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Chris Christie ties his shift on gay marriage to Vatican ruling on same-sex blessings
Catholic News Agency ^
| December 29, 2023
| Joe Bukuras
Posted on 12/30/2023 3:17:37 PM PST by ebb tide
Chris Christie ties his shift on gay marriage to Vatican ruling on same-sex blessings
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, once an opponent of same-sex marriage, said Thursday his views on the matter have shifted, citing the Vatican’s recent document on same-sex blessings as evidence that “even the Church is changing.”
“And so you know for me, it’s still, it was a process I had to go through to change the way I’ve been raised both from a family perspective and what my mother and father taught me and felt and also from a religious perspective and … what my Church taught me to believe,” Christie said at a town hall event in Epping, New Hampshire.
The former New Jersey governor continued: “[T]his past week or two Pope Francis is now allowing blessings of same-sex couples; even the Church is changing.”
Christie, who identifies as Catholic, said: “Society has changed and what people are accepting in our country now is different than when I was growing up, certainly than when I was your age. And you know I don’t have any objection to it any longer. In the end, I think I’ve been convinced.”
Christie was the governor of New Jersey from January 2010 to January 2018. When running for governor in 2009, he supported civil unions in New Jersey but said he would veto any bill legalizing gay marriage.
In 2013, Christie spoke out against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman. He called the ruling “a bad decision” and an example of “judicial supremacy.”
In 2015 he said that he thought legalizing gay marriage should be decided by individual states, according to the New York Times.
Christie’s comments regarding Pope Francis and same-sex blessings are a reference to Fiducia Supplicans, a document from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published Dec. 18.
That declaration on Church doctrine said that “blessings are among the most widespread and evolving sacramentals” and that it is possible to give “blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.”
The declaration clearly states that the Church’s teaching on marriage between one man and one woman has not changed and emphasizes that such blessings should “never” occur within the ceremony of a civil union “and not even in connection with them” to avoid confusion or scandal.
The document has caused division among bishops across the world, with some criticizing the document and others welcoming it.
The former leader of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, said that any priest blessing a homosexual union would be committing a “sacrilegious and blasphemous act against the Creator’s plan and against Christ’s death for us.”
“Blessing a reality that is contrary to creation is not only impossible, it is blasphemy,” he said.
Catholic bishops’ conferences and bishops in Kazakhstan, Malawi, and Zambia are refusing to implement Fiducia Supplicans in their dioceses.
The head of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said he is “grateful for the pastoral perspective [the declaration] takes,” which “points to the pastoral importance of a blessing that cannot be refused upon personal request.”
Christie is currently polling at 9% nationally in the Republican primary race, far behind the front-runner, former President Donald Trump, who is at 51% in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll.
Christie has been doing the best in the early primary state of New Hampshire, where he has been polling around 10%, still far behind Trump and behind Nikki Haley.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: apostatepope; christie; closetdemocrat; frankenchurch; homos
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1
posted on
12/30/2023 3:17:37 PM PST
by
ebb tide
To: ebb tide
What’s wrong with that guy?
Too many Cheese-Its.
2
posted on
12/30/2023 3:19:14 PM PST
by
Jim W N
(MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
To: Al Hitan; Fedora; irishjuggler; Jaded; kalee; markomalley; miele man; Mrs. Don-o; ...
3
posted on
12/30/2023 3:19:31 PM PST
by
ebb tide
(Fiducia Supplicans is an instruction to bless sin.)
To: ebb tide
Does this change anyone’s opinion of Chris Christie, to learn that he now is in favor of homosexual marriage?
This is now going to be a campaign issue of his, that he’s coming out for same-sex marriage?
To: ebb tide
The church may change, but God never does. Homosexuality is an abomination to God.
To: ebb tide
He’s gross.
So is the Vatican.
Miss JPII much and the some.
6
posted on
12/30/2023 3:23:21 PM PST
by
lizma2
To: ebb tide
The Church - Helping or hurting the Kingdom of God?
7
posted on
12/30/2023 3:23:38 PM PST
by
super7man
(Madam Defarge, knitting, knitting, always knitting.)
To: ebb tide
My non denominational Christian church has many MANY members that “used to be” catholic.....just sayin’ 🤷
8
posted on
12/30/2023 3:25:08 PM PST
by
V_TWIN
(America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
To: ebb tide
I look forward to a day when there is not a single new FR post about what Christie thinks. Oh well, at least John McCain is keeping pretty quite these days.
9
posted on
12/30/2023 3:26:04 PM PST
by
TBall
To: ebb tide
Why does anyone care what Christie the Hutt says or thinks?
10
posted on
12/30/2023 3:26:11 PM PST
by
Dr. Franklin
("A republic, if you can keep it." )
To: Heartlander2
The Church will pay dearly for going against God’s Law.
11
posted on
12/30/2023 3:26:50 PM PST
by
chopperk
To: ebb tide
Sounds like Chrissy has gone from donuts over to hot dogs.
12
posted on
12/30/2023 3:27:44 PM PST
by
FlingWingFlyer
(America!Biden has turned what was one of the greatest documentaries into a one season retard sitcom.)
To: ebb tide
Another spineless “catholic” .....He should not feel too proud . I am a “free lance” catholic
13
posted on
12/30/2023 3:29:54 PM PST
by
Ulysse
To: ebb tide
14
posted on
12/30/2023 3:44:21 PM PST
by
beethovenfan
(The REAL Great Reset will be when Jesus returns. )
To: Jim W N
To: ebb tide
Sure. The Pope provided cover. Never was a fan but I hope others are seeing the evil.
16
posted on
12/30/2023 3:46:19 PM PST
by
Persevero
(You cannot comply your way out of tyranny. )
To: ridesthemiles
Well, take away his Cheese-Its and see what happens. That might be a good start.
17
posted on
12/30/2023 3:46:51 PM PST
by
Jim W N
(MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
To: ebb tide
Cristie is also the first governor to ban conversion therapy. That’s when I knew he wasn’t conservative.
18
posted on
12/30/2023 4:01:01 PM PST
by
Ge0ffrey
To: ebb tide
New Jersey, where all the politicians are corrupt
19
posted on
12/30/2023 4:04:24 PM PST
by
Fai Mao
(Strarve the Beast and steal its food.)
To: Heartlander2
20
posted on
12/30/2023 4:23:51 PM PST
by
No name given
(Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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