to death for engaging in it is outrageous and unworthy of any society that values liberty.
Put it in context…. That was 3500 years ago.
That might be true, but you won’t be spared if you don’t repent and refrain from that behavior when you meet the Creator.
They tend to put themselves to death earlier than otherwise with their lifestyles.
Under Jewish law there have to be 2 eye witnesses to the act who must warn the perps of the punishment for their acts. Those accusers are then carefully cross examined. If they are found to be lying, they receive the same punishment as would have happened to their victims. No homosexuals were ever executed in Jewish history. The law serves as a warning and punishment comes after death.
Old Testament punishment is not what the New Testament requires. Jesus died for all of us and all of our sins. But we cannot condone our sin or try to impose the teaching of it on others. We are to acknowledge our sin, repent of it and ask forgiveness. The Catholic Church has absolutely lost its way when it denies the truth of the Bible and gives a lowly man, the Pope higher authority.
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I [Jesus] have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Non Jewish stuff would be Romans 21 as one example.
Wrong! The New Testament utterly condemns perversion, esp. homosexuality, but that is still besides the point … In fact, ALL atheist cultures in the world, both past and present, also condemn it … sorry! (officially atheist China bans religion, but you’ll never see a rainbow flag there in a thousand years, or in Cuba, Russia, etc., etc.) … You are clueless, ProudPagan …
You publically evince pride in your chosen lifestyle but in quiet moments your conscience condemns you. Your public pride is hubris.
It is not even applicable for Jews.
Ancient societies did not understand the biology of human sexuality and, therefore, sexual issues in the Torah that are not correct should be ignored.
There are other laws that should also be ignored due to the evolution of human moral understanding.
Judaism condones homosexuality, Mr. Levi?
Wow. A downvote for a respectful question.
Looks like some of the snowflakes got triggered. I guess when you can’t express an articulate response than just down vote. Lol
If what you say is true, then why don’t secular humanist (non-religious) societies endorse homosexuality, since they’re not bound by the Torah or the New Testament, or the Koran … ??? The USSR / China / Cuba etc. and many other societies have never and will never endorse human perversion, case closed, end of discussion! … And, obviously, they have no religious reason for condemning it, yet they do … Put that in your evolutionary pipe and smoke it! ‘Drag Queen Hour’ in Beijing? Forget it! Rainbow flags in Red Square? Don’t make me laugh!!!
Just fundamentally not true about China or Russia. Homosexuality is common in both places. Obviously in totalitarian China you won’t see public marches, but due to the dearth of marriageable women because of the one child policy and modern Chinese women wanting to live “best life” it is more common than heterosexuality there.
China’s population is rapidly declining. The sooner the better. Demographics is destiny.
I’d be cautious of celebrating too soon. The United States demographics may be similarly desperate soon enough. The population collapse is a worldwide catastrophe in slow motion.
An old family friend lives in China with his wife and kids. He has lived there for over 20 years. He says that 70% of young men there are homosexuals. It is such a large problem that the government is desperately trying to find a solution.
If the Bible isn’t good enough how about the CDC? Google “homosexuality and disease” on the CDC website and you’ll get an earfull of the diseases to which homosexuals are open because of their perverse practices. Anal sex destroys the sphincter which leads to loss of bowl control, rips intestinal membranes allowing pathogens and fecal matter to enter the blood stream. Fisting does the same. Oral-anal contact allows feces to enter through the mouth. HIV, genital warts, hepatitis, STDs which are growing antibiotic resistant are all proof that homosexuality is anything but normal, or safe.
I know you don’t believe it, but the Torah is the word of the Creator. Everything in it is true and correct. and is exactly (every letter and space) as it was when it was given to Moshe at Mt. Sinai 3,300 years ago. Lesbianism is not condemned in the Torah- only male ho9mosexuality. I’d take what Hashem commanded over any weak opinion of yours any day.
I guess that they really mean is ” Many are called, but few get colon……”
None of these alphabet people actually want to join the church, they just want to damage it.
Just like the cake baker, they don’t want him to bake a cake for them they want to destroy him.
Stop pandering to perverts.
Paul warned that in the end times many will not endure sound doctrine.
Is the Pope going to start wearing a rainbow beanie?….
That will certainly make homosexuality special. Front and center.
The fancy clothes preachers wear must cost a bundle. I can perfectly picture Joel Osteen as Tony Manero cutting up the dance floor in “Saturday Night Fever”.
