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The Salvation Of Sodom [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]
The American Conservative ^ | July 31, 2016 | Rod Dreher

Posted on 07/31/2016 3:41:16 PM PDT by ebb tide

Ever heard of Bishop Nunzio Galantino? Crux’s John Allen reported on him back in May. Excerpts:

If you’re seeking the prototypical “Pope Francis bishop,” you need look no further than Nunzio Galantino.

Francis overlooked all 500 Italian bishops to pluck Galantino out of obscurity and name him head of all Italian bishops. Galantino, appointed by Benedict XVI in 2011, was very last of all the bishops in a poll of the Italian episcopate requesting their input in who should govern them — yet Francis went to the back of the line to elevate him. Why? Allen writes:

What did Francis see that he liked?

Well, probably for one thing the fact that when Galantino was named a bishop in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI, he asked that whatever money people would have spent buying him gifts for the occasion be used instead to serve the poor.

For others, Galantino opted to live at the diocesan seminary rather than the bishop’s palace in Cassano all’Jonio, he didn’t want either a secretary or a chauffeur, and he asked people to call him “Don Nunzio” rather than “His Excellency.”

In other words, he was the “Pope Francis of Calabria” before Francis was even elected.

Since Galantino stepped onto the national stage, he’s stirred the waters repeatedly.

In May 2014, he riled conservatives by saying, “My wish for the Italian Church is that it is able to listen without any taboo to the arguments in favor of married priests, the Eucharist for the divorced, and homosexuality.”

Prior to the pope’s first Synod of Bishops on the family, Galantino appeared to align himself with progressives seeking to open the door to Communion for the divorced and remarried, saying, “The burden of exclusion from the sacraments is an unjustified price to pay, in addition to de facto discrimination.”

Galantino irritated cultural conservatives again in June 2015 by appearing to throw cold water on a lay-organized rally called “Family Day,” staged to protest a draft civil unions law.

Allen concluded his report with these lines:

Nevertheless, there’s no doubt on one point: Without Pope Francis, few people outside of southern Italy probably ever would have heard or seen Bishop Nunzio Galantino, while today he’s become one of the most consequential Catholic prelates in the world.

In that sense, to find the “Francis effect” in action, he’s about as clear an example as we’ll ever get.

Got that. OK.

At World Youth Day, Bishop Galantino gave a homily to Italian youth present, in which he taught that God saved Sodom from destruction. Here’s a link to the homily in Italian. Reader Giuseppe Scalas has translated the key passage:

“The intense dialogue between God and Abraham in the first reading tell us about prayer. And it’s about prayer that Jesus is asked in the Gospel. A prayer which is not an escape from troubles and responsibility, but a live experience made of listening and answering, through which God creates an authentic relationship and pushes us to be daring. As daring as Abraham’s intercession prayer in favor of Sodom. A city upon which nobody would have bet a dime. His intercession prayer and his will to dare save Sodom. The city is saved because some righteous ones are there, even though a few of them. But the city is saved above all because Abraham, a man of prayer, is not a relentless accuser, he doesn’t speak against but in favor. Abraham, man of prayer, doesn’t point to the misdeeds, but he announces the possibility for something new. Abraham, man of prayer, announces and invites to look at the positive possibilities. Abraham, man of prayer, is a tireless searcher for sign of hopes to present to the Lord for Him to give them value.”

Bishop Galantino is talking about the dialogue between God and Abraham recorded in Genesis 18. God was planning to destroy Sodom for its wickedness, but Abraham pleaded with God to spare the city. God agreed that if ten good men could be found there, he would spare Sodom.

Had the story ended there, Bishop Galantino might have had a point. But in Genesis 19, two angels enter the city, and Lot has to barricade them in his house because men from all over Sodom, both young and old, surrounded it and demanded that Lot turn them over to be raped. The angels order Lot and his family to leave the city, because they are going to destroy it on God’s orders. And that’s what happens. The clear implication is that there were not even ten righteous men in Sodom, aside from Lot’s family. Sodom was not saved, as Bishop Galentino lied preached, but was in fact destroyed. Abraham may well have been a “tireless searcher for signs of hope” in Sodom, but the Biblical story makes it clear that there were none to be found. God was willing to extend mercy to the city were there any righteousness in it at all, but aside from Lot and his family, there was none.

Giuseppe comments:

I’m by no means challenged in my Catholic faith, but It’s becoming harder and harder to put up with this hierarchy, whose main care seems to spread confusion among the faithful.

The Francis effect in action, I guess.


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: francisbishop; francischurch; galantino; sodom
In May 2014, he [Galantino] riled conservatives by saying, “My wish for the Italian Church is that it is able to listen without any taboo to the arguments in favor of married priests, the Eucharist for the divorced, and homosexuality.”

