“i am open to all without reservation”
“i have respect and esteem for all people”
“ the Church would like to help all people find their hapiness in life”
i am coming from preaching Jesus to the lost, not making sinners “happy” with their sin. some seem to be fine with bishops being ashamed of the Gospel and wishing to be thought of well by men.
BTW - woelki’s statements reaffirming homosexual acts are sinful were not said at the press conference. the statements i quote above were said in front of at least 100 reporters and can only have one purpose, to make the homosexuals and unbelievers think he is not some narrow minded Christian, no he is enlightened, he respects everybody, he is “open” to everyone.
let’s pray the man develops a backbone and stops being ashamed of the Gospel.
I have become concerned about one person I care about, a highly vulnerable young adult who calls himself "gay" but as far as I know has never had sexual contact with anyone, male or female. (Not that I'm surveilling him nor plying him with intimate questions; I've only observed -- and heard from him --- that he's quite a lonely as well as a stay-at-home type: no lover, no bars, no prowling about public places etc.)
His main problem in fact seems to be personal isolation, plus confusion. For instance, he sees Lady Gaga as a "compassionate" person, since she "reaches out" to people who are "different." Now, I have a fundamentally "different" view of Lady Gaga (!), but I must say that --- in her perverted as well as crassly self-promoting and money-making way --- she is appealing successfully to young confused people.
How successfully? Well, just her "official-version" youtube video of "Born This Way" has had 66 million viewers. And that's just one of hundreds of versions that are out there.
My thought is not that I want to "reach out like Lady Gaga does," but to "teach as Jesus did." He didn't lead off by giving people a moral evaluation of them at their worst. His "approach" was communication and rescue. To the Samaritan woman at the well, "Let's talk." To the woman caught in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you."
And then later: "Go and sin no more."
He didn't omit a moral judgment of their sin, but neither did He begin His ministry to them by saying "You slut," or "What you do is disgusting," or "Keep it up and you're going to hell."
First he communicated. He demonstrated "I'm here for you." It's not just confronting a sinner with a word of judgment: it's the encounter of a whole person with a whole person. At the right time --- when they were listening --- stronger doses of the truth the saves.
From Him who is the Love that saves.
They knew that. That's why they were listening.
Do you see what I'm getting at?
If the homosexuals of Berlin thought Bishop Woelki was weak and ineffectual, why are they making such a fuss about him? Seems to me they got his message loud and clear, and don't like it one bit.