With the scandals concerning Cardinal McCarrick’s homosexual liaisons and the Pennsylvania report on homosexual priests and their episcopal enablers in the forefront of every Catholic’s mind, two major public events are occurring or about to occur: this week’s World Meeting of Families in post-Catholic Ireland and in October Pope Francis’ latest synod, the Synod on Youth, which will take place in Rome.
What effect might these two events have on how homosexuality is viewed and understood in the Church? That question is especially important as various influential writers and commentators are advocating for change. Foremost among them is the Jesuit author Fr. James Martin, S.J., who has over a quarter million followers on Twitter and is a regular guest on major television networks.
In his 2017 book, Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the L.G.B.T Community Can Enter Into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity, Fr. Martin says of homosexuality that “some bishops have already called for the church to set aside the phrase ‘objectively disordered’” in the Catechism. To label “the deepest parts of a person – the part that gives and receives love” as “disordered” is “needlessly hurtful,” says Fr. Martin. It is “needlessly cruel.” The National Catholic Reporter thanked Fr. Martin for his book and fully endorsed changing moral doctrine: “Without a change in the church’s teaching on sex and sexuality, can LGBT people ever hope to be treated with equality and justice by the hierarchy?”
In receiving the annual award of a LGBT organization, Martin stated that “God made” LGBT people “who they are.” At a speech at Villanova University he expressed his hope that gay men “in ten years” would be able “to kiss your partner” at the kiss of peace at Mass. He has said that “some saints were probably gay or lesbian.
Since publication of his book, Fr. Martin has traveled across the United States promoting his message. His campaign has been specifically endorsed by key Pope Francis appointees in the Church in the U.S. All three American cardinals appointed by Pope Francis—Cupich, Farrell, and Tobin—have strongly endorsed Fr. Martin’s book and his work. (In addition to Fr. Martin, all three cardinals are scheduled to moderate panels at the meeting in Ireland.) However, substantial opposition to Martin by laymen and women has occurred across the country. As a response to numerous articles about clerical homosexuality in the McCarrick scandal and the report about the Pennsylvania dioceses, Fr. Martin just took to the New York Times on August 15 to defend his agenda: “Lately, I have also been angry with the Catholic commentators who have been using these revelations to advance their own agendas, so that the suffering of children becomes an opportunity to stir up hatred, for example, of all gay priests, or L.G.B.T. people in general.”
Immediately after the publication of Building a Bridge, Martin was promoted by Pope Francis in April 2017 to be a consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications. Now, he has been chosen by Francis-appointee Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, who, as the Vatican’s Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, is the organizer of the World Meeting of Families, to give a keynote presentation at the event. “The organizers,” says Martin, “have asked me to speak about how parishes can welcome L.G.B.T. Catholics, as well as their parents and families. So I hope to share ‘best practices’ from parishes that have successfully reached out to the L.G.B.T. Catholic community.” Martin has entitled his talk at the Meeting next week: “Showing welcome and respect in our Parishes for ‘LGBT’ people and their Families.” According to Catholic journalist Sandro Magister, “Martin will be among the speakers and guests, together with homosexual couples from all over the world.”
To what degree, then, does the campaign of American Jesuit and Pope Francis insider Fr. James Martin become the agenda for parishes in the Catholic Church throughout the world?
With his famous “Who am I to judge?” and “We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods,” Francis established a change in the Church’s attitude towards homosexuality early in his pontificate. Indeed, in Amoris Laetitia, some of the most prominent and debated passages are not by their terms limited to the subjects of divorce, remarriage, and reception of Holy Communion. In Amoris, Francis says that “I am not speaking only of the divorced and remarried but of everyone, in whatever situation they find themselves.” (297). He then continues: “it can no longer simply be said that all those in any ‘irregular’ situation are living in a state of mortal sin and deprived of sanctifying grace.” (301). Of co-habitation, he says that “respect can also be shown for those signs of love which in some way reflect God’s own love” (294).
