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>None condone a priest disobeying his vow of celibacy, under any circumstance. If they do in their heart, they keep quiet about it on the record, which is what we're discussing. <

where I come from this is a sin of ommission or more plainly when all those pedophiles (gays) were moved around this was condoning

>None should endorse any candidates. (I do remember a case of the Bishop of Hartford endorsing Joe Lieberman the first time he ran, precisely because Lieberman *claimed* he was pro-life.) <

Again when they allow Ted and the boys to present themselves as Catholics and attend their fund raisers and generally give them cover they are condoning.

>If so, the couple who receive the annulment are guilty of lying to the church, and their annulment is invalid in the eyes of God.>

And when they facilitate the lie(thats what wink,wink means)they are part of the sin.I think there is something in the Scripture about causing another to stumble.Can you really tell me with a straight face their is not defacto acceptance of divorce in the Catholic Church today?

I think you miss the point that hypocrisy (a sin) is the tribute that vice pays to virtue.

Which is to say that we hold the Truth that homosexuality is wrong. We may have gay priests and bishops, but they have to lie and live in secret.

Contrast with the Episcopalians, who simply say "it's not a sin to be homosexual."

Tell me you see a difference? We hold a standard, even if we can't live up to it. Versus collapsing your standards.

We do the same with contraception. We teach it is wrong and continue to hold that belief as official teaching. Most Americans and Westerners probably violate this teaching constantly. But we don't adapt, we don't take a vote.

>>where I come from this is a sin of ommission or more plainly when all those pedophiles (gays) were moved around this was condoning

I agree. The point was simply that the Chruch's teaching is clear.

>>Again when they allow Ted and the boys to present themselves as Catholics and attend their fund raisers and generally give them cover they are condoning.

Please do tell me when you see a bishop attending a Ted-Kennedy fundraiser, so I can report him to the Vatican.

>> And when they facilitate the lie(thats what wink,wink means)they are part of the sin.I think there is something in the Scripture about causing another to stumble.

I absolutely agree... and there are far worse sins that Bishops have been guilty of.

>>Can you really tell me with a straight face their is not defacto acceptance of divorce in the Catholic Church

Absolutely. Annulments are a very difficult procedure. Many Catholics perceive they are too easy to get (and they may be in certain areas... did you know Kennedy's was granted on the grounds of mental incompetence?), but many of those don't understand who is getting annulments (70% of annulments are granted to people married outside the Church!)\

To compensate for the abyssmal state of Catholic education, the Church has mandated programs for marriage preparation to ensure that Catholics are aware of what a Catholic marriage means... There are a fair number of annulments which were granted on the grounds that at least one party did not understand the commitment they were making. (this is far more common among "mixed" marriages.)