He said the woman was disappointed that the successor to Pope John Paul II would probably not make any significant changes in Catholic teaching.
The pope won't make any changes because, unlike Vicki Gene Robinson, he can't.
Posted on 11/10/2005 5:53:53 AM PST by NYer
The first openly gay Episcopal bishop insisted Wednesday he was not encouraging Roman Catholics to leave their church when he criticized its view of homosexuals during a recent speech in London.
New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, at a service Friday commemorating the 10th anniversary of Changing Attitude, a British group which advocates full inclusion of gays in the Anglican faith community, noted during his talk that many Catholics in his home state were becoming Episcopalian.
"Pope Ratzinger may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church," Robinson said, referring to former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI. But Robinson said in a phone interview Wednesday from New Hampshire that he was recounting what a Catholic woman told him about why she was joining the Protestant denomination -- not expressing his own opinion. He said the woman was disappointed that the successor to Pope John Paul II would probably not make any significant changes in Catholic teaching.
Robinson said he had commented on Catholic issues in response to a question from a gay Catholic struggling with his place in his church. Catholic teaching considers gay sex "intrinsically disordered."
Robinson said he told the man that it was an "act of violence against gay folk" that the Vatican was considering instructing its seminaries to bar homosexuals and viewed it as an attempt by Catholic leaders to blame gays for the clergy sex abuse crisis. But Robinson said he told the young man that he should live "such that the light of Christ so shone through him that no one in his church could doubt his full membership in the body of Christ."
"I was not encouraging this young Roman Catholic man to be confrontative in any way," Robinson said.
Robinson's 2003 consecration sparked a crisis within world Anglicanism; the majority of Anglicans overseas believe gay relationships violate Scripture. It also has created tensions between the 77-million-member Anglican Communion and other denominations, including the Catholic Church. The Episcopal Church is the communion's U.S. branch.
He said the woman was disappointed that the successor to Pope John Paul II would probably not make any significant changes in Catholic teaching.
The pope won't make any changes because, unlike Vicki Gene Robinson, he can't.
How insulting!
Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
So he really wants to make endoring the gay lifestyle the litmus test of appropriate belief?
Is the major point dividing Catholicism and Anglicanism to be the gay lifestyle?
Does he want this added to a catechism?
MY EYES!!!
Funny picture of Vicky Gene playing dress up
I used to be Episcopal, now, I am Catholic. Guess why Gene?
If I wasn't so disgusted, I could get very angry.
You put it much better than I could have!
Personally, I'd love to see so-called "Catholics" - like Kerry, Leahy, Daschle and ALL the Kennedys - go ahead and leave our Church to hook up with the Episcopalians. The reason that will never happen is that, when election time comes around, I've never heard any of the various political analysts mention the importance of the "Episcopalian vote".
Never play chess with an Episcopalian - because they can't tell a bishop from a queen.
Robinson Receives his Miter from his Partner
November 2003
Now that a few days have passed and he's cooled down a little, he's had time to regain his public composure, cook up some improbable cover story and regather his "serious clergyman" act.
Robes do not a bishop make.
Ping!
Gene: "Arise, and do what you want."
The above mentioned left the Church a long time ago. Sold their souls to the devil for votes.
Indeed, what are the Episcopals down to now in numbers? 2 million on the roles and about 800,000 active members. Wonder how that compares to Unitarians.
Theology of the Body is an excellent book and put into perpective the divine plan of marriage and the role of sexuality in marriage as it relates to that plan.
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