Posted on 03/14/2014 6:29:08 AM PDT by ebb tide
Citing the “new paradigm” of Pope Francis one year after his election to the throne of Peter, the archbishop of Lucca in Tuscany suggested to an interviewer this week on the Italian state television network, RAI, that the time has come for the Church to become more open to homosexuality and same-sex civil unions.
“All diversity is wealth,” Archbishop Benvenuto Castellani said in reply to a question from an interviewer about Church acceptance of homosexuality.
The archbishop’s frank remarks are part of a shift in public pronouncements on homosexuality from many Church leaders under Pope Francis in the wake of his famous remark, “Who am I to judge?” In that vein, earlier this week Cardinal Timothy Dolan publicly congratulated an American football star for “coming out” as an active homosexual.
“Good for him,” said Cardinal Dolan. “I would have no sense of judgment on him. God bless ya.”
In the interview with RAI, Archbishop Castellani called Francis “the pope of dialogue, a dialogue demanding and non-trivial. But to bring order and peace there needs to be the cultural value of dialogue. And for this you need a Pope who dialogues institutionally.”
RAI’s Vaticanist, Raffaele Luise, suggested that the time had come for a “cultural revolution” in the Church “which would include the fact that homosexuality is not a deviation but a human attitude.” Castellani agreed, calling this part of the “new paradigm” in which “all diversity is wealth.”
“In my life as a pastor,” he added, “I have seen and experienced many situations … and I am convinced that it is time for Christians to open themselves to diversity.”
He also endorsed the proposal of Cardinal Walter Kasper to “readmit” divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to Communion after a “period of penance,” saying he felt it likely the pope would support the plan. If this plan fails, he added, “what will also fail is not only a chance for the Church but also a chance to eliminate many vices in society and even within the Church, such as the idolatry of money.”
The pope, he continued, must make this “brave attempt to change the Church and its approach to the world.”
He praised Pope Benedict for his “courageous” resignation, following with the critique that, unlike Francis, the pope emeritus had “a conception of the world as a besieged citadel, a world that looks to the past but without frank openness to the modern world, and this has weighed in his choices.”
Castellani is highly placed in the Italian Catholic bishops’ conference as chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Clergy and Consecrated Life and the Joint Commission of Bishops and Religious-Secular Institutes. In an interview in January with a local Lucca newspaper, Castellani was asked why the Church had not opposed plans by the municipality to create a register of same-sex “civil unions.”
He replied, “I think that the civil institution has its autonomy,” and added that he still felt the family, “as a natural institution” is the site of the “basic education of the younger generation” and without it society is like “a plant without deep roots.”
Castellani’s recent comments follow closely those of the Catholic bishop of Trier in Germany, Stephan Ackermann, who told the newspaper Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz that the responses from German Catholics of a Vatican-issued questionnaire on sexual issues show that the time has come to change Catholic teaching.
Catholics in Germany, Ackermann said, view the Church’s teaching as “repressive,” “remote from life” and based on a “prohibition mentality.” He highlighted especially the issue dearest to the German episcopate’s heart, that of the barring of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics from Communion. “We bishops will have to make suggestions here. We must strengthen people’s sense of responsibility and then respect their decisions of conscience,” he said.
While the Church must “hold fast” to the teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman, “we cannot simply say homosexuality is unnatural,” he said. The Church cannot “just ignore” registered same-sex unions in which the partners have promised to be “faithful” to each other.
“The Christian view of man goes by the polarity of the sexes, but we can not simply say that homosexuality is unnatural,” he said.
Ackermann added that it is no longer “appropriate to consider a new marriage after divorce as a permanent mortal sin and the remarried in no way ever to be allowed back to the sacraments.”
“We are there to make suggestions,” Ackermann said, adding that it is not “tenable” to consider all kinds of pre-marital sex as seriously sinful.
“We can not completely change the Catholic doctrine, but [we must] develop criteria by which we say: In this and this particular case it is conscionable. It’s not that there is only the ideal on the one hand and the condemnation on the other side.”
Other major liberal Catholic players of the past have resurfaced during Francis’ pontificate, and come out strongly in favour of the pope’s new “style.” Celebrity Swiss theologian and long-time academic opponent of Pope Benedict XVI, Hans Kung, has recently stated that with the election of Francis he sees no need now to oppose the pope.