The subject of homosexuality occurs in all the documents of the synods of Pope Francis. In the first week of the first session, the Extraordinary Session in 2014, of the Synod on the Family, an interim report (relatio post disceptationem) was released which caused an uproar—as described by veteran Catholic journalist Phil Lawler in his book Lost Shepherd—and accusations that the report was a false account of the content and substance of the discussions of homosexuality by the attending bishops. Written by Francis’ appointed officials who controlled the organizational and procedural aspect of the synod, it said that “Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community.” Far from criticizing homosexual marriage, it stated merely that “unions between people of the same sex cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony between man and woman.”
The protests of the bishops led to a substantial paring down in the Relatio Synodi, the final report of the first session of the Synod of the Family. That document said that there were “no grounds” to compare homosexual unions to marriage, but also added that “men and women with a homosexual tendency ought to be received with respect and sensitivity. ‘Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided’,” a statement that was repeated in the final report of the second, the Ordinary, session of the Family Synod in 2015.
On issues of sexual morality, including homosexuality, the Vatican’s pre-synodal document, Instrumentum Laboris, released in March in preparation for this year’s October meeting of the Synod on Youth goes well beyond Amoris Laetitia and any of the documents of the Family Synod. It is said in that document that some young people “do not agree . . . but still want to be part of the Church anyhow” with the “controversial issues” of “contraception, abortion, homosexuality, cohabitation, and marriage.” (And this is an edited version of the original March 29 document which called the issues “polemical” and about which the Church may want to “change her teachings.” See my March 29th article “The Youth Synod: The next step in the Francis papacy”.)
Before the final session of the Synod on the Family, Pope Francis unilaterally promulgated a major change in the procedures governing annulments. Two weeks ago, Francis unilaterally changed the text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the death penalty and said that it was now “inadmissible”. On homosexuality, some groundwork, as described above, has apparently already been prepared. By November of this year, what could Fr. Martin’s “sensitivity” mean in practice for the world-wide Church?
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“How the Catholic Church and the L.G.B.T Community Can Enter Into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity”
There is no reason at all that the Church, or anybody else for that matter, should respect a “community” whose entire reason for being is to promote perversion and evil.
“Fr. Martin says of homosexuality that “some bishops have already called for the church to set aside the phrase ‘objectively disordered’” in the Catechism. To label “the deepest parts of a person – the part that gives and receives love” as “disordered” is “needlessly hurtful,” says Fr. Martin. It is “needlessly cruel.””
Father Martin is either evil or colossally stupid. What does he say, then, to someone whose “deepest part” tells him he should be giving and receiving “love” from small children, from animals, from family members.
He is also an imbecile in that he is confusing love with sexual pleasure.
Strangely, I don’t care in the least if someone who is advocating evil is getting his tender ickle feewings hurt.
Father Martin should have been defrocked the moment he started spouting this evil and didn’t repent.
Thank you for your comments. Martin is a heretic and the fact the Pope has given him a position in the Vatican speaks volumes!
Sorry, I forgot to add: What about “sensitivity” to adulterers, murderers, thieves, perjurers, or any of a number of other sins? After all, maybe they feeeeeeeel that that is the very deepest part of their being.
It is important to note that a same-sex sexual attraction is something that a person can initially develop through some kind of trauma, abusive situation, or confusion in regards to the purpose of sexual Love, thus it is an emotional development issue that can be overcome by healing one’s wounds and learning how to develop healthy and holy relationships that are grounded in authentic Love. It is not Loving or Merciful to encourage anyone to embrace a disordered same-sex sexual attraction through the erroneous claim that a disordered sexual attraction is “The very deepest part of their being”.
Let’s not forget the love of money. After all, misers have loving relationships with it and get pleasure from it ( as do a few Bishops and priests). And prostitutes, male or female, have the capability of affection and a certain kind of monetarily motivated love, I must assume. So what the heck, why pay attention to Ephesians V?
