Pope Francis excommunicates pro-gay marriage priest. He’s not the liberal the media wants
By Tim Stanley Religion Last updated: September 23rd, 2013
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Despite all due temptation, he remains a Catholic.
From all of last week’s headlines saying that the Pope wants to forget this nonsense about abortion and gays, you’d imagine that Germaine Greer had been elected to run the Catholic Church. Actually what the Pope was saying was that he wants the Church to talk more about what it’s for than what it’s against. But that doesn’t mean it won’t still be against those things that contradict its teachings and traditions.
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Just ask Greg Reynolds of Melbourne – a priest who appears to have been both defrocked and excommunicated because of his radical views on women clergy and gay marriage. From Australia’s The Age:
The excommunication document – written in Latin and giving no reason – was dated May 31, meaning it comes under the authority of Pope Francis who made headlines on Thursday calling for a less rule-obsessed church.
The document might give no explicit reason, but the reason is implicit and well understood: Reynolds has offended Mother Church with his politics. It’s interesting to note that the former priest tells The Age that he “wants the same thing as the Pope” which is “to encourage reform and clear need for renewal in the church.” I read from this that Reynolds has, like many liberals, misunderstood Francis’ words. Structural reform is clearly necessary to prevent future horrors like the child abuse scandal, and renewal is something that Christians always desire. But Reynolds would throw out Catholic doctrine – something Francis would never do because he is, despite the best wishes of so many in the media, a Catholic. His treatment of Reynolds proves that point.
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Tags: greg reynolds, Melbourne, Pope Francis, the age