"Blessing" Gays, Decentralization And "Clerical Stiffness"
The latest madness from the false man centered religion of Vatican II...
German diocese discusses special ritual to bless gay couples
FRANKFURT, Germany, December 14, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – The Diocese of Limburg, in Frankfurt, Germany, is discussing a special ritual to bless homosexual couples. One of two new appointees in the diocese for pastoral care to homosexuals is a Jesuit priest who admits already offering blessings in private.The German newspaper Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported the following on December 11 about Father Ansgar Wucherpfennig, the rector of the Jesuit Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology:
Wucherpfennig said that he had already blessed homosexual couples, as did other priests, too, but not in a public service. It needs a special sensitivity in order to establish a specific ritual [for the blessing of homosexuals].As the Dean of the Catholic Church of Frankfurt, Father Johannes zu Eltz, announced, the program has been approved by the Diocese of Limburg. And, as the FAZ reports, zu Eltz “announced a first discussion about a Church blessing and ceremony for homosexuals.” He called it a “question of justice which one cannot suppress.” Father Wucherpfennig, according to the FAZ, insisted that “the homosexuals have found their place in the Church, also as critical members.” Zu Eltz is quoted as saying, “It is important to treat homosexuals with openness and appreciation.”
Catholic blogger Mathias von Gersdorff points out that the Graduate School Sankt Georgen – which is headed by Wucherpfennig – is “known for its extravagant theological positions.” And he comments:
These sad statements show once more how certain ecclesiastical circles in Germany are willing to ignore the Catholic Magisterium and the practice of the Universal Church in order to enter into a “German Sonderweg [special path].” The fact that the last Synod of Bishops rejected the idea to deal with the topic of homosexuality has no weight for the German Progressivism. This progressivism is determined to implement its agenda.Importantly, the former bishop of Limburg, Bishop Franz Peter von Tebartz-van Elst, who was recently removed from his diocese, strongly opposed the blessing of a homosexual couple in 2008 by a local priest, Peter Kollas. Kollas had blessed the couple in the Dome of Wetzlar and he was removed from his position as provincial Dean, even though he remained in his position as pastor.
Top US Catholic bishop denounces anti-Islam backlash to shootings
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has denounced the backlash against Muslims and refugees in the wake of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, apparently by a pair of radicalized Muslims. (CNS/Bob Roller)
The leader of the nation’s Catholic bishops on Monday denounced the backlash against Muslims and refugees in the wake of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, apparently by a pair of radicalized Muslims.Americans “must resist the hatred and suspicion that leads to policies of discrimination,” said Louisville Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“Policies of fear and inflammatory rhetoric will only offer extremists fertile soil and pave the way toward a divisive, fearful future,” he said, while also lamenting the toll of the Dec. 2 shooting that left 14 people dead and more than a dozen wounded.
In his statement, Kurtz also decried the Nov. 27 murders at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, allegedly by a gunman who may have been motivated by opposition to abortion and his Christian beliefs. Violence “can never be justified by invoking the name of God,” Kurtz said.
The thrust of Kurtz’s statement on the twin tragedies that have roiled the country and prompted fierce debates on gun violence and Islamic extremism was to counsel against anger, fear, and overreaction.
Referring to the Planned Parenthood shooting, allegedly by suspect Robert Dear, that left three people dead and nine wounded, Kurtz said the Catholic Church wants to “encourage responsible firearms regulation” rather than blaming those with mental illness.
“When we fail to see the difference between our enemies and people of good will, we lose a part of who we are as people of faith,” Kurtz said. “Policies of fear and inflammatory rhetoric will only offer extremists fertile soil and pave the way toward a divisive, fearful future.”
The archbishop’s statement was notable in part because Catholic leaders have been strong defenders of religious freedom in recent years, but have come under scrutiny for their quiet response to the blistering verbal and physical attacks against Muslims in recent days. A powerful statement in defense of Muslims issued last week by the archbishop of Detroit was an exception.
In addition, while many Catholic leaders lamented the San Bernardino shooting, those statements contrasted with the relative lack of response to the shooting at the Planned Parenthood clinic, which performs abortions.