Kung said he is “overjoyed” about Pope Francis. “He has already achieved some things that can no longer be withdrawn,” Kung told Südwestpresse. “To think that he was not a reformer, would be to close our eyes to the facts.”
Kung was a bitter opponent of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict, clashing repeatedly over the full roster of liberal causes, including abortion, homosexuality, contraception and female ordination and papal infallibility, among others. In 1979 the Vatican removed his faculties to teach as a Catholic theologian. The censure launched Kung into the realm of professional anti-Catholic spokesmen and he became an instant celebrity, doing lecture and book tours outlining his objections to Catholic teaching. Despite his open and insistent denial of key Catholic teachings, Kung has been allowed to remain a priest in good standing throughout the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
He told Südwestpresse that although Francis’ program remains unclear, the signals he has been sending from the first minute of his pontificate are ringing clearly. “I have made many proposals for reform in the course of my life. But that a Pope could leave the papal palace in such an elegant way. I could not imagine.”
Meanwhile, the homosexualist movement has unofficially adopted Francis’ comment last year as its most popular recent slogan. A social networking website launched T-shirts featuring the pope’s face and the caption, “Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis, the company says, has “stepped away from the disapproving tone, the explicit moralizing typical of Popes and bishops.”
“It’s no wonder world leaders are making haste to visit the Vatican and to wrap themselves in Francis’ glowing public perception.”
NBC News wrote in connection to the pope’s first anniversary, “Scolding is out in Rome; hand holding is in.” NBC quoted veteran American Vatican reporter John Thavis, who said that Francis’ approach to homosexuality is unique for the papacy.
“The fact is that previous popes in talking about homosexuality had always mentioned the word 'disordered' and when you use that term, it immediately alienates,” said Thavis. “Not only did Francis not use that word. He avoided the whole concept.”
In the face of the popular furor surrounding Pope Francis, there are some theologians who are sounding an alarm about his lack of “clarity” on some theological issues. Germain Grisez recently told Vatican journalist Robert Moynihan, that in his September 22nd interview he had created confusion.
“Insofar as I understand what Pope Francis had to say, I can agree with him,” Grisez wrote. “but he said some things that I do not understand,” a situation made worse by the misrepresentation from the media. Pope Francis had said that the teaching of the Church could not be proclaimed as the “ transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently.”
“Making this assertion suggests, unfortunately, a caricature of the teachings of recent pontificates,” Grisez said. Where Francis suggested that the “moral edifice of the Church” could “collapse like a house of cards,” Grisez complained, “Who knows what he means? The phrase is impressive. It reverberates in one’s depths. But if it was suggested by a spirit, it was not the Holy Spirit, for it is bound to confuse and mislead.”
At the same time the media is lionizing Francis, Pew Research has released a survey showing that despite the pope’s popularity among Catholics and non-Catholics, the new pontificate has had little concrete effect on their participation in the daily life of the Church. The poll found that most US Catholics expect Francis to make significant changes in Catholic doctrine.
Six out of ten said they expect that the prohibition against artificial contraception would be scrapped, and about half said the Church would allow priests to marry. More than two-thirds said it would recognize same-sex marriages by 2050. “More than eight-in-ten U.S. Catholics say they have a favorable view of the pontiff, including half who view him very favorably,” Pew Research said.
The widely talked-about “Francis effect” appears to have influenced attitudes and expectations more than the behaviour of Catholics, with about the same number attending weekly Masses and confessing regularly.
“There has been no measurable rise in the percentage of Americans who identify as Catholic. Nor has there been a statistically significant change in how often Catholics say they go to Mass. And the survey finds no evidence that large numbers of Catholics are going to confession or volunteering in their churches or communities more often,” Pew says.
Yes. You know how some anti-abortion activists use gross pictures to make their point? It’s time for some gross pictures to be shown to the naive people who think homosexuality is about love.
No, no, no. Diagram the sentence: Archbishop (noun) says (verb)---
Archbishop Castellani now serves Satan instead of God.
Tagline from Jorge Bergoglio/Pope Francis
What is posted is not true.
