Vatican City, May 9, 2022 / 10:45 am (CNA).
Pope Francis has underlined that God “does not disown any of his children” in a brief message marking the launch of a new website for LGBT Catholics.
The pope made the comment in a handwritten letter dated May 8 to Father James Martin, S.J., the editor at large of America Media, the company supporting the new website, outreach.faith, launched on May 1.
In the letter, the Jesuit pope replied to questions posed by Martin, the author of “Building a Bridge,” a 2017 book advocating closer ties between the Catholic Church and the LGBT community.
Critics have accused Martin of rejecting Catholic teaching on the sinfulness of homosexual sexual acts, but he has insisted that he does not reject the teaching of the Church.
In June 2021, Pope Francis expressed support for Martin’s controversial ministry and encouraged him to “continue this way.”
Asked what he considered the most important thing for LGBT people to know about God, the pope replied in the May 8 letter: “God is Father and he does not disown any of his children. And ‘the style’ of God is ‘closeness, mercy, and tenderness.’ Along this path, you will find God.”
The pope also advised LGBT people interested in learning about the Church to read the Acts of the Apostles, the New Testament book describing the growth of the early Christian community.
“There they will find the image of the living Church,” the 85-year-old pope commented.
Pope Francis was also asked what advice he would offer to LGBT Catholics who have experienced rejection from the Church.
Writing in Spanish, he said: “I would have them recognize it not as ‘the rejection of the Church,’ but instead of ‘people in the Church.’”
“The Church is a mother and calls together all her children. Take for example the parable of those invited to the feast: “the just, the sinners, the rich and the poor, etc.” [Matthew 22:1-15; Luke 14:15-24].”
“A ‘selective’ church, one of ‘pure blood,’ is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect.”
Introducing the Outreach website, described as an “LGBTQ Catholic resource,” Martin explained that it would serve as “a clearinghouse for information” about LGBT ministries in the worldwide Church.
Outreach will host an LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference at the Fordham Lincoln Center in New York on June 24-25. The keynote address will be given by Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky.
The final speech will be delivered by Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, who was subject to a notification by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1999.
Pope Francis sent a letter to Gramick in December 2021, thanking her for her “closeness, compassion, and tenderness” during 50 years of service.
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Of course (!), Fr. James Martin doesn’t reject the teachings of the Church. The game plan is to leave these teaching in place while, at the same time, creating a categorical safe-space where the teachings are simply suspended and do not apply. The separation of faith from objective morality.
One need not wonder whether the “clearinghouse” for now a category of persons includes Veritatis Splendor, or the Catechism, or even philosophical references to natural law. Instead, tunnel vision, literally.
Is this separation of faith and morality the modern equivalent to Arianism (the separation of Christ as the incarnation, from the divinity of the Father)? If so, the 1700th Anniversary (2025 A.D.) of the Council of Nicaea has its work cut out, and the synodal path of only walking together (through 2023 A.D.) doesn’t get us there.
No one, anywhere, denies the straw-man statement that “God is Father and he does not disown any of his children.” But, do we possibly abandon Him? Indeed, His complete “style” (what?) is merciful openness to personal conversion with particular forgiveness.
If half-truths ever work their way into the New Evangelization, this would be a betrayal of the entire Church.
Does God disown their behavior?
From the moment of conception, a unique human being is determined as biologically male or female. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you…” (Jeremiah 1:5). God willed and commanded that men and women “Be fruitful and multiply.” To that end, God provided men and women with the necessary means to procreate or cooperate with His work.
Mutilation or chemical transmogrification of one’s personal, God-given, biologically determined sexual organs, fails to comply with both natural and divine law. A person engaged in sterile sexual relations cannot procreate. The LGBTQ person thus denies both himself and God the honorable meaning, use, and purpose of his life. Justice requires that men seek happiness in the way of salvation which God has set for them.
Jesus, at Matthew 7:21: Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Aquinas, together with Gregory the Great preceding him, identified ‘daughters’ or consequences pursuant to the practice of the vice of lust. The ‘daughters’ include blindness of mind, thoughtlessness, inconstancy, self-love, hatred of God, love of this world (ST II-II Q. 153, A. 5) among others.
That church leaders have no qualms about not teaching the truth of God and His way of salvation is an abomination. May God have mercy.
“A ‘selective’ church, one of ‘pure blood,’ is not Holy Mother Church, but rather a sect.”
How true. The Parable of the Wedding Feast does highlight this fact. However, from scripture we do know that though we may be invited or called, not everyone is saved. Only those in union with Jesus doing the will of the Father will be saved. Living sinful lives is not the will of the Father.
As a gauge for discerning Francis’ words, we would, for example, expect His Holiness be delighted to support Germany’s New Way [neuer Anfgang]. Example, “The Holy Tradition and the Holy Scriptures form the one sacred treasure of the Word of God left to the Church’ (Dei Verbum 10). This statement is currently of great importance: In the orientation text of the Synodal Path in Germany, this clarification, which has been carried out continuously in the 2000-year history of the church, is ignored. Instead, new sources of revelation are mentioned, which are of importance for the theological discussion, but nothing more. To place them next to the recognized sources of knowledge or even to attach a higher importance to them is so theologically adventurous that this must be classified as revolutionary or – in church language – as heretical” (Martin Grünewald neuer Anfgang).
He doesn’t. He instead prefers convivial relations with SynodalWay Bishop Bätzing, and praise of Cardinal Reinhard Marx’ Queer Liturgy [Marx’ own description]. That is why what he says regarding Outreach to LGBT, “God does not disown any of his children” may seem compassionate, except that in this context, adding his approval of Fr James Martin’s efforts for liceity of same sex activity his words appear accommodating. If the SynodalWay succeeds in severing the German Church from the Vine, this difference in response will have contributed.
Of your quote: “‘The Holy Tradition and the Holy Scriptures form the one sacred treasure of the Word of God left to the Church’ (Dei Verbum 10).” And of other such truths…
Recall that the vademecum for synodality calls for very distilled synthesis reports while, at the same time, allowing for “minority reports.” Should we be surprised if rainbow/red-hatted Hollerich, the relator/super-synthesizer for the synodal Synod on Synodality (!!!) finds that those diocesan synods explicitly (!) affirming such as what you have quoted, are found to be minority reports in the paper-trail compendium of “continental” syntheses–such that the Tradition and orthodox Catholicism (in both faith and morals) are surely still included—but weighted as a “minority report”?
Count the words…word games. Should we be surprised? Should we? Instead of being severed from the vine, the viral German sect will claim to be the main stem of a non-exclusive jungle.
Theological Wuhan!
It is Good News. The Creator is known for generosity and magnanimity.