Also, Kurtz’s mention of gun control was unusual because, in spite of concern expressed by a few bishops over gun violence, the US hierarchy has not made the issue a priority.
Kurtz said the Church prays for those who suffered in the attacks, and added that “violence and hate in the world around us must be met with resolve and courage.”
But he said Americans should not give in to fear. He pledged that the Catholic Church would continue to resettle refugees and battle “religious discrimination” against anyone.
“Let us confront the extremist threat with courage and compassion, recognizing that Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and many other religions are united in opposition to violence carried out in their name,” Kurtz concluded.
Vatican II the False Religion based upon Human Dignity
Francis: work in accord with human dignity
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in a major pastoral initiative aimed at young people and sponsored by the Bishops Conference of Italy – the CEI – on Monday. The Progetto Policoro began twenty years ago as a program to help unemployed young people of southern Italy to develop skills, find work, and most importantly, nurture a healthy sense of dignity and self-worth by creating and developing ties to the larger ecclesial and social community.
In the two decades since its founding through the work of don Mario Operti (a priest of the archdiocese of Turin), the Progetto Policoro
has grown and spread through thirteen regions of Italy, and has
sponsored hundreds of cooperatives, formation initiatives and small
businesses.
In remarks to the Progetto Policoro on Monday, Pope
Francis said, “Your task is not simply to help young people to find
jobs: it is also a responsibility of evangelization, through the
sanctifying value of work – not any work, though – not work that
exploits, crushing, humiliating, mortifying [the worker], but the kind
of work that makes a man truly free, work that accords with man’s noble
dignity.”
The Holy Father concluded his remarks by entrusting the Progetto Policoro
to the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker, and praying, “That the
visage of God’s mercy, which illuminated the Holy Family entrusted to
him, might shine on [their] path and show [them] the ways of creativity
and hope.”
Solar Pope?
NO JOKE:
Gynecologist Conference on Improving Women’s Sex Lives via Genital Surgery to be held at Vatican Institute outside Saint Peter’s Square
Gynecologist Conference on Improving Women’s Sex Lives via Genital Surgery to be held at Vatican Institute outside Saint Peter’s Square
The European Society of Aesthetic Gynecology (E.S.A.G.) — yes, there is such
a thing — is hosting a conference just outside Vatican City, April
20-21, 2016. The official web site ESAG.org describes the event as
follows:
The
1st International Congress of The European Society of Aesthetic
Gynecology ESAG will take place at the Vatican City. This International
event will be the first ever which will gather the fathers of Cosmetic
Gynecology in one session in Europe. The congress will be comprehensive
and attendees will have the chance to interact and learn tips and tricks
from them. Various techniques on Reconstructive & Cosmetic Vaginal
Surgery will be reviewed, debates between experts on their techniques,
experiences from every corner of the world will be discussed and overall
the scientific program will include more than 25 lectures only on
Cosmetic Gynecology. A master class session will take place with step by
step real surgeries videos demonstrated by keynote speakers. The social
event will take place in the Vatican City, participants will have the
chance to visit the entire city of the Vatican and reach places not
everybody can. Delegates will have the chance to attend the general
audience of Pope Francisco, the Mass and to visit the Vatican gardens.
(1st World Congress of ESAG: “About the Event”, esag.org; accessed Dec. 12, 2015)
(1st World Congress of ESAG: “About the Event”, esag.org; accessed Dec. 12, 2015)
The Key Course Topics announced on the ESAG web site are so explicit that we will have to post a screenshot of them, rather than type them out in words, lest the search engines or any other content filters should blacklist Novus Ordo Watch as a pornographic web site. For the sake of Christian modesty, we have redacted the more explicit words; for those who absolutely must know what these words are, they can get them straight from the source, the ESAG’s web site here.
Yes, even we — who thought we’d seen it all— are in utter disbelief over what we are seeing here. Yes, we could provide further links to even more detailed information about this but we will gladly refrain. You have been sufficiently informed about what is going on.