Prior to the pope’s first Synod of Bishops on the family, Galantino appeared to align himself with progressives seeking to open the door to Communion for the divorced and remarried, saying, “The burden of exclusion from the sacraments is an unjustified price to pay, in addition to de facto discrimination.”

1 posted on 07/31/2016 3:41:16 PM PDT by ebb tide
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To: ebb tide

The Pope’s intention-— and that of his allies -— seems to be, not to define doctrine, but to render it indeterminate.


2 posted on 07/31/2016 3:50:34 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (Lord have mercy (50x))
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To: ebb tide
Francis overlooked all 500 Italian bishops to pluck Galantino out of obscurity and name him head of all Italian bishops.

No surprise there. He generally favors creepy old girly-men who lie about Scripture and Tradition. Galantino certainly fits the bill.

3 posted on 07/31/2016 3:58:42 PM PDT by BlatherNaut
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Looks like the Alta Vendita has finally got their man in this pope. “It is corruption en masse that we have undertaken; the corruption of the people by the clergy, the corruption of the clergy by ourselves; the corruption which ought, one day, to enable us to put the Church in her tomb.”


4 posted on 07/31/2016 4:12:04 PM PDT by cradle of freedom
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To: BlatherNaut

They always promote their own to positions of power. That is how they take over.


5 posted on 07/31/2016 4:15:30 PM PDT by cradle of freedom
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To: cradle of freedom

The mass importation of Muslims into Europe and this Pope’s approval of it has the appearance of an attempt to destroy Christianity in Europe.


6 posted on 07/31/2016 4:17:25 PM PDT by cradle of freedom
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To: ebb tide

By coincidence, I have just started reading “Christendom Destroyed: Europe 1517-1648” by Mark Greengrass.


7 posted on 07/31/2016 4:23:22 PM PDT by NRx (A man of integrity passes his father's civilization to his son, without selling it off to strangers.)
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To: cradle of freedom
Looks like the Alta Vendita has finally got their man in this pope.

Note that cross he wears, with the figure in the "osiris position" and that creepy logo with the bulging third eye (from his American tour).

8 posted on 07/31/2016 4:36:40 PM PDT by BlatherNaut
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To: ebb tide
My wish for the Italian Church is that it is able to listen without any taboo to the arguments in favor of married priests, the Eucharist for the divorced, and homosexuality.”

Yep....there it is again. It always seems to find its way in there. It's tacked on to the very end of that sentence but homosexuality is the issue here. It was the same at the two recent Synods on the family. Much was written about the question of Communion for the divorced and remarried but inserted into the discussion, especially in the interim relatio of the 2014 Extraordinary Synod was a passage about seeing the "positive aspects" of homosexual relationships.

No normal, heterosexual male has this obsession with pushing the homosexual agenda. Many passively acquiesce to it but this relentless pushing of the pro-homosexuality position within the Church has its origin with the lavender boys.

Attempting to re-invent the story of Sodom sends my Gaydar to red alert!

9 posted on 07/31/2016 4:38:43 PM PDT by marshmallow
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To: ebb tide

“He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, making them an example to those afterward who would live ungodly lives...”

(2 Peter 2:6)


10 posted on 07/31/2016 4:42:39 PM PDT by Cedar
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To: marshmallow

And then there’s this: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-surrenders-to-sexual-revolution-with-release-of-sex-ed-program-life


11 posted on 07/31/2016 4:46:50 PM PDT by Shethink13
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To: marshmallow
Attempting to re-invent the story of Sodom sends my Gaydar to red alert!

Goebbels Galantino. Apparently he assumes that no one in his audience will bother to crack open a bible and detect his Big Lie.

12 posted on 07/31/2016 4:50:01 PM PDT by BlatherNaut
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To: ebb tide

If Bergoglio and Galantino are upset with the “unjustified” price of exclusion from the sacraments, just wait until they experience eternal damnation!


13 posted on 07/31/2016 5:30:06 PM PDT by BlackElk (Dean of Discipline Tomas de Torquemada Gentlemen's Society: Rack 'em Danno!)
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To: marshmallow
Galantino, appointed by Benedict XVI in 2011

An important fact. Another reminder that this isn't just about (nor start with) Francis.

14 posted on 08/01/2016 4:57:05 AM PDT by piusv (The Spirit of Christ hasn't refrained from using separated churches as means of salvation:VII heresy)
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To: BlatherNaut

Have you looked up the Alta Vendita? Very interesting group—a secret society of the 19th century.


15 posted on 08/01/2016 8:23:41 PM PDT by cradle of freedom
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