Archdiocese of Washington, Facebook, Creative Commons
Posted on 08/05/2024 9:27:03 AM PDT by ebb tide
Archdiocese of Washington, Facebook, Creative Commons
WASHINGTON D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Addressing participants of Father James Martin’s pro-LGBT “Outreach” conference, D.C.’s Cardinal Wilton Gregory said the heterodox event is aimed at “becoming a more inclusive family of faith.”
“In many respects you are engaging in an act of synodality – the vision and invitation proposed by Pope Francis that sincerely and openly speaking and listening to one another under the light and guidance of the Holy Spirit is the way that the Church grows in perfection,” said Gregory.
READ: Fr. James Martin to host LGBTQ conference with ‘transgenderqueer Two Spirit’ doctor
The D.C. cardinal offered the conference Mass on Saturday, as over 300 so-called “LGBTQ Catholics and their allies” assembled at Georgetown University for the now annual Outreach conference.
Led by Fr. Martin S.J., the conference is a product of his LGBT activist group Outreach, which has repeatedly cast doubt on the Biblical condemnation of sodomy and promoted “Pride Month,” transgenderism, and pro-LGBT blasphemy, as LifeSiteNews has reported.
Outreach is described as “where church leaders, both clergy and lay, can encounter” the so-called “LGBTQ faithful.” The group’s executive director is openly homosexual Michael J. O’Loughlin, a writer for the Jesuits’ America magazine.
This year’s Outreach conference is sponsored in part by a man named Jim O’Connor on behalf of his deceased “husband.”
The Catholic Church teaches, in accordance with Sacred Scripture and the constant tradition of the Church, that homosexual activity is mortally sinful and a “sin that cries to heaven” and that the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered.” The Church also affirms the reality of the two sexes.
In his homily, Gregory quoted the Gospels to highlight “that unity – being joined with each other – is a goal to be achieved – and it remains a sign that Christ Himself is there in our midst.”
He lamented that “unity remains an elusive enterprise,” both in the political and ecclesial sphere. “Unity does not mean uniformity or sameness of opinion in heart and mind,” he remarked. “There is a word that we frequently use to describe the spiritual connectedness that must be the goal of our Catholic Church – Communion.”
But Gregory failed to note that Communion requires profession of the apostolic faith, which condemns homosexuality. (CCC 815)
Praising the attendees of the conference, Gregory opined that the “assembly is dedicated to the pursuit of our becoming a more inclusive family of faith.”
READ: Fr. James Martin on Roe reversal: ‘Minute-old zygote’ is ‘not the same’ as 9-month-old preborn baby
He added that “[o]ccasionally, we may find it difficult as Catholics and as Americans to achieve such a state of being together harmoniously.” However, he called on the participants to prioritize “unity,” saying that “unity must remain a goal and a desire for both institutions – an aspiration that we must strive to achieve and to value.”
As has become customary, the conference received an endorsement from Pope Francis, as a handwritten letter from the Pope was publicized last Thursday.
“I am glad that Cardinal Gregory will celebrate the Mass; I will be spiritually with him and with all of you, united in prayer,” wrote Francis in the letter sent to Martin.
READ: Pope Francis tells pro-LGBT conference: ‘I will be spiritually with all of you’
While Gregory praised the conference for purportedly intending to assist the Church become “a more inclusive family of faith,” the keynote speakers are notable for controversy over LGBT issues and promoting a non-Catholic acceptance of homosexuality.
As reported by LifeSite on Friday, ex-Jesuit Father William Hart McNichols and Jewish Biblical professor Amy-Jill Levine were billed as the keynote speakers for the conference.
McNichols is an openly homosexual priest who has become known for his LGBT activism.
A longtime iconographer, McNichols’ works include a number of pro-LGBT, sacrilegious items, including the work from 1989 “The Stations of the Cross of a Person With AIDS.”
READ: Father James Martin’s conference, endorsed by Pope Francis, to host pro-LGBT speakers
Another work of his from that decade was his 1986 “AIDS Crucifixion,” a pro-homosexual image that blasphemes Christ.
Dr. Levine is a professor of New Testament and Jewish studies at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. Though speaking at an event billed for Catholics, Levine has stated that she is “not a believer in Jesus” as God.
Her Biblical interpretation includes falsely arguing that homosexual acts are permitted by certain Scriptural passages. However, Catholic moral teaching declares that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” and “contrary to the natural law.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church is very clear that homosexual activity can never be approved and repeats that “[h]omosexual persons are called to chastity.”
In 1986, Pope John Paul II and the Vatican’s doctrinal office issued the document “On the pastoral care of homosexual persons,” which emphasizes how “special concern and pastoral attention should be directed toward those who have this condition, lest they be led to believe that the living out of this orientation in homosexual activity is a morally acceptable option. It is not.”
The rotation of priests around varies by diocese and by bishop. The “family of parishes” is a response to the artificially induced shortage of priests. To wit: orthodoxy begets vocations. A diocese in which heresy runs rampant will see few vocations.
Thanks.
It’s already here and all it needs to be is formalized.
Maybe should have made this a “Catholic Caucus” so I wouldn’t have wasted the time it took to read vile post number 6.
As reported by LifeSite on Friday, ex-Jesuit Father William Hart McNichols and Jewish Biblical professor Amy-Jill Levine were billed as the keynote speakers for the conference.
Dr. Levine is a professor of New Testament and Jewish studies at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace. Though speaking at an event billed for Catholics, Levine has stated that she is “not a believer in Jesus” as God.
Why she was invited, I have no idea.
Many years back, I was taking a course whose professor once studied to be a priest. He professed to be Catholic but in class avoided confessing his faith. I discerned he didn't want to offend the Jewish students, so he compromised by treating Jesus as a 'prophet'. I confronted the man privately, pointing out his compromise & hypocrisy. Unexpectedly, he agreed that he was compromising his true faith in Christ.
There are Christians who treat Jews who reject Christ as something special because they are Jews. This is wrong on many levels.
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