Posted on 07/29/2013 7:07:04 AM PDT by IbJensen
Pope Francis on Monday said “who am I to judge?” gay people as he discussed one of the most divisive issues affecting the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis, who gave a press conference on his flight back from Brazil, said he had stayed away from the gay marriage debate on his trip because he wanted to stay positive.
“I have yet to find anyone who has a business card that says he is gay,” the pontiff said at a press conference in which he addressed the reports of a "gay lobby" within the Vatican.
“They say they exist. If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” he added. "The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says they should not be marginalized because of this (orientation) but that they must be integrated into society."
Francis added that he thought lobbies of any kind -- including political ones -- were bad.
"The problem is not having this orientation. We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem," he said.
The press conference, which lasted for an hour and 20 minutes, was held during the flight back from his week-long trip to Brazil.
The official position of the Catholic Church on the issue is that while homosexual desires or attractions are not in themselves sinful, the physical acts are.
All priests take a vow of celibacy when they become members of the clergy.
The pontiff went to Brazil on his first visit overseas since he was elected in March.
The Pope said he had stayed away from the issue of gay marriage and also abortion on his week-long trip to Brazil because he wanted to stay positive.
Francis discussed a range of issues during the press conference, admitting that the church had not done enough to develop “the theology of women in the church.”
He said that the church had spoken on the issue of women priests and expressed itself clearly on the issue of abortion, but he added that important female biblical figures had been overlooked.
"Mary is more important than the apostles," he said. "One must think about women in the church. We have not done enough theology on this."
History's first Latin American pope said he was "pretty tired" but with a happy heart after his first overseas trip.
He said he was amazed at the number of people who turned out to see him in Brazil, especially the three million who jammed Copacabana Beach for Sunday's Mass.
He added that he was unconcerned by the tumultuous start to the trip that included the discovery of a bomb at a shrine he visited and the mob scene that took place when his driver inadvertently made wrong turn.
"There's always the danger of a crazy person, but there is also the Lord," he said. "This being close is good for everyone."
Well, I certainly believe in looking for the common factor in Christendom of putting personal trust in a personal Christ for a personal salvation, while also being salt and light to the outside world and hopefully a “gospel bait.” If there are practices that interfere with this, maybe those practices need to be revisited. But I’ve seen a whale of a lot of mud thrown between Christian communities that never knew what it was like to walk in the others’ environments.
I enjoyed several years of university Italian studies and a number of trips over there awhile ago. The leftist media is definitely distorting what Pope Francis said, especially by leaving out two parts: first, about seeking the Savior, and second, the pronoun "him" -- meaning he who seeks the salvation of Christ, with its implicit obligation to follow the teachings he references in the Catholic catechism. The media is trying to imply a generalized dismissal of any and all homosexual behavior by cutting out those two parts. Sort of like the altered George Zimmerman tape.
And how long would they have to seek?
What Spanish word did the Pope use that has been translated into the ‘gay’ euphemism, and how does it translate literally? Is it a Spanish euphemism, or an insult such ‘maricon’?
i believe it actually was “gay” a direct loan word. since that means nothing in literal italian one could say that technically it is not the odious euphemism used in the english speaking world. but surely this pope ought to have realized that it was going to carry right back into english translations. it looks like perhaps a one time goof up, we will see if he is more cautious in future.
Not good, a goof up for sure. You’d expect that the Pope would not get caught in these language games to make the odious respectable.
Without the Catholic Church you wouldn’t have had a Bible. Period.
“So I’m supposed to assume that the Hebrew Gospels Torah/Tanakh would not have existed unless it was for a catholic religion? How preposterous.”
What in heaven’s name are you talking about?
No it is not. Why do vehement anti Catholics always claim to know just what the Pope is thinking?
Who thinks Mary is a member of the Trinity? Not Catholics.
A great scandal of Christianity is forgiveness. The idea that the most base of sinner can seek out God and receive mercy when he comes to Him with a contrite heart and a desire for true repentance. Even at his last moment this is possible, but risky.
Why do so many so called Christians rage at this truth? All of us deserve hell by our inheritance of sin. Only by Christ’s blood are we redeemed at all. The arrogance of one disobedient sinful creature despising the forgiveness of another is sad to see.
All is from Christ.
If you DWELL on it, you are not a good Christian, but if you have thoughts on that that torment you and do not act on it, but STRUGGLE against it, that is quite different. you do see the difference, right?
you are assuming that these have sinned. The words of Pope Francis are clear -- not to those who sin continuously but to those who have the inclination to sin -- as do you and I (different sins from the one indicated here of course).
You do not literally have to see the word “worship” there to know what it is. Just like if I wrote a review praising a movie you wouldn’t have to ask if I liked it. Some things are obvious without coming right out and saying it. If I told you my nose is stuffy, I have a fever, and my throat hurts you would know I’m sick without my having to define it.
“She made victory over death possible through agreeing to cooperate with God’s will and bear Jesus”
Did she have a choice? God chose her and the Angel made it known to her. Who would refuse such a thing? Victory over death would have been possible because God would have His way. Do you mean to say that if one woman, Mary, had refused to bear the Christ then all of humanity would be doomed and there’d be no salvation? Wow I’m going to have to research this to see how you’d come to that conclusion.
Amen! Furthermore they call her the Queen of Heaven. I think they should do a study on who the Queen of Heaven actually was.
Tell me please...Where in the world did the church get this phrase “Immaculate conception” from? And why doesn’t this Bible the “Catholic church” supposedly gave us include this phrase, and what it means, in it?
As a Crazy Evangelical I’ve never hailed Mary, however it does behoove those who disagree with it to at least have an accurate description of what is being claimed. The Roman Catholic theology explicitly uses a different word, doulia, for this sort of beseeching. It is distinct from the latria that is given God. Now in practice, with little attempt to school Roman Catholic congregants in the distinction, the two get very muddled. I’d be more concerned about the lack of explicit glory to God on the part of the one who hails Mary or subsequently credits Mary for the results. That is a vacuum begging to be filled, and if not directed to the Lord the vacuum will get filled the wrong way, that is our fallen nature. I just don’t see Roman Catholics saying things like “I asked Mary to pray and she did and God blessed me; bless the name of the Lord.” That would put a whale of a lot more credibility into it, from my Crazy Evangelical point of view.
OKay so if the Catholics gave us the Bible, as you say, and Mary is so important to our salvation, as you guys proclaim, then why in the world doesn’t the Bible tell us this??? Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of GOD, calls his mother “woman” and tells his disciples that THEY are His mother and brothers just as much as his physical family is correct? WHen Jesus recites the Lord’s prayer why doesn’t he include Mary, and when says there is but ONE mediator between God and man and that is Jesus, why no mention of Mary? And where in the Bible does it speak of Hail Mary’s and rosaries? Actually is tells us not to chant.
Jesus is Lord.
Nobody else who walked on 2 legs is a deity
I believe the Roman Catholics view it as like moving from a car with manual steering to a car with power steering.
That said, I’d be concerned about the credit given the Lord in the process, apparently little (hail Mary full of grace, please pray ..., not even hail Mary full of God’s grace). Worship of God isn’t supposed to enable you to forget about God; it’s supposed to enable you to more nearly and dearly embrace God. There aren’t any “magic wands” in Christianity for excellent reason.
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