Thomas Ascik you’ve identified our dilemma. A Roman Pontiff setting the groundwork for implementation of a New Paradigmatic approach to homosexuality as consistent with human nature. That is the apparent reason the Pope replaces homosexuality with “clericalism” as the sin in his recent letter of apology to Church and world. The prospect of his initiating a serious process of purifying the Church of homosexual hierarchy and clerical networking, which he alone possesses the authority to effect is remote. There are grades of seriously offending God the perversity of same sex behavior is among the higher. The reason as Saint Thomas Aquinas indicates in the Summa is that it repudiates Natural Law here a clear reflection of the Eternal Law. The absolute deviation of Man created in His image. That is why unlike other sins he calls it an abomination. My inner conviction since youth was if the world and specifically the Church were ever to condone homosexuality as a good it would signal the age of Antichrist. With courage sacrifice and prayer we may still spare the Church from the wrath to come.
Fr James Martin should not be allowed to speak at the World Meeting of Families.
If one of outcomes of this Meeting will be that the Church condones homosexuality,
we will know that the Pope is the Antichrist.
Would like to copy/paste your reply to social media, with your permission, and proper link to this article of course.
Fr. Morello, Mr. Ascik, you are on the money. All the comments of the pope, AL, the revision of the Catechism (simply state: “it is against the logic of the Gospel” and it is done?) point to the end game: all sex will be declared clean, and (as the Germans have signaled) the age of great forgiveness and recompense toward the “LGBT community” must begin. The strategy is as clear as day. The question is, what is the response? What is the plan of the faithful when it is unveiled? All of the pope’s preparatory work has met with some resistance and then, it seems, acquiescence. There should be no excuse for being caught flat-footed on this. Someone of sufficient stature must unite the faithful cardinals, bishops, priests and take the fight to this heresy.
“A Roman Pontiff setting the groundwork for implementation of a New Paradigmatic approach to homosexuality as consistent with human nature.”
.
It is sick and extremely sad/sorry situation. I haven’t listened to the radio in awhile, but I used to hear adverts/PSA’s about mental health issues and the need to talk about them. It is extremely ironic since homosexuality used to be in the diagnostic manual; no longer, and trying to arrange therapy to overcome, if only partly, same-sex attraction is getting harder I hear. And certainly does NOT seem to be promoted by the Church. I do not believe homosexuals are evil, but my word, it certainly should not be celebrated. Who celebrates getting the Flu or Shingles?
Kathryn in some instances the person’s same sex attraction is due to some previous emotional trauma or some psycho social influence that affects their comprehension of this predilection and it seems normal to them. There are mitigating factors though not always. There’s more indication that the growing phenomenon of same sex behavior is elective due to amorality and evil.
Very rarely are persons born with a disorder that stems from hormonal imbalance or some other physical impediment. The bottom line is we’re dealing with a predominantly elective immoral disorder. Nonetheless compassion is always the rule for us and if possible conversion. I’ve heard confessions of homosexuals some struggling some leading chaste saintly lives. The disorder then itself is not always sinful though if elective is. As Bishop Morlino argues it mustn’t be treated as natural behavior and accommodated. It must be called what it is, an act that by nature is intrinsically disordered and sinful.
No promotion for you, Fr Peter!
If sensitivity is required in dealing with homosexuals, perhaps then the same applies in dealing with serial murderers? After all, a sinner is a sinner. Why must one sinner be treated more sensitively than others? Or for that matter (with the sensitivity we must treat the environment) how can we deal sensitively with the major polluters, with the chemical corporations who spew toxic chemicals in to the environment.
Perhaps “sins” against the environment are of a different class that must be castigated but those that God has decreed as abominations must be treated gently.
God was not so sensitive then to Sodom, and hence fails Fr Martin’s test.
I once heard someone say that if God doesn’t do something soon, He will owe Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.
Fr. Martin… No wonder Jesus wept.
