Posted on 11/29/2008 11:46:09 AM PST by presidio9
Roman Catholic priests have been banned from using 'heterosexist' language in their churches in case they offend gay worshippers. They have been told by their bishops not to assume that every churchgoer is a heterosexual and to reflect this 'in language and conversation'. 'Remember that homophobic jokes and asides can be cruel and hurtful - a careless word can mean another experience of rejection and pain,' say the bishops in a leaflet advising priests and worshippers how to be more welcoming to gay people.
Priests are also encouraged to put up posters advertising 'support services' for homosexuals, a move bound to infuriate many Catholics who believe gay sexual activity to be sinful. The advice was welcomed by gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell as a 'positive initiative which will bring great comfort to gay Catholics and their families'.
-SNIP-
However, he said the 'laudable change of tone' was undermined by the 'homophobic content of the Catholic Catechism' and by Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to gay marriage.
The advice was criticised by Lynette Burrows, a Catholic commentator, as 'pitiful'.
She said it was ridiculous that Church leaders appeared to be ' grovelling' to a secular agenda.
'It is things like this that are enfeebling the Church at the moment - the concentration on things that don't matter and missing the things that do,' she said.
'What is pitiful as well as demeaning is that the Church is running after homosexual opinion but nothing is going to make homosexuals like the Catholic Church.
'This is because the Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is a disorder and whatever the bishops say will not change that.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Sodomy is mortally sinful. Period. The person who deliberately engages in such conduct and dies unrepentant will go to hell for all eternity.
That’s all that needs to be said by a priest from the pulpit.
That would make an excellent tagline! If you don’t want to use it, may I borrow it?
The British have managed to destroy the Anglican Church and now they are working on the Catholic Church. No small wonder the British have been abandoning the pews on Sunday. They could get more lessons in morality in the pubs.
Errr.. that includes the Almighty too. They want the line item veto applied to the Bible... Strike out the Leviticus 18:22 verse reference in the revised Modern Gay translation.
The Catholic bishops in the UK have been wusses on a lot of things recently. This is only the latest.
I would approach this report with caution. As I think the Daily Mail is comparable to the National Enquirer.
Also if the letter is addressing how to treat people with same sex attraction who want to remain faithful to the teachings of the Church and remain celibate and chaste I think it is good to remind people not to speak thoughtlessly. If however it is an appeal to accept homosexual behavior and not to speak honestly about it being a sin than the Bishops are in serious error and need to be sent to the woodshed ASAP.
This whole issue is a giant red herring to get the bishops off the hook. They're just plain scared to be real bishops and protect their flock from the ravening wolves.
They'll know what it means to be really scared when they finally give an accounting to God for their negligence.
For one thing, it apparently is quoting some document or directive circulating under the authority of "the bishops," but it does not name or identify the document, tell when it was published, how and to whom it was distributed, or even specify which bishops, if any, were the actual authors.
The article implies that the statement might have come from the national bishops' conference, but the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has no mention of it on their website. Hmm.
Were these guidelines about "not using demeaning language" part of a larger context which included complete and clear teaching of the moral doctrines of the Church and pastoral help for those struggling eith sexual disorders? Yes? No? You don't know from this article.
My own suspicion is that this is merely an information-thin but innuendo-laden hit piece, altogether too common in Birtish journalism.
Can anyone offer evidence to the contrary?
Sorry .... that will NEVER change.
Huh? Nothing in Catholic Church teaching has changed. We welcome gay members as fellow Catholics. By "services" provided, the Church ensures that gays are properly taught that they must abandon an active homosexual lifestyle. As for empty pews, the current generation already sees these but not as a result of homosexuals.
A. 1. No. The Catholic Church does not condemn homosexuals. In fact, the teaching of the Catholic Church found in the Catechism states that:
"The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition." (C.C.C. # 2358)
Q. 2. Why then is my friend who lives in a homosexual relationship denied the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist? Is this not condemnation?
A. 2. The Catholic Church does not condemn homosexuals. It condemns homosexuality.
"Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, [Cf. Gen 19:1-29; Rom 124-27; 1 Cor 6:10; 1 Tim 1:10] tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." [CDF, Persona humana 8] They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. [See C.C.C. # 2333] (C.C.C. # 2357)
Hey Presido look like Church of England has empty pews because of this
Church needs the money folks.
Come on now. they’ve lots of bills to pay. What with all the pedophilia charges and all. Can’t afford to alienate another group of people. Even the sick immoral pervert ones
I can not believe this at all. Tell me it ain’t so.
if that’s so, that “...under no circumstances...” can such acts/behavior be approved, then what would the Holy See do regarding the British bishops’ directives to the priests?
Thanks for the references from the Catechism. This helps explain things better.
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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment
Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”
This article represents a perfect example of some forgetting the teachings of Christ to find favor of moral relativism.
There was a homosexual male ‘couple’ in my brother-in-law’s old Parish who left and went to a different Parish, because my b-i-l didn’t hold back on the teachings of the Church regarding sexual sins; ALL of them.
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