Posted on 02/14/2023 5:11:37 PM PST by ebb tide
The church needs to embark on a journey of radical inclusion, wrote a top U.S. church leader in a new essay that suggests the “profound and visceral animus” towards LGBTQ+ people in the church is a “demonic mystery of the human soul.”
Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego wrote his essay in America as a reflection on the challenges facing Catholics today, particularly in view of the global synodal process underway. “Many of these challenges,” McElroy suggests, result from “structures and cultures of exclusion that alienate all too many from the church or make their journey in the Catholic faith tremendously burdensome.”
McElroy strongly condemns the ways LGBTQ+ Catholics have been and continue to be mistreated by their fellow believers. He writes:
“It is a demonic mystery of the human soul why so many men and women have a profound and visceral animus toward members of the L.G.B.T. communities. The church’s primary witness in the face of this bigotry must be one of embrace rather than distance or condemnation. The distinction between orientation and activity cannot be the principal focus for such a pastoral embrace because it inevitably suggests dividing the L.G.B.T. community into those who refrain from sexual activity and those who do not. Rather, the dignity of every person as a child of God struggling in this world, and the loving outreach of God, must be the heart, soul, face and substance of the church’s stance and pastoral action.”
In one section of the essay, McElroy addresses concerns raised in the local phase of the synod about how LGBTQ+ people experience the church. (In other sections worth reading, he comments at length on the question of women’s inclusion and on polarization.) Yesterday, Bondings 2.0 reported on a related interview in which the cardinal said the language of “intrinsically disordered” relating to gay people should be removed from the Catechism.
The cardinal believes it is “very likely” that discussions about church doctrine on marriage and sexuality will be raised when the synod meets in Rome this October. Yet, he continues:
“But the exclusion of men and women because of their marital status or their sexual orientation/activity is pre-eminently a pastoral question, not a doctrinal one. Given our teachings on sexuality and marriage, how should we treat remarried or L.G.B.T. men and women in the life of the church, especially regarding questions of the Eucharist? . . .
“As the synodal process begins to discern how to address the exclusion of divorced and remarried and L.G.B.T. Catholics, particularly on the issue of participation in the Eucharist, three dimensions of Catholic faith support a movement toward inclusion and shared belonging.”
First, McElroy cites Pope Francis’ image of the church as a field hospital for the wounded, which includes all people. He comments, “Pastoral practices that have the effect of excluding certain categories of people from full participation in the life of the church are at odds with this pivotal notion that we are all wounded and all equally in need of healing.”
Second, the cardinal raises up “reverence of conscience” as a key part of Catholic pastoral practice. McElroy explains:
“Men and women seeking to be disciples of Jesus Christ struggle with enormous challenges in living out their faith, often under excruciating pressures and circumstances. While Catholic teaching must play a critical role in the decision making of believers, it is conscience that has the privileged place. Categorical exclusions undermine that privilege precisely because they cannot encompass the inner conversation between women and men and their God.”
Third, McElroy touches on debates over reception of the Eucharist by highlighting the “counterposed realities of human brokenness and divine grace that form the backdrop for any discussion” of Eucharistic reception. He cites Pope Francis’ famous words that communion is “not a prize for the perfect, but as a source of healing for us all.” The cardinal writes that critics who suggest that sexual sins are all “grave matter,” and as such allow for categorial denials of the Eucharist, “should be faced head on.” He continues:
“The effect of the tradition that all sexual acts outside of marriage constitute objectively grave sin has been to focus the Christian moral life disproportionately upon sexual activity. The heart of Christian discipleship is a relationship with God the Father, Son and Spirit rooted in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church has a hierarchy of truths that flow from this fundamental kerygma. Sexual activity, while profound, does not lie at the heart of this hierarchy. Yet in pastoral practice we have placed it at the very center of our structures of exclusion from the Eucharist. This should change.”
To conclude, McElroy states plainly but firmly: “We must enlarge our tent. And we must do so now.”
To read Cardinal McElroy’s full essay, click here.
Barf Alert Ping
The cardinal is engaging in demonic mystery.
These Sodomite-practicing/worshipping priests and cardinals misleading the flock is what is demonic. Every last one of them needs to be exposed and kicked out.
Seems to think he’ll find the Lord inside another man’s rectum.
“Robert Shine (he/him)” <——Didn’t see this, and in a “Christian” publication ?
Isaiah 5:20
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
as Screwtape says, always accuse them of exactly what we are doing.
The key NT wording (imo) comes from 1 Corinthians 6:9, "Do not be deceived," those who engage in same-sex sexual relationships, for example, will not inherit the kingdom of G-d (summarized).
Screw that POS
Forty years ago I was more sympathetic to gays and lesbians than I am now.
The endless pushing to celebrate people for their sexual behavior, celebrate paraphilias, celebrate promiscuity, take over moral teaching from parents, lead children into confusion over their sex, encourage them to mutilate themselves....always always pushing for more....that’s what might be demonic.
The pride flag has been flying in the next town over since June...may it stay up and bleach white.
New Ways Ministry are notorious militant faggots.
Who knew the devil needed so much help in championing sin?
“ Barf Alert Ping”
Lol Daily Catholic Fag Obsession
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