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."
Back during the Inquisitions they would have had their nuts cut off and then burned at the stake.
Characterizing protestants of "despising" Mary is an error. She is respected and loved by every Reformed church of which I'm aware. But she is not raised to the level a member of the Trinity. Protestants pray directly to the Persons of the Trinity, and not to intercessors.
“In your church, if you have somebody who had a sinful past and wants to repent of that, you tell them that their sin is unforgivable and that they are unwelcome, if that sin they repent of is homosexuality.”
That is for you and your God to answer.
Cardinal O Brien should roast in Hell...but I guess you think if he repents he goes to Heaven..same with all the Molesting Homosexual priests
Well, we appreciate you cutting it short. The less said the less embarrassing for you.
And Mary said, "My soul exalts the Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior..."
A new subject. Really?
Are we supposed to misinterpret this with you?
Any time we spread God’slove and His will, we exalt Him woth our soul
But the hatred of and misinterpretation of the Mother of the Lord has been unleashed
Demonic
it would help if you read the article itself before commenting. After all, hate the sin, not the sinner, right? And those who battle with the tendency but don’t act on it are to be sympathized with and prayed for
she is not at the level of the Trinity. Don’t repeat a moslem mis-statement.
Are we supposed to misinterpret this with you?
Any time we spread God’slove and His will, we exalt Him woth our soul"
Now just a darn minute, here. You promised that you were done. Now you want to spread God's love by venerating a human? Please re-read Book that your gang claims to have delivered to the world...it has another story. One without a Roman pontiff, without venerating Mary, without indulgences, without genuflecting, without candles, without men in bathrobes riding in bullet proof cars. Check it out...it is free, if He has elected you.
” but I guess you think if he repents he goes to Heaven”
Heb 7:25 “ Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
You can quote all the scripture you want..IT WILL NOT CHANGE MY MIND
If you are a nasty child molesting Priest who destroyed people’s lives or a serial killer who chopped up people..you should not go to Heaven because of a few Hail Marys and the claim you are sorry.
It is well understood that anyone who adopts for himself the label "gay" is not just struggling with homosexual attractions, but has succumbed to it and accepts it as normal. Such are politically motivated. There is overt will involved.
Right. If a person is practicing homosexuality in deed or in mind then I would judge him to be a sick puppy. If I were sitting opposite the sinner in the confessional I would advise him to cease and desist and make certain that he understands the seriousness of the sin. I would then give him an appropriate penance, but would let him know in no uncertain terms that if he leaves the confessional with the intent to not amend his life, then this visit didn't mean anything to his soul but excommunication.
Now. Back to the newly minted pope. How can one be living a good Christian life and seeking God's blessings and be sticking his pee-pee in another's poo-poo? As a priest, bishop, cardinal or pope it is my duty to denounce such evil behavior.
And therein lies the problem with today's new religion edicted by local bishops and ignored by the Vatican. No wonder the Church today is larded with scandals serious enough to get the perpetrator a millstone around his neck!
Well sir if you call them “gays” you have already made a judgement. In their favor. “Gay” is a phony made up term. They are homosexuals. Their lifestyle is a sin. As a Christian who should be seeking to lead people away from sin and towards Jesus Christ, you MUST be able to point out the sin else how can the sinner understand the need to repent?
If you claim she is Sinless,
shalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach
you hace raised her to the level of Elohim.
He writes a lot of the gay lobby. So far I have not found in the Vatican who wrote "gay" on the identity card. One must distinguish between being gay, having this tendency, and lobbying. The lobby, lobbies all, are not good. If a person is gay and seeks the Lord with good will, who am I to judge? The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that gay people not be discriminated against, but you have to accept. The problem is not having this tendency, the problem is to lobby and this applies to this as to the business lobby, the lobby policies, Masonic lobby.
What he said falls in line with what both Catholics and protestants believe.
HUH??
According to Jesus Christ, "LUST" is "sinful." (Matthew 5:27-30). Enough of this propagandist church which not only refuses to chastise homosexuality according to scripture, but the infestation within its ranks. This Pope doesn't demonstrate "Christian leadership", but rather appeasement of sin.
More food for thought:
Revelation 22:14 ~ Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:15 ~ For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie.
He doesn’t seem to mind judging Masons?
“They say they exist.
HA-HAA-HOO-HOO!!
Is the Pope doing Letterman or Leno next week?
Ok, that's settles it. Throw away your Bibles. Ignore Jesus Christ, Leviticus, Paul, and Revelation. Because Rome has spoken.
Only part of the spiritual battling is "seeking"; The part of seeking that saves one soul is in FINDING the Lord, of which this Pontiff seems indifferent as not to "offend" anyone -- namely the homosexual lobby he claims doesn't exist.
Moreover, here is the Pope, quite content and satisfied to have sinners floundering without definitive guidance of sin, without chastisement? It boggles the mind.
You started a new conversation i was done with the old one
What do you mean by venerate?
I don’t think it means what you think it means
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.