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."
Person
You think again
Get back to work
This argument is over
I agree. To say that being gay is not the problem implies that you can "be" gay. Science does not agree that it is inborn. The behavior is a result of disordered emotions or disordered thinking, no matter whether the source is trauma or indifference to sin. The "identity" is a result of atheist propaganda.
Protestantism never was a church. It was a brand name for a movement of reform of the Roman establishment, rather like "Yankee" was a name for reform of the British establishment and now is a nickname. Now, the term "Protestant" is almost extinguished among American non-Catholic Christians, in favor of "reformed" or "evangelical."
“You know, you are being ridiculous.”
Your question is what’s ridiculous, but I answered as best I could. The Good Lord came to offer salvation to EVERYBODY who repents and believes, not just people YOU approve of. You know this is true, Christ told us, but your rebellious nature won’t accept the truth.
You are known by your fruits. Your idea of "defending" the much-revered mother of Christ is to call other Christians and Jews on this forum despisers (45), lacking logic and reason (51), ignorant (57), a demonic hater (65), unread insane haters (102), babbling (110), uninformed (114) -- you are so worked up that you even attacked another Catholic who cc'd you in support of your position (149).
I applaud your desire to defend your faith and to help create understanding of the fine points of difference between Catholicism and the reformed churches. But I think many of us who may in fact be very well versed in the differences and the reason for them would also very much appreciate your representing the loving spirit of Christ and His mother.
It's in your best interest and that of your church and its leadership to convert others to your point of view by patience and understanding, not bile and contempt.
All ridiculous points.
You can take out of context anything you want to
The ONLY argument there ever was, and i did not ever mention Jews, who don’ t get bothered by our regard for Mary
The ONLY argument was that we do not worship Mary
So get over it and get back to work
Amen!!!
I agree. Here are a couple of articles of interest along those lines:
Because you've run out of ammunition?
From the Catholic Encyclopedia:
The dogma of the Trinity
The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another.
Who died and made you boss?
No because i win the argument
Careful whom you side wiyh when fighting against the Blessed Mother of Jesus
I meant human, and you know it. But this is the kind of semantic argument protestants take up days over against catholics.
Don’t you have a job to attend to?
Are you trying to use the Mother of Jesus to threaten me? LOL!! I have more faith in her goodness than that. And no, I do not have a job. I have a calling. Testifying for Christ is my calling, and I've been busy at it with every word I have written to you, which you have called "ridiculous" and other unChristian slurs. God bless you and give you a kind heart today, stanne. I'm off to eat lunch.
I apologize for the misunderstanding. I’ve been under the weather the last couple of days and my reading comprehension has suffered as a result.
Just a little heads up.
The Blessed Mother is no threat. And we do not worship her nor consider her divine.
Ease up.
No, it’s her enemies.
Thank you for the additional translation. As I stated previously, as far as I can tell, his words fall in line with Christianity of every denomination.
Queen of Heaven was a title given to a number of ancient sky “Goddesses” in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, in particular Anat, Isis, Innana, Astarte, Hera and possibly Asherah (by the prophet Jeremiah). Elsewhere, Nordic Frigg also bore this title. In Greco-Roman times Hera, and her Roman aspect Juno bore this title. Forms and content of WORSHIP varied. The title Queen of Heaven is used by Catholics and Orthodox Christians for Mary.
Isis was venerated first in Egypt. As per the Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BCE, Isis was the only goddess worshiped by all Egyptians alike,[1] and whose influence was so widespread by that point, that she had become completely syncretic with the Greek goddess Demeter.[2] It is after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, and the Hellenization of the Egyptian culture initiated by Ptolemy I Soter, that she eventually became known as ‘Queen of Heaven’.[3] Lucius Apuleius confirmed this in Book 11, Chap 47 of his novel known as The Golden Ass, in which his character prayed to the “Queen of Heaven”. The passage says that the goddess herself responded to his prayer, in which she explicitly identified herself as both the Queen of Heaven and Isis.
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