Creflo Dollar would make a great “John Shaft”.
Why do Christians follow these “Gorgeous Georges” and hand over their hard earned money to these vain peacocks living in mansions and flying in private jets? Yeh, like Jesus would approve.
This is what happens when you have Leftist’s, homosexuals and pedophiles that have been allowed to enter the priesthood. This has nothing to do with the Catholic Church and everything to do with man. It’s not just the Catholic Church. All denominations of Christianity have been introduced to Leftist clergy who want to twist and reinterpret the Bible to suit their own needs.
Never should have legalized perversion. Bible says that he who condones it, is also guilty of the sin and liable to the punishment for it. Look at the US and the liberal churches if you don’t believe it.
Who said those that condone that behavior aren’t responsible? Certainly those people won’t be held to account as much as those who participate in homosexual behavior.
Same with abortion. Those who enable it and condone it will have to answer for it in the afterlife.
AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN PRELATE SAID OF CATHOLICS IN TORMENT,,,,,YOU ARE OF THE RIGHT FAITH,,,,,BUT IN THE WRONG CHURCH
Orthodoxy sees the Church as a their denomination. All the rest are gently referred to as “heterodox,” which is an erudite and polite word for heretical.
Protestant Christianity sees the Church as the body of Christ, composed of all believers past, present and future. It is invisible, but found in every place and all over the world – even in Catholic and Orthodox churches. Every human heart that is renewed by God in Christ is part of the Church.
satanic catholicism is not a church… it never has been one…
The Poop is not Christ on earth… Christ Jesus doesn’t make mistakes… and that’s all Poops do!
Homosexuality is a learned behavior… a sexual deviancy… people are NOT born gay!
Denounce the satanic catholic fake church!!!
The Catholic Church is hollow until the “leaders” that raise leftist ideology above Church teaching are purged.
Huge sums of money from the U.S. taxpayer have hastened the demise of Catholics and many other Christian denominations:
THAT is the real scandal of the Church: its aggression promotion of illegal immigration to America from the Third World. It is both illegal and immoral.
Immoral by what standard of morality? Jesus said love your neighbor as you love yourself, turn the other cheek, love your enemy. Holy Scripture says you are your brother’s keeper. the meek shall inherit the earth, etc.
By the standard of altruism and self-sacrifice open borders is moral.
I’m not a biblical scholar but I don’t believe Christ said break laws to achieve brotherly love, then hide in an apostate church to cover your sins.
This is the problem with you: you falsely equate altruism with Christiianity. Christian faith is so much more than small minds like yours could ever hope to understand.
Christians on the Left are fully convinced that open borders is the Christian thing to do. If you ask the Christians on the Left “What would Jesus do?” The Christians on the Left will tell you “Jesus would sacrifice everything for the poor and the needy and that’s what we are doing”.
Until it’s in their own neighborhood or backyard and not in a government subsidized ghetto far from the gated, walled, well manicured ivory towers they call home.
“Christians on the left”? This is an oxymoronic phrase. This is yet another lame attempt to equate and conflate altruism and Christian doctrine. It’s really tiresome and boring especially since you so obviously were never in any sense “catechised” or instructed. We have a lot of really big trouble right now from a common enemy. You would think Randians would cease fore on Christians but nobody…
This is the problem: you falsely equate and conflate altruism with Christiianity. And nothing else. It’s boring and a distraction from the struggle against the leftists, those we call Satanists.
So even Christians are on the Left destroying America — what’s the solution? How do you convince the Jews, Christians, and atheists on the Left that Leftism is wrong and evil?
If Judeo-Christianity really endorses and defends Capitalism why are there so many Judeo-Christians on the Left fighting for Collectivism?
What can be done to at least bring your fellow Jews and Christians on the Left to the Right?
I would argue they aren’t very Christian by their own behaviors
And the Christians on the Left would argue the same about you, so who’s correct, the Christians on the Left, or the Christians on the Right?
Obviously, I would argue that I am correct theologically and ontologically. They are Marxists in Christian garb not Christians with Marxist politics. Charity towards the poor has very little to do with being a sovereign nation state.
So, “Christians on the left” is your new phrase that you hide your religious bigotry behind.
Not even remotely clever.
