Francis: The sin of a priest is as grievous as the sins of the whole people, stop giving scandal!
Paul Anthony Melanson
Mr. José Pinto, is a Novus Ordo priest
St. Alphonsus De Liguori, a Doctor of the Church and a moral theologian, explains that, "The Lord ordained in Leviticus that for the sin of a single priest a calf should be offered, as well as for the sins of the entire people. From this Innocent III concludes that the sin of a priest is as grievous as the sins of the whole people. The reason is, says the Pontiff, that by his sin the priest leads the entire people into sin ('Unde conjicitur quod peccatum Sacerdotis totius multitudinis peccato coaequatur, quia Sacerdos in suo peccato totam fecit delinquere multitudinem' - In Consecr. Pont. s. I.)
And, long before, the Lord himself said the same: 'If the priest that is
anointed shall sin, he maketh the people to offend.' Hence, St.
Augustine, addressing priests, says, 'Do not close heaven: but this you
do if you give to others a bad example to lead a wicked life.' Our Lord said one day to St. Bridget, that when sinners see the bad example of the priest, they are encouraged to commit sin,
and even begin to glory in the vices of which they were before ashamed.
Hence our Lord added that worse maledictions shall fall on the priest
than on others, because by his sinful life he brings himself and others
to perdition.'...says St. John Chrysostom, the life of the priest is the
root from which the people, who are the branches, receive nutriment.
St. Ambrose also says that priests are the head from which virtue flows
to the members, that is, to seculars. The whole head is sick, says the
Prophet Isaias;...from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head
there is no soundness therein. St. Isidore explains this passage
in the following words: 'This languishing head is the priest that
commits sin, and that communicates his sin to the whole body.'
St. Leo weeps over this evil, saying, 'How can health be found in the
body if the head be not sound?' Who, says St. Bernard, shall seek in a
sink the limpid water of the spring? Shall I, adds the saint, seek
counsel from the man that knows not how to give counsel to himself?
Speaking of the bad example of princes, Plutarch says, that it poisons
not a single cup, but the public fountain; and thus, because all draw
from the fountain, all are poisoned. This may be said with greater truth
of the bad example of priests; hence Eugene III has said that bad
Superiors are the principal causes of the sins of inferiors...St.
Bernardine of Sienna writes that many, seeing the bad example of the
scandalous ecclesiastic, begin even to waver in faith, and thus abandon
themselves to vice, despising the sacraments, hell, and heaven." (St. Alphonsus De Liguori, Dignity and Duties of the Priest, pp. 142-144, 149).
The scandalous ecclesiastic. How else to describe someone sitting on
the See of Peter who says that the Church needs to apologize to "gays"
(individuals who are committed to living in sin, as opposed to those who
possess a homosexual inclination but live a chaste life)?
That Francis would choose such language is very revealing. The Roman Catholic apostolate Courage, which assists those with a
homosexual inclination to live authentically Catholic lives, embracing
chastity, explains why it will not use the terms "gay" and "lesbian":
Q. Why doesn’t Courage use the terms “gay” and “lesbian”?
A. Courage discourages persons with same-sex attractions from labeling themselves “gay” and “lesbian” for the following reasons:
1) The secular world usually uses those terms to refer to someone who is
either actively homosexual or intends to be. When a person decides to
“come out” and say “I am gay” or “I am lesbian”, the person usually
means “this is who I am – I was born this way and I intend to live this
way. I have a right to find a same-sex partner with whom to have a
romantic sexual relationship.” To “come out” as being “gay” or “lesbian”
doesn’t usually mean “I have homosexual attractions and I have a deep
commitment to living a chaste life..."
In other words, Francis wants the Church founded by Christ Jesus to
apologize to individuals who self-identify as "gay" and who have no
intention whatsoever to live an authentic Catholic life. He cannot
argue that he means by "gay" those who suffer from a homosexual
inclination but remain committed to living a chaste life. For the
Church has already expressed, in her official teaching, solidarity with
such people:
"The number of men and women who have
deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination,
which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial.
They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every
sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These
persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are
Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the
difficulties they may encounter from their condition." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2358).
Therefore there is nothing the Church needs to apologize for. In the words of Dr. Dietrich Von Hildebrand, "There were sinners in the
Church yesterday and there are sinners in the Church today. But the
Church Herself, in her divine teaching, emerges gloriously unspotted in a
history stained by human weaknesses, errors, imperfections, and sins."
Cardinal Journet explains:
"All contradictions are eliminated as soon as we understand that the
members of the Church do indeed sin, but they do so by their betraying
the Church. The Church is thus not without sinners, but She is without sin.
The Church as person is responsible for penance. She is not responsible
for sins....The members of the Church themselves - laity, clerics,
priests, Bishops, and Popes - who disobey the Church are responsible for
their sins, but the Church as person is not responsible...It is
forgotten that the Church as person is the Bride of Christ, 'Whom He has
purchased with His own blood." (Acts 20:28).
If there are Catholics here and there who have engaged in unjust
discrimination against homosexual persons, that is something for them to
confess. But the Church is not responsible for these sins. And She
certainly cannot apologize for her Teaching, which comes from the Lord
Jesus.
Once again Francis has caused scandal. And his words, which are not thought out, are leading people into sin.
