Posted on 11/28/2019 9:06:33 AM PST by ebb tide
PETITION: Stand with priest who refused communion to lesbian 'married' judge. Click here.
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, November 27, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) Bishop David Walkowiak of Grand Rapids, Michigan has expressed his support for Fr. Scott Nolan, the priest at St. Stephen's Catholic Church in his diocese who has come under fire after a lesbian judge complained to a local media outlet that he had refused her Holy Communion because she is "married" to a woman.
In his statement, Bishop Walkowiak thanked the judge, Sara Smolenski, chief judge of the Kent County District Court, for her "service to the community."
He also said "inclusion" and "acceptance" are hallmarks of the Catholic Church but that such principles presume "respect on the part of individuals for the teachings and practice of the wider Catholic community." He added that "no community of faith can sustain the public contradiction of its beliefs by its own members. This is especially so on matters as central to Catholic life as marriage."
Bishop Walkowiak recalled that mercy is essential to teaching the Gospel, "but so are humility and conversion on the part of anyone seeking to live an authentically Catholic Christian life."
Fr. Nolan's decision was approriate, he added.
We appreciate Judge Sara Smolenskis service to the community. We are grateful for her past generosity. These facts are not at issue in this matter.
As Pope Francis explains in Amoris Laetitia, "The Eucharist demands that we be members of the one body of the Church. Those who approach the Body and Blood of Christ may not wound that same Body by creating scandalous distinctions and divisions among its members." (186) Lifelong Catholics would surely be aware of this.
Inclusion and acceptance have been a hallmark of Catholic Churches in the Diocese of Grand Rapids throughout the dioceses history. They remain so. They presume, however, a respect on the part of individuals for the teachings and practice of the wider Catholic community. No community of faith can sustain the public contradiction of its beliefs by its own members. This is especially so on matters as central to Catholic life as marriage, which the Church has always held, and continues to hold, as a sacred covenant between one man and one woman.
Father Scott Nolan, pastor of St. Stephen Parish, has dedicated his priesthood to bringing people closer to Jesus Christ. Part of his duty in pursuing that end is to teach the truth as taught by the Catholic Church, and to help it take root and grow in his parish. Mercy is essential to that process, but so are humility and conversion on the part of anyone seeking to live an authentically Catholic Christian life.
Father Nolan approached Judge Smolenski privately. Subsequent media reports do not change the appropriateness of his action, which the diocese supports.
Yet in the same Amoris Laetitia, Francis opens Holy Communion to unrepentant, public adulterers.
Ping
now go away
One by one the father of lies is dividing God’s churches.
Well, separation of church and state. Right, you old hag of a “judge”?
Communion has no meaning for most people - as do other sacraments, particularly marriage.
They think its a like a gold star you get in Kindergarten, an affirmation of that fact that you merely showed up.
Why doesn’t the Lesbian judge go to a Mosque and ask for their “blessing” or whatever they give?
He seems to have an identity crisis.
I may get called to task for this, but, why is it, that many lesbians such as her, go out of their way to have a mannish appearance?
If a “lesbian” is simply a woman who loves another woman, why do so many try to look like men?
THE BISHOP AND PRIEST HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER FOR A CHANGE.
Its a dyke thing.
We wouldnt understand.
An Obama judge, no doubt.
Because (but you knew this) they want to be men - and gender confusion is encouraged by the Left, because it serves their purpose of undermining the family .
Since their thinking is 100% screwed up AND sinful their warped brain has one woman playing the man so the other woman can be her spouse. Apparently one MUST be the dominant and one MUST be the submissive.
By definition they simply cannot do it right.
It's deviant, sick, wrong and pathetic. Every society in history has deprecated homosexuality. These sicko people think that because their deviant behavior has become legal it MUST be right.
Ooops; you’ve obviously posted the wrong picture. The article refers to a woman judge.
Then in complaining to the media she compounded that sin tenfold.
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