The location for this conference is the Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum (Patristic
Augustinian Institute), which is located right adjacent to Saint
Peter’s Square, just ouside the walls of Vatican City, in Rome. The Augustinianum was canonically established by the Vatican’s “Congregation for Catholic Education” in 1969 and solemnly inaugurated by “Pope” Paul VI in 1970 (source).
You can’t make this stuff up! Just
when you were thinking that it really cannot get any worse, because
surely Francis has already done everything he could possibly do, you are
once again proven wrong. Monitoring and exposing the Vatican II Sect is a dirty job — but someone’s got to do it.
Happy Noahide Holidays!
Rabbi Marcelo Polakoff and Bishop Pedro Torres sing...
A Hanukkah Carol - an interreligious song for the Holidays
Produced by Fernando “Rahe” Israilevich
Rabbi Marcelo Polakoff is currently the rabbi of the Israeli Union
Center of Cordoba, Argentina and was a professor of Talmud and
Halacha at the Seminario Rabínico Latinoamericano Marshall T. Meyer for
over 10 years until 2011. Monsignor Pedro Torres, is the Auxiliary
Bishop of the Archdiocese of Córdoba.
Memories of interreligious dialogue
Rabbi Marcelo Polakoff gives Jorge Bergoglio a copy of his book,
"En el nombre del padre y del rabino" (In the name of the Father and the Rabbi).
More rabbinical books for Francis!
Francis: Clerical stiffness is harmful
Real Catholics will be called "stiff" it seems when we dont accept their new progressivist agendas
One attitude opens up our horizons and makes us free, the other
closes our hearts and is harmful. The first is hoping in God’s mercy,
the second is clerical stiffness, Pope Francis said in this morning’s
homily at the daily mass in St. Martha’s House.
The first reading of the day was from the Book of Numbers, which tells of Balaam, a prophet hired by a king to curse Israel. Pope Francis emphasised that “Balaam had his faults, and he had sins as well, because we all have sins. We are all sinners”. But do not to panic, the Pope urged: “God is greater than our sins”. “At a certain point – the Pope continued – Balaam meets the angel of the Lord and has a change of heart. He sees what error is and what truth is and “he says what he sees: the People of God dwell in tents in the desert and beyond the desert he fruitfulness, beauty and victory.” Balaam opens his heart, he “repents” and “sees the truth”, because “with good will one always sees the truth”.
“Truth that gives hope,” the Pope said: “Hope is a Christian virtue that is a great gift from God and that allows us see beyond problems, pain, difficulties, beyond our sins. It allows us to see the beauty of God”.
“Those who possess this virtue of hope also have the freedom and the strength to see beyond the bad times - whether they are to do with bad health or concern about a son or daughter or any kind of family problem – they are able to look beyond the pain. This is what hope is about. And this is the prophesy the Church gives us today: it wants us to be men and women of hope, even in the midst of problems. Hope opens up horizons, hope is free, it is not a slave, it always finds a way to resolve a situation.”
In the Gospel, the chief priests question Jesus and ask with what authority he acts: “they have no horizons,” Francis said. “They are men who are locked in their calculations, they are slaves to their rigidity”. “Human calculations,” the Pope said, “close hearts and shut out freedom”, whilst “hope gives us levity”.
“How beautiful the freedom, magnanimity and hope of a man and woman of the Church! And how ugly and harmful the rigidity of a woman or a man of the Church, “that clerical stiffness that contains no hope”.
With the recently inaugurated Jubilee in mind Francis pointed out that “in this Year of Mercy there are these two paths: one of those who hope in God’s mercy and know that God is the Father; and then there are those who take refuge in the slavery of rigidity and know nothing of God’s mercy. These people were doctors, they had studied, but their science did not save them.”
Francis ended his homily by describing something that happened to him at a mass for the sick in Buenos Aires, in 1992: he had spent hours listening to people’s confessions, when an 80-year-old woman came up to him, “it was as if here eyes could see beyond, she had eyes full of hope. So I said: ’Grandma, are you here for confession?’ Because I was about to leave. ‘Yes’ she answered and I said: ‘you have not sinned’. She said: ’Father, we have all sinned – But God forgives all’. ‘How do you know?’ I asked. ’Because if God did not forgive all, the world would not exist’,” was her reply. So – Pope Francis said: “before these two persons - the free one, the one with hope who brings God’s mercy, and the closed, legalistic slave of his own rigidity, let us remember the words of the old lady and the lesson she gave me: God forgives all, He is just waiting for you to get close to Him.”