I just read Archbishop Vigneron (detroit) message to me and no mention of the vile nature of their homosexual acts. Waste of my time reading that!
Oops. My bad. Bishop Cistone has released a statement.
I think it was St. Augustine in his work, City of God, that stated, basically, “love the sinner, but hate the sin”. While compassion is good, misplaced compassion is bad. We – as God’s people – need to resist this move in the Church (if this is the actual agenda) of normalizing homosexuality.
The most noteworthy aspect of the current Pontificate is that it has begun to fully expose the number of demonically possessed intrinsically disordered sexual deviants masquerading as Catholic Priests and consecrated religious. The past five and a half years has been like watching a multi-car accident occur in slow motion.
All peoples should be treated with dignity and respect. There is a difference, however, between acknowledging ones innate dignity as a child of God and their behavior. God established norms of behavior that are acceptable AND unacceptable. Those in the LGBT community are children of God in need of mercy and redemption, just like all sinners (myself included). We should welcome the LGBT community with open arms and in love remind them that God’s love and mercy, though infinite, does have restrictions. Like a good parent, out of His infinite love, God sets limits knowing that certain behaviors if indulged in lead to destruction (psychologically, emotionally, physically, socially, and most especially spiritually). As a father I won’t let my child play hopscotch in the busy street in front of our house. She says it makes her happy, it makes her “feel good”, etc. etc. Would I be a loving father if I gave in to her pleading and allowed her to play in the street? Letting her know this behavior will most likely lead to her death (being hit by a car) in no way diminishes her human worth, dignity or right to be treated with respect. By the same token, though I understand Fr. Martin’s desire for the church to treat the LGBT community with dignity and respect, as a “father” he is doing them a great disservice by telling them it’s perfectly acceptable to play hopscotch in the street. The blood from their spiritual “deaths” will be on his hands! Fr. Martin and the world media have established a narrative portraying the Church as some sort of puritanical tyrant. This narrative is the opposite of the truth. The Church is in fact a loving mother looking out for the well being of her children. We just have to do a better job of presenting that narrative in love.
Well said.
“There is a difference, however, between acknowledging ones innate dignity as a child of God and their behavior”
Ahem. We are not all Children of God. See Scripture. It’s one of the chief heresies afoot.
Romans one…New Testament…is total condemnation of gay acts of both genders but three Popes in a row have denigrated parts of the Bible despite Christ saying, “ the scriptures cannot be broken”. It began with Von Balthasar ignoring Christ in Luke 13:24…about “many will seek to enter on that day and will not be able”…and it ended with the recent death penalty fiasco. So that now doctrine is not Bible sourced…it’s whoever is more magisterial…Francis wins every time and the correction never quite happens.
This brings back Newman’s term for a Magisterium temporarily heretical in a given area and he was talking of the magisterium in the 4th century regarding the Arian error. He said the Ecclesia docens ( teaching Church) was in a “suspense” ( our suspended animation ). I would say rather that we’re getting a new cynicism about Magisterial guidance when it’s not ex cathedra. From St. JPII departing from all scriptures as a block involved on wifely obedience in TOB and Dignity of Women to his seeing Gen.9:5-6 on the death penalty, removing the dp part, and citing the rest in EV sect. 39…to Benedict attacking herem massacres as coming from God (as scripture asserts they did multiple times) (in Verbum Domini sect.42)…to legions of clergy ignoring Romans 1 on the source of homosexuality ( a previous break with God prior to gay acts)….it all says to the Catholic laity….hell, these dudes can change Scripture then why can’t we. And then there’s Pope Francis…seemingly the low point in scripture memorization of all Popes that ever lived who embarassed the Church for ages to come with his interpretation of the 5th commandment as condemning the death penalty which told all conservative Protestants that
our Popes don’t read the entire Bible…ever. I could have told them that. Parts of Scripture made the last three Popes hurl. These last two fiascos…death penalty and largely gay scandals…probably will get a totally a-scriptural treatment…that should be past tense…they did already. The Church is weak and converting few highly educated minds ( thank God for the African bush) because she has drifted far from the totality of the scriptures…she uses pieces only…that comply with nytimes values. This is our frightening context as we move toward a Meeting on Families in abortion friendly Ireland with Fr. Martin speaking. Fortunately if you have a great pastor, it is the parish level where Catholicism exists 24 hours a day. Shut out the macro. Your letters to them will rarely be answered. It is the parish that will become the real deal for awhile. The a-scriptural damage started well before Francis though he is the comedic result.
