Posted on 10/02/2015 11:54:35 AM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 2, 20015 (LifeSiteNews) -- Hours after the Vatican distanced itself from embattled Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, CNN has reported Pope Francis met privately with a gay couple and their friends while in the U.S.
"Three weeks before the trip, he called me on the phone and said he would love to give me a hug," Yayo Grassi told CNN. Grassi was a student of Pope Francis' in the 1960s in Argentina.
In its statement this morning about the pope’s meeting with Kim Davis, the Vatican press office had said that Davis was just one of a large group of people with whom the pope had briefly met at the nunciature.
The press release added that "the only real audience granted by the Pope at the nunciature (embassy) was with one of his former students and his family."
Grassi says that former student was himself and his gay partner.
"That was me," Grassi said.
While Grassi says the pope has always known of Grassi's same-sex sexual attractions, Francis has not condemned the former student's sexuality or relationships. Grassi had previously met with the pope, along with Grassi's boyfriend Iwan, in Rome.
CNN reports that a video shows Pope Francis hugging both men and kissing them on the cheek.
"He has never been judgmental," Grassi said. "He has never said anything negative."
"Obviously he is the pastor of the church and he has to follow the church's teachings," Grassi noted. "But as a human being he understands all kinds of situations, and he is open to all kinds of people, including those with different sexual characteristics."
While Grassi says he is close to the pope, they have also had their disagreements about sexuality. In 2010, then-Cardinal Jorge Margio Bergoglio indicated that same-sex "marriage" is of Satan; Grassi wrote him an e-mail that said "You have been my guide, continuously moving my horizons—you have shaped the most progressive aspects of my worldview."
"And to hear this from you is so disappointing," wrote Grassi, who told CNN that the cardinal replied, saying he was sorry to have upset the former student, vowing that "homophobia" was not acceptable in the Catholic Church.
However, National Geographic Magazine, which first reported on the e-mail exchange added that the pope “did not disavow” what he had said about same-sex ‘marriage.’
Grassi also told CNN that he believes the pope was “misled” into meeting with Davis.
This is what the MSM should have published.
BTW, I meant the InsideTheVatican article. Also, I assume the Pope is cunningly wise.
OK, because the Vatican Hierarchy went queer, couldn't stand Pope Benedict and threw him out on his ass.
Now they have this faggot-loving baby-killer.
Doesn’t sound like something he’d say, without an explanation.
Yes, saying he regrets the meeting does not sound like this Pope. Wonder why the source didn’t want to be named.
Is he miraged?
Couldn’t be the “unnamed source” was lying, could it?
By who? Meeting with both would not be contradictory. The Pope is concerned with what is happening to marriage and the family, so meeting with Kim Davis would not be out of place. He also could meet with a former student without approving of his relationship.
I'm not going to level attacks on the current pope because I don't know what he believes. Right now I don't think anyone knows for sure what the pope believes outside of his closest circles. That is not good for anyone who cares about biblical truth, whether inside or outside of the Roman Catholic Church. Uncertain trumpets do not mobilize forces; on the contrary, they invite attack from enemies who are always probing for weaknesses and opportunities.
Whatever Pope Francis does or does not believe, he's permitting a perception not only to take root but also to blossom that says the Pope wants to be more loving and more gentle, not only to sinners who fail to obey church teaching but also to people who disagree with church teaching.
The first might or might not be a good thing. Pastoral wisdom requires telling the difference between a repentant sinner and an obstinate evildoer, and that is not always easy to know. The second — tolerating those who want to tear down the church from the inside — is always wrong.
As a Protestant, I know what I believe is the solution to such problems. That solution is not available to Roman Catholics.
If your church is what your church doctrine says it is, God will take care of the problem for you since no human authority exists which is able to do so.
All I can do as an outsider is to pray for Roman Catholics. Your church has, for at least two generations since the 1960s, been the strongest force in America fighting abortion, as well as fighting for traditional values in many other areas. In a lot of other parts of the world, the same has been true.
I will be very unhappy if that changes.
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