ROME, December 14, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis’ Council of 9 advisory cardinals, known as the “C9,” held their twelfth meeting with the Holy Father from December 10-12, where they discussed, among other matters, Francis’ call to “decentralize” the Church. According to Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Council members emphasized the importance of the Holy Father’s October 17 discourse, on the occasion of the Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, where he extensively developed the theme of “synodality,” but also recalled the importance of proceeding with a healthy decentralization.
The pope said at the time he “felt the need to proceed in a healthy ‘decentralization’” of power to the “Episcopal Conferences.” “We must reflect on realizing even more through these bodies,” he said, because the “hope of the Council that such bodies would help increase the spirit of episcopal collegiality has not yet been fully realized.”
At this week’s meeting, the Vatican spokesman noted, the Council remarked on “the need to further explore the meaning of this discourse and its importance in the work of reforming the Curia, and agreed to dedicate a specific session to this during the next meeting in February 2016.”
Towards the beginning of his pontificate Francis had already called for a “conversion of the papacy” in Evangelii Gaudium and stated that “a juridical status of episcopal conferences which would see them as subjects of specific attributions, including genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated.”
The demand for devolution of power, including “genuine doctrinal authority” was voiced at the Ordinary Synod by those who reject Catholic teaching on human sexuality. Abbot Jeremias Schroder, who attended the synod as a representative of the Union of Superior Generals, said that both “the social acceptance of homosexuality” and the manner of dealing with “divorced and remarried persons” were examples “where bishops conferences should be allowed to formulate pastoral responses that are in tune with what can be preached and announced and lived in a different context.” The abbot alleged that such delegation was supported by a majority of the Synod fathers.
Reinhard Cardinal Marx, who is both Archbishop of Munich and Freising and a member of Pope Francis’ council of nine cardinals, has also called for more delegation to bishops’ conferences.
“We are not just a subsidiary of Rome,” Cardinal Marx said earlier this year. “Each episcopal conference is responsible for the pastoral care in their culture and has to proclaim the Gospel in its own unique way. We cannot wait until a synod states something, as we have to carry out marriage and family ministry here.”
“Its implementation will require unanimous commitment and generous dedication by everyone,” the pontiff said after his weekly Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square. He urged the international community to “pay special attention to the most vulnerable populations” and “to carefully follow the road ahead, and with an ever-growing sense of solidarity.”
The goal of the deal signed by 195 nations during what was known as the COP21 summit is to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by about half of what will be necessary to stave off an increase in atmospheric temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. According to The New York Times, that is the point at which, scientific studies have concluded, the world will be locked into a future of devastating consequences, including rising sea levels, severe droughts and flooding, widespread food and water shortages, and more destructive storms.
It’s partly legally binding and partly voluntary, and will take effect in 2020.
Pope Francis has made the fight against climate change one of the cornerstones of his papacy. Last June, he released an encyclical, Laudato Si’, that reflected on the need to protect “our common home” and stop global warming.
That document, the first encyclical dedicated to the issue, wasn’t the last time the Argentine pontiff referred to climate change and global warming.
In November,
just days before the opening of the Nov. 30 – Dec. 11 Paris summit,
Francis had said that a failure of the COP21 meeting would be
“catastrophic.”
“It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects,” the pope said at the headquarters of the UN Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya.
Last September, talking at the largest gathering of world leaders in UN history in New York, he blamed environmental degradation on “a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity” that causes untold suffering for the poor who “are cast off by society.”
As the Paris summit wrapped up, some observers believed that Francis’ efforts had an effect on the outcome.
Alison Doig with the UK-based group Christian Aid, who was in Paris monitoring the talks, told Vatican Radio on Dec. 11 that the pope’s role had been “transformative” in mobilizing religious support for stronger environmental protection.