Excuse me while I wretch.
This is abandoning homosexual catholics who are living a life of chastity, shown in groups such as Courage, sponsored and supported in many dioceses. These are the cruel leaders who are not supporting their own people in the Christian life. Time for them to be shouted down and thrown out.
Myles,
Chaste gays are saints but by a 2016 decree by Francis, they are not supposed to be in the clergy either because I suspect…Christ warned of a devil leaving a person and returning with 7 spirits stronger than itself. The OT also says, “do not be without fear for sins forgiven.”
until the Church deals with gayism and gay predation in the seminaries and parishes, and as it is ongoing now, they may as well stop everything.. few trust them, it’s all sin. This Pope is clearly lying about the issue and is taking the ‘gay side’ with his ‘clericalism’. We all know it’s much more than that. This is more cover up and bs. Let them move on and out on their new paradigm. If you go there you ‘re on the path to gay monopoly, and nothing to do with the Tradition and Teaching of the Church. Go only where true priests are. An incredible mess. ?The Church is infiltrated by homosexuals and this Pope embraces it! WHo would ever have thought!? P. francis is doing more damage each week.. i doubt he will have his way. he has caused a terrible division in the Church that forces faithful Catholics to break divine law.. on homosexuality, reception of the Eucharist, adultery, etc. Very deeply serious. All I know is that he, p.francis, cannot be followed. Quo vadis? we will see, but it will be with the real Church.
Bergoglio has been running the Church like a worldly party boss implementing the agenda of those who put him in power, not like one with the grace that comes with the office of Successor of Peter. Could that be because he simply does not have that grace?
It is time re-examine the validity of the election of Bergoglio.
See:
If Ivereigh is to be believed, was Bergoglio’s election invalid?
and
Ivereigh + UDG 81 = A Radical Problem for the Pope
“God is not a God of confusion, but of peace …”
— 1 Corinthians 14:33
Francis sows confusion continually. The spirit behind that is not the Holy Spirit.
No doubt, a number of bishops would have been familiar with this statement and voted accordingly:
Page 117, of the pope’s book, authored by Jorge Bergoglio, “On Heaven and Earth”, in regards to same-sex unions:
If there is a union of a PRIVATE NATURE, THERE IS NEITHER A THIRD PARTY NOR IS SOCIETY AFFECTED. Now, if this union is given the category of marriage and they are given adoption rights, there could be children affected. Every person needs a male father and female mother that can help them shape their identity. – Jorge Mario Bergoglio
This so typifies the progressive Catholic failure. Gay marriage is not primarily offensive because it is non-procreative. It is offensive because it is the validation of homosexuality, which is sinful. The sequencing there is key. Gay sex is not OK. Ever. Hence gay marriage is not OK. Punto.
IOW, Catholics cannot affirm gays as OK. They aren’t. They are fundamentally disordered. And everyone already knows this.
Back to Square One.
That should read cardinals, not bishops.
That big elephant in the room is getting restless.
To no degree can this anti Christ campaign be accepted.
Those who desire to create and affirm a separate personhood in order to identify themselves or others according to sexual desire/inclination/orientation, which sexually objectifies the human person, in direct violation of God’s Commandment regarding lust and the sin of adultery, are guilty of denying the respect, compassion, and sensitivity due to those persons who desire to overcome their disordered same-sex sexual attractions, and are called to fulfill God’s Will in their life, that all persons desire and accept and thus experience authentic Salvational Love, God’s Gift of Grace and Mercy.