I wonder if it has occurred to you that progressive “Christians” are not really Christians at all just as American Leftist Jews are not really Jews. Since you always whine about your belief that nobody really practices their religion anymore the real “religion” is more akin to humanism and progressivism.
But as long as you can get in some barb I guess any phrase will work for you.
What you really did today was write a series of posts promoting Leftism, which I always knew you were.
There are no “Christians on the left”!
The Bible MULTIPLE times calls it an “ABOMINATION,” and Paul, in the N.T. tells us that the practitioners of the GLBTQ agenda “SHALL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!”
Jesus Christ did not come for the righteous, but to seek and save sinners. Only the sick have need of the Physician. Mark 2:16. Homosexuals definitely qualify! There is no barrier to them or anyone else!
And there is NO ONE who does not sin. ALL have sinned and fallen short of the grace of God. Gen. 8:21; 1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20;Romans 3:9,23.
What do we bring to the Eucharist / Communion table? Righteousness? NO! We bring ourselves — souls and bodies, confessing our sin and therefore our need of repentance and cleansing. Homosexuals are not excepted.
Homosexuality is not a special sin exempted from the law of God. It is disordered, yes, but it is not beyond the healing grace of God. Saint Paul ENCOURAGES homosexuals specifically in 2 Corinthians 6: 9 “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And THAT IS WHAT SOME OF YOU WERE. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Eucharist / communion is for sinners. It is for all who believe and confess their need for repentance and healing.
The myth that all sins are equal is born out of ignorance of the Bible.Homosexuality is used by Scripture repeatedly to demonstrate the depths of human depravity.Homosexuality is a more horrendous sin because it is a more obvious sin. If you want to know how much God hates a particular sin, look at the punishment ascribed to it in the Mosaic Covenant.
“If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them”. – Leviticus 20:13
And, some punishments are worse than others. Even Jesus verified this, when he said that some would face “harsher judgment” (Matthew 23:14)
Homosexuality, bestiality, child sacrifice. All fundamentally disordered.
Jesus forgives, then He says, “Go and sin no more.”
Pope Francis is the Trojan Horse which will fully destroy the Catholic Church.
That is likely to be the case. If it hasn’t already become hidden, it certainly seems imminent.
https://twitter.com/officialJosh_A/header_photo
When I saw this young man on Twitter wearing a Trump-like Red Ball Camp with “Save Canada”, I was far less sympathetic to his treatment in the classroom and at his School.. Reminded me of the incident in the States where students wearing MAGA caps taunt Native American elders. Forget how that turned out,though there were a few turns. Just sayin’.
Save CAnada has nothing to do with Trump
The Indian was taunting the kid, the kid behaved impeccably.
You sure have not kept up with the Truth. The kid wearing the MAGA has was not taunting the native American elders. It was exactly the opposite from that narrative which the media was pushing. In fact the kid received huge settlements from the media outlets that flat out lied. As usual the MSM was pushing a narrative and hiding the truth. So the kid in Canada has no free speech rights to wear a hat of his choosing? Oh I suppose you think free speech is only for those “open minded” leftists and we need to shut down free speech for everyone else.
Repent or know outer darkness is your reward for sin no matter what you say
or think, hell is forever and life is short, so do not delay cleaning up your
sinful acts. Turn to Jesus for forgiveness and be reborn.
Ron Grant: Maga taunting native?
Does someone read for you? Perhaps censoring inconvenient truths? Who was taunting who?
Incredible suspension of disbelief. Hopeless…sad.
As for the pissant occupying the Papacy….Antichrist? Anyone, anyone?
As I said,the incident took a number of turns,including some Black Jews who were observed to taunt the Catholic boys.
My Pope is a Pope for our times,and times change,mostly for the better,but sometimes for the worse. Like War,I guess.. And,of course,you can’t please everyone..I still miss the Latin Mass.Tradition can be a blessing.
Prophecy says that this will be the last POPE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH he will bring this ancient religion and church to it’s end
A dear friend, who toured Eastern Europe this past June, told me one of the delights of his time spent there was the complete absence of rainbow flags and no apparent lewd “pride” parades.
Sure,I can understand that.One might say the same about walking down a street,or in your neighborhood, and not seeing any Blacks,or Muslims, Jews,or even homeless and mentally ill.Doesn’t mean they’re not present in society,just out of sight. Out of sight,out of mind,a denial of sorts,a prejudice,a failing,festering.As much our problem as theirs. Just sayin’.