Francis’ concerns follow those of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who was labeled the “green pope” for his environmental teaching and advocacy. Benedict was responsible, among other things, for the installation of solar panels atop the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall to help reduce the carbon footprint of the world’s smallest state.
Before one reads the article, a little background on Cardinal Oswald Gracias. He is the Archbishop of Bombay, India and was personally selected by Francis to serve on his Council of Cardinal Advisers (G8/G9). Gracias is a man after the revolutionary heart of Francis, in 2009 he had a new edition of the Bible published in India (The New Community Bible) which included hundreds of verses from the Veds, the Upanishads and the Bhagwat Gita!
How much longer will people continue to believe that Francis is against sodomy? Let's see he surrounds himself with sodomites, names one to be the prelate to the Institute for the Works of Religion (Vatican Bank), has private audiences with them, ad nauseam. Logic would tell you that Francis is a card carrying member of the club. Not only is Oswald for decriminalizing one of the sins that cries out to heaven for vengeance, Cardinal Gracias has the chutzpah to blame God for the sodomites committing the sin of sodomy! We wouldn't want to be too judgemental in our approach to sodomy and sodomites. No according to the cardinal tolerating sodomy is not enough, we must accept it! Talmudic political correctness has been running amok not only in society but also in the post-Vatican II church. We include the entire published interview below as we don't want to be accused of taking Gracias' quotes out of context. As always the underline have been added by us to emphasis the cardinal's words.
Francis fulfilling the legacy of the heretical Vatican II New Religion?? Sounds right to me....
How Pope Francis is fulfilling a legacy of Vatican II
The first reading of the day was from the Book of Numbers, which tells of Balaam, a prophet hired by a king to curse Israel. Pope Francis emphasised that “Balaam had his faults, and he had sins as well, because we all have sins. We are all sinners”. But do not to panic, the Pope urged: “God is greater than our sins”. “At a certain point – the Pope continued – Balaam meets the angel of the Lord and has a change of heart. He sees what error is and what truth is and “he says what he sees: the People of God dwell in tents in the desert and beyond the desert he fruitfulness, beauty and victory.” Balaam opens his heart, he “repents” and “sees the truth”, because “with good will one always sees the truth”.
“Truth that gives hope,” the Pope said: “Hope is a Christian virtue that is a great gift from God and that allows us see beyond problems, pain, difficulties, beyond our sins. It allows us to see the beauty of God”.
“Those who possess this virtue of hope also have the freedom and the strength to see beyond the bad times - whether they are to do with bad health or concern about a son or daughter or any kind of family problem – they are able to look beyond the pain. This is what hope is about. And this is the prophesy the Church gives us today: it wants us to be men and women of hope, even in the midst of problems. Hope opens up horizons, hope is free, it is not a slave, it always finds a way to resolve a situation.”
In the Gospel, the chief priests question Jesus and ask with what authority he acts: “they have no horizons,” Francis said. “They are men who are locked in their calculations, they are slaves to their rigidity”. “Human calculations,” the Pope said, “close hearts and shut out freedom”, whilst “hope gives us levity”.
“How beautiful the freedom, magnanimity and hope of a man and woman of the Church! And how ugly and harmful the rigidity of a woman or a man of the Church, “that clerical stiffness that contains no hope”.
With the recently inaugurated Jubilee in mind Francis pointed out that “in this Year of Mercy there are these two paths: one of those who hope in God’s mercy and know that God is the Father; and then there are those who take refuge in the slavery of rigidity and know nothing of God’s mercy. These people were doctors, they had studied, but their science did not save them.”
Francis ended his homily by describing something that happened to him at a mass for the sick in Buenos Aires, in 1992: he had spent hours listening to people’s confessions, when an 80-year-old woman came up to him, “it was as if here eyes could see beyond, she had eyes full of hope. So I said: ’Grandma, are you here for confession?’ Because I was about to leave. ‘Yes’ she answered and I said: ‘you have not sinned’. She said: ’Father, we have all sinned – But God forgives all’. ‘How do you know?’ I asked. ’Because if God did not forgive all, the world would not exist’,” was her reply. So – Pope Francis said: “before these two persons - the free one, the one with hope who brings God’s mercy, and the closed, legalistic slave of his own rigidity, let us remember the words of the old lady and the lesson she gave me: God forgives all, He is just waiting for you to get close to Him.”