Love, which is always rightly ordered to the inherent personal and relational dignity of the human person, as a beloved son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, father, mother, is devoid of lust.
I will never join the bandwagon of those who abuse, bully, and profess all forms of hate for homosexuals. I will come to their aid if I see this occurring, not because I support homosexuality, but because it is unchristian to stand by and witness violence and cruelty against another. While I believe that homosexuality is a sin, I must acknowledge my own sins as well and with that profess we all have come up short in the sight of God. There are basic human needs that all are entitled to have and anything that tries to take that away I will not support. I do not enable, I do not endorse, but that does not mean that I or anyone has the right to abandon their faith in what Jesus has told us to commit more sin by how we treat our fellow brothers and sisters.
” There are basic human needs that all are entitled to have and anything that tries to take that away I will not support.”
What are you talking about? Are you saying that homosexual actions are a “basic human need” and you won’t support the Church in forbidding that?
As the mother of a daughter who developed a same-sex sexual attraction as the result of the perfect storm, I assure you, I Love my daughter, as I Love all my children, and I desire that she, like all my children, develop healthy and Holy friendships and relationships that are grounded in authentic Love, and thus respectful of herself and others, in private, and in public.
How then, can anyone claim that refusing to condone same-sex sexual acts, or any sexual act, that demeans the inherent Dignity of our beloved sons and daughters, is an act of hate? Love requires the desire to keep our children from engaging in behavior that is physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually harmful and destructive.
Serving someone’s basic needs does not require the condoning of demeaning sexual behavior.
Father Martin has set himself apart from The Catholic Church because he denies the sanctity of the marital act within The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
“hose who abuse, bully, and profess all forms of hate”
Bumblebee, go sting thyself. And quit tilting a bogus windmills already. It gets old.
I am very new to this forum, but I do have one blunt question? Is Fr. James Martin himself a homosexual? The only reason I ask is that if he is, then his entire agenda will skewed from that perspective?
I do think he is. Several times he has been asked and he refuses to answer either in the affirmative or the negative. So what’s with that?
Furthermore, his mannerisms and demeanor betray him. Whether he is active we don’t know. But his aggressive push for the normalization of this disorder should give us a clue.
Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR, spoke in a conference I heard myself about a man to whom he had ministered. The man was dying of AIDS after a homosexual lifestyle. In their last meeting, before the man died, he told Fr. Apostoli, “i have met the perfect lover, Jesus.” Even a disordered tendency can be healed by Our Lord. Our job is that of Philip to Nathaniel, “We have found the Messiah. Come and see.”
We don’t know if Jim Martin is a practicing homosexual. We do know is a friend of the Gay Movement, and that hardly any clerics will say a word against him, and most will gush over his books.
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2018/05/09/caught-in-culture-wars/
After this week in the courts of Virginia and NY, Trump is fially getting his legal due. Not only is he in major difficulty with the voters, but it appears that he is in equal difficulty with th4 Catholic Church. The church concern should be more than the RTL issue. Trump has failed on many moral fronts. When he shot form the hip in ordering DOD to remove all transgender soldiers. It is becoming so boring that my eyes are glazing over.
This has what, exactly, to do with the topic of this article?
Since you bring it up: There is no such thing as “transgender.” There are people with mental illnesses who think, incorrectly, that they are of the sex opposite to that which they really are, and who in a vain attempt to make it so sometimes go even so far as to have themselves maimed. The military should never have admitted people with severe mental illness in the first place and should certainly not be paying to support those people in their delusions.
For something so boring you certainly do have a litany to cite.
You remain ever bizarre.
God told us sodomy is an abomination and Fr Martin says it is love.
Who do you believe.?
Fr. Martin’s tactics include a whole host of logical fallacies from ad hominem (labeling anyone who disagrees with him as “homophobic”) to appeal to emotion.
