A widely circulated photo from the lesbian ceremony over which Fr. Michael Kopp presided
Posted on 11/14/2019 10:43:55 AM PST by ebb tide
A widely circulated photo from the lesbian ceremony over which Fr. Michael Kopp presided
WOLFSBURG, Austria, November 13, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― An Austrian diocese has confirmed that an Austrian priest presided over a church service for two women in a civil union.
A series of photographs of Fr. Michael Kopp with two women in wedding clothes in a Catholic church in Austria have been making the rounds on social media since last week. A spokesman from the Diocese of Graz-Seckau has confirmed that Kopp indeed held a service for the women.
“The basic question is if homosexual people can feel themselves at home in the Church,” Thomas Stanzer told German Catholic news site kath.net this Monday.
“Family spiritual advisor Michael Kopp answered ‘yes’ to this question,” he continued.
Stanzer said Father Kopp “celebrated a liturgy of thanksgiving with two civilly married [sic] women who are both believing Christians and who had both found their way out of personal crises with the help of the Catholic Church.”
The diocesan spokesman underscored that this was “not a sacramental liturgy,” and quoted Pope Francis’ controversial encyclical Amoris Laetitia.
“Every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (250) states,” Stanzer said.
“At the same time it is stated there that the partnership-like connection of two homosexuals cannot be equalled with marriage (251). Both of these things Michael Kopp has followed.”
“Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches (CCC 2357).
The 2003 Vatican document Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict XVI), states: “In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection.”
The photographs of the service, which very much resemble wedding pictures, were first posted to a Polish social media account and later published by Gloria TV. In one photograph the two women, one in a white wedding dress and the other in a white suit, light a candle together. In the next they hold hands as Kopp holds his hand over them in blessing. Another photo shows the women processing into the church together, preceded by two flower girls. Two beribboned chairs await them at the front of the church.
Kopp is the pastor of St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Wolfsburg, Austria who hitherto has been known best for his occasional cabaret acts. According to the Austrian Unkerkaerner newspaper, Kopp has written two cabaret shows since he was ordained in 1997. Previously a “family pastor” in the Diocese of Gurk, Kopp has been with the Diocese of Graz-Seckau since January 2019.
Kopp’s definition of “family” includes both “the root of every personal life existence” and also “every form of relationship among people in the most diverse constellations of common life.”
This is not, however, the Catholic definition of family. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, family stems from the small community of love, founded by a married couple, into which a child is born or adopted.
“The family is the original cell of social life,” the Catechism says. “It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society” (CCC 2207).
The diocesan spokesman underscored that this was “not a sacramental liturgy,” and quoted Pope Francis’ controversial encyclical Amoris Laetitia.
“Every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration, while ‘every sign of unjust discrimination’ is to be carefully avoided, the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (250) states,” Stanzer said.
to:
The 2003 Vatican document Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, signed by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict XVI), states: “In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection.”
Ping
Laicize (defrock) him!
When the father was asked how he viewed lesbian relationships he replied, “in HD.”
Amen.
It's no favor to these ladies, who have been "accompanied" on a path that will lead to ruin, heartbreak, and the horror they should have been warned about.
Both the priest and his bishop should be sacked. Guess we'll have to wait for the next conclave.
Nothing will happen to him. It’s only we conservative/traditional Catholics that incur the wrath of the modern leaders of the Church.
"Ambiguity is the mark of the demonic."
Exactly. PF is the Prince of Equivocation. It is an essential feature of Peronism.
a “church” that can’t even teach (more or less follow!) basic Biblical/moral values
is not worthy of the name “church” imho
Cute picture of them lighting their Eternal Fire though.
In this context, equivocation is a form of lying.
I have heard the term "father of lies" before …
Huh … “paltering” … I’ve always called it “giving a non-answer”. Politicians, as UD notes, do it frequently.
"Did this used car pass inspection?"
I am proud to say that every car in this lot has been inspected. It's a very strict company policy. I took this little 2017 beauty out just this morning for a test drive, drove like a dream. Beautiful car, isn't it?
Not mentioning that it was inspected but did NOT pass; also not mentioning that the test-drive was only 10 minutes, but the car is known to seriously overheat and stall out after 20 minutes...
Paltering!
This is the celebration of two people doing something wrong.
MORTAL SIN for the women.
The women KNOW that their behavior is a MORTAL SIN.
Just because something is LEGAL doesn't make it right. They know that all cultures throughout all history condemn this behavior.
Finding some numb-nuts priest to perform this sinful union condones mortal sin but DOESN'T change the reality of its serious sinfulness.
Off the soap box now.
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