"Pope" discusses ‘decentralization’ of the Church with top cardinal advisors
ROME, December 14, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis’ Council of 9 advisory cardinals, known as the “C9,” held their twelfth meeting with the Holy Father from December 10-12, where they discussed, among other matters, Francis’ call to “decentralize” the Church. According to Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Council members emphasized the importance of the Holy Father’s October 17 discourse, on the occasion of the Commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Institution of the Synod of Bishops, where he extensively developed the theme of “synodality,” but also recalled the importance of proceeding with a healthy decentralization.
The pope said at the time he “felt the need to proceed in a healthy ‘decentralization’” of power to the “Episcopal Conferences.” “We must reflect on realizing even more through these bodies,” he said, because the “hope of the Council that such bodies would help increase the spirit of episcopal collegiality has not yet been fully realized.”
At this week’s meeting, the Vatican spokesman noted, the Council remarked on “the need to further explore the meaning of this discourse and its importance in the work of reforming the Curia, and agreed to dedicate a specific session to this during the next meeting in February 2016.”
Towards the beginning of his pontificate Francis had already called for a “conversion of the papacy” in Evangelii Gaudium and stated that “a juridical status of episcopal conferences which would see them as subjects of specific attributions, including genuine doctrinal authority, has not yet been sufficiently elaborated.”
The demand for devolution of power, including “genuine doctrinal authority” was voiced at the Ordinary Synod by those who reject Catholic teaching on human sexuality. Abbot Jeremias Schroder, who attended the synod as a representative of the Union of Superior Generals, said that both “the social acceptance of homosexuality” and the manner of dealing with “divorced and remarried persons” were examples “where bishops conferences should be allowed to formulate pastoral responses that are in tune with what can be preached and announced and lived in a different context.” The abbot alleged that such delegation was supported by a majority of the Synod fathers.
Reinhard Cardinal Marx, who is both Archbishop of Munich and Freising and a member of Pope Francis’ council of nine cardinals, has also called for more delegation to bishops’ conferences.
“We are not just a subsidiary of Rome,” Cardinal Marx said earlier this year. “Each episcopal conference is responsible for the pastoral care in their culture and has to proclaim the Gospel in its own unique way. We cannot wait until a synod states something, as we have to carry out marriage and family ministry here.”
Francis praises ‘historic’ Paris climate change agreement
United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, French Foreign Minister and president of the COP21 Laurent Fabius, and French President Francois Hollande (L-R), applauded after the final meeting of the UN conference on climate change Dec. 12. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
ROME — Pope Francis on Sunday praised what he called an “historic” agreement reached at a United Nations climate change summit in Paris and called for a global commitment to implement it, including special attention to the poorest populations.“Its implementation will require unanimous commitment and generous dedication by everyone,” the pontiff said after his weekly Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square. He urged the international community to “pay special attention to the most vulnerable populations” and “to carefully follow the road ahead, and with an ever-growing sense of solidarity.”
The goal of the deal signed by 195 nations during what was known as the COP21 summit is to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by about half of what will be necessary to stave off an increase in atmospheric temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. According to The New York Times, that is the point at which, scientific studies have concluded, the world will be locked into a future of devastating consequences, including rising sea levels, severe droughts and flooding, widespread food and water shortages, and more destructive storms.
It’s partly legally binding and partly voluntary, and will take effect in 2020.
Pope Francis has made the fight against climate change one of the cornerstones of his papacy. Last June, he released an encyclical, Laudato Si’, that reflected on the need to protect “our common home” and stop global warming.
That document, the first encyclical dedicated to the issue, wasn’t the last time the Argentine pontiff referred to climate change and global warming.
“It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects,” the pope said at the headquarters of the UN Environment Program in Nairobi, Kenya.