If Fr. Martin is a closet heretic (& since he is very cagey I wouldn’t put it past him) then why let him steal the narative of charity, respect, compassion and love toward those with same sex attraction?
Gays fall into two categories for the Catholic Church. The converted and unconverted. The converted acknowledge having sex with someone of the same gender is alway wrong & have chosen to submit to the Church’s teachings(& they struggle like the rest of us with sin) and the unconverted have not yet embraced this truth.
I have seen hysterical reactionaries both “conservatives” and “trads” cast shade on other orthodox Catholics for simply calling themselves “gay” (event thought they confess the Church’s orthodox teachings on homosexual sex). Growing up I have seen unkindness and hostility toward gay people. I have seen them bullied and I have seen parents who treat their gay kids like lepers (while turning a blind eye to straight kids who fornicate).
Let us face it we are paying for our own sinful lack of charity. Our dark need to throw stones at the adulteress (especially if she is a lesbian) & to deny this exists serves only the Devil.
BTW speaking of the Devil I am not suprised that he might try to subvert faith by stealing the charity narative and misusing it for his own ends. If Fr. Martin is like Fr. Marcel and secretly believes in making homosexual conduct “moral” by hidding it behind false charity I submit the answer to it is not to abandon charity.
We must always be kind and friendly toward gays. We must see beyond their sexuality if only because there are six other deadly sins that might afflict them too & focusing only on one is idiotic.
If Fr. Martin has a secret agenda I submit the first step in disarming is agreement to the obvious that he teaches. Unequivocal agreement in that area is needed. Then we can remind him that the Bible & Apostolic Tradition still teaches homoerotic sex acts are intrinsically evil. Is there love in gay relationships? Of course anytime gays will legitimate goods for others they love. The thing is having sex with someone who is the same gender as you is not objectively an act of love no matter what other legitimate acts of love one might will for their “partners”.
It is that simple.
“I have seen hysterical reactionaries both “conservatives” and “trads” cast shade on other orthodox Catholics for simply calling themselves “gay” (event thought they confess the Church’s orthodox teachings on homosexual sex).”
Generally, the people proclaiming themselves to be “gay” are not confessing the Church’s orthodox teachings and are not fighting against any temptations under which they are suffering. Using the word “gay” is a corruption of a perfectly good word meaning bright and cheerful, and I resent it fiercely.
Leslie, Jim has a valid point. There may other areas, good and bad, that might also need our attention when dealing with homosexuals. Not only homosexuals but others as swell. If homosexuals see Gay activists showing them love and concern, they will gravitate towards the activists. Showing Christ-like love and compassion is the Christian way. We should not let the activists own it – just as they now own the word Gay.
I saw a play on TV many years ago, and the theme of the play was “Make it Gay”. They were gay actors aiming to make everything they did or touched gay.
Gays, like many others, are the lost souls that our Lord came to redeem.
Well, there are some very sincere comments above and I respect them. My own take on Fr Martin’s book (which I have read) is that he is wanting to find a way to make Catholic LGBT people feel more welcome in the church. The church shares the love of God, the inclusiveness of Jesus. That really is all he is on about.
There is the problem…..another form of priestly abuse..the false compassion and theology of liberals..Either our Holy Father is complicit in his choice of Martin or very uniformed . I hope it is the latter. No mention of the Lord Jesus Christ when the Pope spoke at Dublin castle ( not even in his opening greeting)..just like the the address to the US Congress. Plus the humiliation of being lectured to, by an Irish establishment who endorse the worst form of child abuse, the unborn child in the sanctuary of the womb. Our Lord’s lesson in motes and beams would have been a good talking point for the Pope.
I think that Joseph Sciambra has written a very important article about his experience as described in the article:
Should the Catholic Church apologize to gays?
by Joseph Sciambra
https://josephsciambra.com/should-the-catholic-church-apologize-to-gays/