The church still stands against the practice of homosexuality.
Hate the sin; love the sinner.
Exactly what is not true in the LifeSiteNews article?
To practice homosexuality is a sin. The Pope said if a homosexual is seeking the Lord (which means not engaging in homosexual acts), who is he or anyone else to judge him. The same thing can be said for adulterers, rapists, ect. Sin is sin. But if you are living your life for the Lord, and not engaging in sin, there is nothing to judge.
When Francis first uttered these now famous remarks I figured liberals would twist his words around and attempt to make it look like he was saying nothing is wrong with engaging in homosexual acts. After all, that’s what liberals do. But I never thought he would be viciously attacked by those that call themselves Christians and conservatives. Guess I was wrong. Just say conservatives and liberals join together to criticize the Pope on his “Who am I to judge” remarks. Unbelievable.
We are pretty much in agreement until this being a coordinated effort.
While I agree the Pope’s statements, as reported by the media, have left doubts. However, I think the question that is being asked by the Pope is how to minister to people, as we find them.
People who know they are sinners need to first know that God still loves them and wants to have a relationship with them. It would appear those folks are staying away because they aren’t hearing that message.
Once they hear and believe God loves them, then they will hopefully be more open to taking the necessary actions to alter their behavior and get right with God.
My take is the Pope is trying to emphasize that first step.
Finally, let us not forget what he said about “gay marriage:”
“We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God.”
We know how that “new paradigm” ends: broken lives, arrests, prison, lawsuits, bankruptcy, loss of faith, loss of the faithful.
Are you saying the previous 265 Pope were not correctly ministering to people as they found them? Is homosexual perversion and adultery some new problem that has suddenly cropped up out of nowhere? Have you read the Old Testament?
Concur.
So where do you fall? "Moderate" Catholic?
By the way, what liberal(s) has criticized his, "Who am I to judge?" comment? Every single liberal seems to celebrating that statement.
I’m conservative to the bone, but I respect the Holy Father and will not criticize and nit pick every word out of his mouth. It’s outrageous that those that call themselves Catholic criticize his every word. God put him in the Chair of St. Peter for a reason. Most people don’t know but when Benedict was selected Pope, Francis had the second highest number of ballots casts. The Cardinals were by and large the same ones that selected him as Pope a few years later. Apparently you pay no attention to the “guided by the Holy Spirit” that allows these men to select the pope.
Francis has be working mightily to break the Ten Commandments from the bottom up.
I do not trust this Pope in any way, shape or form.
The thought occurred to me at that point that if the Pope is prepared to monkey with sacred Scripture, then he'll have no problem monkeying with the Church also. I see many recent developments in this light. Each on its own in isolation can be interpreted in a favorable or unfavorable light. Viewed collectively, a pattern emerges.
St. Paul resisted Pope St. Peter to his face.
Oh, how I wish there were more Paul’s in the hierarchy.
Very good observations. Thanks.
Yes, God gives us what we deserve.
As far as the rest of your post, it sounds like you're implying the Holy Ghost messed up in 2005 and corrected Himself in 2013.
Yes. I just remembered about him even boasting of robbing a corpse.
I don’t think it’s funny at all.
The Pope sets a spiritual tone for Catholics and non-Catholics all over the world.
A lot of examples being set by this Pope frankly stink, and I suspect it’s going to get worse.
We need the Light.
What I was trying to say is the same Cardinals that gave the Catholic Church the VERY CONSERVATIVE Benedict as Pope also had Francis coming in second to him. But for some reason you and others think he a flaming liberal and will destroy the Church. The same Cardinals seven years later gave the Church Francis. You need to think long and hard about that. Pope Francis is not changing anything to do with homosexuality and marriage. He might do some cosmetic changes on the annulment process, and with that I agree. But Catholics will still have to get an annulment from their first marriage if they want to present themselves for communion.
"Cosmetic" changes on nullifying a sacramental marriage? "Cosmetic" changes on splitting up families and harming children and faithful spouses?
Close to 90 percent of annulment requests in the U.S. are approved. And you and Francis want "cosmetic" changes to reach 100 percent?
How about a "cosmetic" change on abortion?
Or a "cosmetic" change on sodomy?
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.