Last September, talking at the largest gathering of world leaders in UN history in New York, he blamed environmental degradation on “a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity” that causes untold suffering for the poor who “are cast off by society.”
As the Paris summit wrapped up, some observers believed that Francis’ efforts had an effect on the outcome.
Alison Doig with the UK-based group Christian Aid, who was in Paris monitoring the talks, told Vatican Radio on Dec. 11 that the pope’s role had been “transformative” in mobilizing religious support for stronger environmental protection.
Francis’ concerns follow those of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who was labeled the “green pope” for his environmental teaching and advocacy. Benedict was responsible, among other things, for the installation of solar panels atop the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall to help reduce the carbon footprint of the world’s smallest state.
“It's not enough that they (sodomites) should be tolerated, they should also be accepted!”
— Cardinal Oswald Gracias —
Francis with Cardinal Gracias, his hand picked G8
member, walking out of the Synod on the Family.
Before one reads the article, a little background on Cardinal Oswald Gracias. He is the Archbishop of Bombay, India and was personally selected by Francis to serve on his Council of Cardinal Advisers (G8/G9). Gracias is a man after the revolutionary heart of Francis, in 2009 he had a new edition of the Bible published in India (The New Community Bible) which included hundreds of verses from the Veds, the Upanishads and the Bhagwat Gita!
How much longer will people continue to believe that Francis is against sodomy? Let's see he surrounds himself with sodomites, names one to be the prelate to the Institute for the Works of Religion (Vatican Bank), has private audiences with them, ad nauseam. Logic would tell you that Francis is a card carrying member of the club. Not only is Oswald for decriminalizing one of the sins that cries out to heaven for vengeance, Cardinal Gracias has the chutzpah to blame God for the sodomites committing the sin of sodomy! We wouldn't want to be too judgemental in our approach to sodomy and sodomites. No according to the cardinal tolerating sodomy is not enough, we must accept it! Talmudic political correctness has been running amok not only in society but also in the post-Vatican II church. We include the entire published interview below as we don't want to be accused of taking Gracias' quotes out of context. As always the underline have been added by us to emphasis the cardinal's words.
The Hindu, 02 December 2015
interview conducted by Jayant Sriram
Archbishop of Bombay Cardinal Oswald Gracias was the voice of reason in a recent debate
Speaking to reporters on a flight in 2013, Pope Francis outlined a new tone on the Catholic church’s stand on homosexuality. “If a person is gay and seeks God and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” he asked. As Parliament readies to discuss the issue of repealing Section 377, Indian religious leaders have tended to disagree. But Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay and the head of India’s National Conference of Catholic Bishops, emerged as a progressive voice.The Hindu spoke to the cardinal on his involvement with the movement to decriminalise homosexuality and his thoughts on how the Church can encourage a more humane approach. In the midst of a debate on whether homosexuality should be considered a criminal act, he was the only religious leader who spoke out against such a move, arguing that the Church should embrace people from the LGBT community and help integrate them into society.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has recently said that Parliament may consider taking up the discussion on Sec 377 and Shashi Tharoor is planning to pass a private member’s Bill on the same. Can you reflect on your own involvement with this issue?
I had been reflecting on the question of whether the church should be more welcoming towards members of the LGBT community for some time. I met some groups and associations of LGBTs and I had an understanding for them. I don’t want them to feel ostracised. That’s why I came out publicly some time back saying I was in favour of decriminalisation of Section 377. When the Delhi High Court order was passed decriminalising homosexuality, they asked me whether the Church would be unhappy and I said“No. I think it’s a good thing.” On the other hand, I fully understand why the Supreme Court turned down the Delhi HC decision, because its reasoning was also legally correct. Legislation is done by the legislators, not by the judiciary.But personally I feel that it should not be criminalised. For me it’s a question of understanding that it’s an orientation … I know there is still research being done whether it’s a matter of choice or matter of orientation and there are two opinions on this matter. But I believe maybe people have this orientation that God has given them and for this reason they should not be ostracised from society. The Church is concerned, and if you’re Christian or catholic and if you’re part of the Church you have to have compassion, sympathy and understanding toward them.
