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Catholic priest defends criticism of ‘pride’ celebrations: ‘This is about saving souls’
LifeSite News ^ | July 2, 2020 | Paul Smeaton

Posted on 07/05/2020 8:58:09 PM PDT by ebb tide

Catholic priest defends criticism of ‘pride’ celebrations: ‘This is about saving souls’

'We don't hate you, we love you.'


A new version of the LGBT 'pride' flag includes strips for Black Lives Matter and transgenderism

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana, July 2, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic parish in the Diocese of Lafayette has stood by its criticism of the New Orleans Saints for celebrating the “gay rights movement,” despite being attacked for it on social media.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Erath, Lafayette, responded to a Facebook post by the New Orleans Saints which publicized the team having lit up its stadium with the “Pride” rainbow colors.

“Come on NOLA Saints. We want to support you. But this kinda of stunt hurts society and souls. Don't bow down to these pressure groups. Kids have rights. Children deserve to have a dad and a mom. Plz dont support immorality. Cancel the PC Culture," the parish’s post states.

The post by the parish attracted more than 500 comments, many of which were negative and accusing the parish of “hatefulness” and “bigotry.”

Parish priest Father Andre Metrejean has now removed the post, but responded to the criticism by posting a recorded statement, as well as sharing a documentary produced by Courage International, an apostolate which encourages Catholics who experience same-sex attractions to find happiness through greater closeness to Christ and in chaste friendships.

“The Church is not full of hate. In fact when people accuse us of hate or disdain because we preach the truth about sexuality and God’s plan for it, they are lying. It’s a bully tactic. This is what bullies do; they accuse you of something that you in fact are not guilty of,” Metrejean’s recorded statement says. 

“My parish, my Church, my Bible, my Catholic tradition, my Lord, we don’t hate you, we love you. That's why we preach what we do. This is not about exclusion, this is not about judging others, this is about saving souls and bringing people the power of the blood of Christ” he adds.

KATC, a local ABC affiliate, reports that they contacted the diocese regarding the posts. The diocese replied by referencing paragraph 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

Bishop Douglas Deshotel and the Diocese of Lafayette have been made aware of a recent social media post concerning the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and the Smoothie King Center.

In response, Bishop Deshotel references Paragraph 2358 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The number of men and women who have deep seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.”

There is no suggestion in the report that the diocese made mention of paragraphs 2357 or 2359 of the catechism, which state that “[h]omosexual persons are called to chastity” and that “[u]nder no circumstances” can homosexual acts be approved:

2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. 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.

...

2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.



TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Moral Issues; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: douglasdeshotel; francischism; homos; superdome

1 posted on 07/05/2020 8:58:09 PM PDT by ebb tide
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To: Al Hitan; Coleus; DuncanWaring; Fedora; irishjuggler; Jaded; JoeFromSidney; kalee; markomalley; ...

Ping


2 posted on 07/05/2020 8:58:44 PM PDT by ebb tide (We have a rogue curia in Rome.)
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To: ebb tide

Isn’t Pride one of the 7 deadly sins?


3 posted on 07/05/2020 9:02:53 PM PDT by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizens Are Born Here of Citizen Parents|Know Islam, No Peace-No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: ebb tide

A DAMNED shame when a minister cannot preach about things to avoid on the way to salvation without getting folks in an uproar!


4 posted on 07/05/2020 9:27:29 PM PDT by Oscar in Batangas ( January 20, 2017, High Noon. The end of an error.)
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To: ebb tide
"“The Church is not full of hate. In fact when people accuse us of hate or disdain because we preach the truth about sexuality and God’s plan for it, they are lying. It’s a bully tactic. This is what bullies do; they accuse you of something that you in fact are not guilty of,” Metrejean’s recorded statement says.

“My parish, my Church, my Bible, my Catholic tradition, my Lord, we don’t hate you, we love you. That's why we preach what we do. This is not about exclusion, this is not about judging others, this is about saving souls and bringing people the power of the blood of Christ” he adds."

5 posted on 07/05/2020 9:36:01 PM PDT by fidelis (Zonie and USAF Cold Warrior)
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To: ebb tide

I have never met a homosexual who did not suffer from some deep psychological malady. They are the opposite of “gay” - they are miserable, especially as they get older.

Its no way to live, and certainly should not be promoted to anyone.


6 posted on 07/05/2020 9:40:16 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: Lurkinanloomin

Pride is the original sin.


7 posted on 07/05/2020 9:58:12 PM PDT by right way right (May we remain sober over mere men, for God really is our only true hope.)
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To: ebb tide

It’s funny how they list, “Bisexual” in their flag, because they don’t give a damn about the opinions or feelings of bisexuals. We’re the excluded group within that larger one, because we’re too close to straight.

“Make up your mind already!”, “You’re basically straight, because you’re with the opposite sex right now!”; it’s ridiculous. I’ll never support that Pride sh!t.

It’s also why I’ll side with Christians over anti-Christians any day. I can’t even support gay marriage, although I always saw marriage as something that is either recognized by government OR church OR both. It’s weird, but I came to that conclusion on my own as a kid.

If you get married in a court house, that’s government-recognized, but not religiously recognized, whereas being married in a church is both a religiously-recognized marriage and government-recognized one due to needing the government documents to get the ball rolling. I always saw those things separately. Not sure how I came to that opinion, but I did.


8 posted on 07/06/2020 12:41:47 AM PDT by Tacrolimus1mg (Do no harm, but take no sh!t.)
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To: ebb tide

No, it’s really about maintaining the high level of homosexuality that exists within the Catholic priesthood.....


9 posted on 07/06/2020 1:48:49 AM PDT by cranked
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To: ebb tide

Good for him. Stand your ground against all of the bully tactics of the left, folks to include the criminal, leftist media who love to doxx their enemies.

JoMa


10 posted on 07/06/2020 2:40:35 AM PDT by joma89 (Buy weapons and ammo, folks.)
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To: cranked

I guess you didn’t actually read the article, did you?


11 posted on 07/06/2020 5:51:13 AM PDT by Campion (What part of "shall not be infringed" don't they understand?)
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To: Campion

Are you indicating that there is not a vast amount of homosexuality within the Catholic priesthood?


12 posted on 07/06/2020 5:53:10 AM PDT by cranked
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To: Lurkinanloomin
Isn’t Pride one of the 7 deadly sins?

Yes, it is.
It's the FIRST of them and the MOST deadly.

Lucifer-turned-Satan suffered from it. He was awarded an eternity in hell.
Hell is being alone, without God, forever and ever.

13 posted on 07/06/2020 6:43:27 AM PDT by cloudmountain
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To: cranked
I'm indicating that you didn't comprehend the article well enough to understand that the priest was CRITICIZING "pride" [sic] celebrations and REJECTING them and their premise. That, in fact, the priest was courageously supporting correct CHRISTIAN doctrine and therefore deserves support.

Your comment was not to the point and irrelevant to the article. You didn't read it, you just reflexively made a derogatory comment about Catholic priests.

14 posted on 07/06/2020 8:08:35 AM PDT by Campion (What part of "shall not be infringed" don't they understand?)
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