Seems like there’s a fight for the very soul of the RCC. Some Catholics (like this one in the link below)
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thinktank/Catholic-voice-speaks-out-for-same-sex-marriage.html
think it’s about “love”. Others, like you think otherwise.
This is a broken record:
But he was pretty clear in that statement IMO.
Vatican reporter John Allen gives this transcript of the Popes remarks:
"Concerning Monsignor Ricca, how will you address this issue and how does His Holiness intend to address the whole issue of the "gay lobby"?
The Ricca CaseI did what canon law requires, which is to conduct a preliminary investigation. We didnt find anything to confirm the things he was accused of, there was nothing
"Id like to add that many times we seem to seek out the sins of somebodys youth and publish them. (Were not talking about crimes, which are something else. The abuse of minors, for instance, is a crime.) But one can sin and then convert, and the Lord both forgives and forgets. We dont have the right to refuse to forget its dangerous. The theology of sin is important. St. Peter committed one of the greatest sins, denying Christ, and yet they made him pope! Think about that....
When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have good will, who am I to judge them? They shouldnt be marginalized. The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem theyre our brothers.
So Pope Francis was talking about this one particular man, Msgr. Ricca, and said he had been investigated and they found nothing to indicate that he'd been an active homosexual.
Then he generalized his remarks to say that if such men had sinned in their youth, if they now "accept the Lord and have good will, who am I to judge them?" The emphasis here is on men who have, in good will and good faith, turned to the Lord, they should not be judged for a sin in the past, before they turned to the Lord.
Note that he didn't say "we accept gay actions, or conduct, or behavior." He said we accept a man as a brother if he has turned to the Lord.
Almost no media outlet that quoted that five word phrase ("Who am I to judge?") quoted even one word of the rest of the interview, which explained that he was NOT justifying the vice of sodomy.
As FReepers, we should be savvy enough to be skeptical of the EneMedia.