You were the only religious leader who publicly spoke against criminalisation of homosexuality. Did you face much of a backlash at the time from other Christians and members of the Church?
Yes, people were surprised that I said it. But, personally I think that’s the thinking of the church. Not everybody perhaps has fully understood it. The church has always said people should not be discriminated against and I know the Vatican itself is not for criminalisation of these people. I have to make a distinction of course. Catholic theology makes sexual morality rather clear.Homosexual acts have been considered improper and we do not accept gay marriage. There is no such thing as gay marriage for the church but that does not mean you throw out these people as bad. I'm not touching on the moral principle, but I think it would be unchristian really to be harsh with people from that community. If given a choice, why would you be harsh? That’s my thinking.
Interesting you mention this is actually part of the Church’s thinking. Many people assume that the Church is very rigid in it's thinking of homosexuality and speaks of it as a sin or as being evil. Do you think that has to change?
There is judgmental language. People have presumed that it is a choice to be same-sex oriented and that I think is certainly not clear. Recently I told one of the priests in Bombay also to tone down his language against them. He was speaking at a public gathering.There are many people who have no choice in the matter and happen to be that way. That’s the basic different starting point. People say: “You’ve chosen that and don’t think we can close our eyes to the fact that you’ve chosen that way”. But in general people have a sense of understanding. Yesterday I was with some youth who said: “We’ve never thought of it that way. We agree with you.” I guess I was surprised I was the only religious leader who spoke out.Then again, sometimes I see politicians screaming out about this and I wonder maybe if the time has not yet come, if Indian society is not yet ready to accept people who are LGBT. We have to go along with the perception of society but we also have to make society reflect and think.
What about priests from other parts of the country? Does anybody else think similarly?
No, I don’t think so; but from abroad, certainly. I met some colleagues of mine in North America, from Europe and all. I have discussed this with them. Some of them have the same opinion as I do, not 100 per cent though.
What is the stand now with the leaders of the Church?
The church is more understanding, more welcoming, wants to be more open. Particularly this year the Pope has called for a ‘Year of Mercy’. And this should also make us reflect on being open to anybody who’s in any sort of difficulty. I think these are good people and the people I met want to work for the church and want to work for society. I think society should change its attitude towards them, be more welcoming and understanding.
You had touched on the fact that Indian society may not be ready to accept people who are LGBT. Do you think there is an unwillingness to accept people who are different?
Asian society is very traditional and the Indian society, in particular, is very traditional and resists change. (It) doesn't want to be destabilised perhaps.That is why I think sometimes that if society is not ready then maybe we shouldn't push against it as there will be a backlash. But on the other hand, a group should not suffer because of that. We have to get these people integrated into society. They are different but doesn’t mean that they are bad. Maybe this is a change that will take some time to come because Indian society is truly not ready for it but it is certainly a change that should come today, or tomorrow, whatever is the best time.
Is the crucial difference between you and other religious leaders simply that you have taken time to engage with members of the LGBT community while others would simply not take that step.
Well they have approached me and I have been open to speaking with them. When you interact with them you realise that they are everybody, they are sons and daughters of our own friends and our own society. But it is still something that is hidden and in the closet. People are frightened to come out because of the lack of acceptance.
Does the Church have an important role to play in changing the mentality of people?
The church in India and also worldwide has a role to play in forming the mentality of people and the thinking of people. We should be more welcoming of people from the LGBT community and certainly less judgemental in our approach.In fact, we just had a meeting of Bishops last month where frankly everybody agreed that we have been speaking a little too harshly about them.The Church also has an important role to play in providing them a sense of security. It's not just that they should be tolerated, they should also be accepted. For many of them, through no fault of their own, this is a great suffering. They may like to have a family, have children but they cannot. It's a cross that they have to bear.
Francis fulfilling the legacy of the heretical Vatican II New Religion?? Sounds right to me....
How Pope Francis is fulfilling a legacy of Vatican II
Please pray for the Novus Ordites and their conversion to the Catholic Faith (pre-Vatican II)...