Francis envoy to Mexicans: Stop marching against gay ‘marriage’ and ‘practice dialog’ instead
After
months of successful pro-family marches protesting an attempt to amend
the constitution to create homosexual “marriage,” Pope Francis’ new
apostolic nuncio to Mexico has come with a perplexing message for
Mexicans: Don’t march, but rather enter into “dialog” over the gay
agenda.
Archbishop Franco Coppola, a career diplomat with the Holy
See who has served as nuncio to several African countries, arrived in
Mexico on September 29. He soon began commenting on the struggle
underway in the country over a proposed set of reforms by Mexican
president Enrique Peña Nieto to amend the constitution to permit “gay
marriage” and adoption and to impose homosexual sex-ed throughout the
country’s schools.
In a press conference on November 8, Coppola was asked
about an upcoming vote on the president’s proposals. The nuncio said
nothing about the Catholic Church’s teachings condemning homosexual
behavior and homosexual “marriage” legislation, but answered, “I don’t
come here with the solution, because it wouldn’t be respectful of
Mexico. My opinion is that Mexicans, instead of confronting each other,
of making proclamations, or carrying out marches, have to sit down at a
table and talk to each other to understand all of the implications that
certain measures have.”
After noting that there are “many things” in the
president’s proposed reforms, Coppola told the press, “There are some
things that in my opinion can easily be accepted, and there are others
upon which we must reflect in order to understand all of the
implications.”
Asked by a reporter what parts of the president’s bill need
further reflection, Coppola refused to elaborate. “I have to be in my
place, and my place as nuncio is not to be a mediator,” he replied,
adding that Mexico “is not a country that needs mediators,” but has a
government that should “sit down at the table, listen to everyone, let
everyone speak.”
Coppola told the press that the national debate over the
gay agenda “has made clear that there are some people who do not feel
appreciated, who feel that they don’t have all of the rights that they
could enjoy.”
“So it’s necessary to see. It’s a magnificent occasion or
opportunity to practice dialog, not to use rude language, insults,
prejudices. That’s not useful for anything. It’s necessary to understand
one another.”
As LifeSiteNews recently reported, several months of massive rallies and marches
in favor of the rights of the family and children and against the
redefinition of marriage and homosexual “adoption” have resulted in
major victories for the pro-family cause. Those include an overwhelming defeat of President Peña Nieto’s party in state elections and the rejection
of his homosexual “marriage” amendment by the country’s Chamber of
Deputies on November 9, including a majority of members from his own
party. As a result, the president himself seems to have given up on the
idea.
Coppola’s omission of the Catholic Church’s condemnations
of the sin of sodomy and of homosexual “marriage” is in keeping with
Pope Francis’ de-emphasis of Catholic moral teaching in favor of a vague
“accompaniment” of sinners.
Although Francis has repeatedly affirmed the Catholic
Church’s condemnation of gender ideology, his criticisms have been
infrequent and muted, and have been offset by ambiguous statements that
seem to deny or minimize the gravity of homosexual acts. The result has
been rampant confusion in the press and among Catholics regarding the pope’s actual teaching.
The Holy See’s 2003 declaration
condemning homosexual union legislation requires Catholics to oppose
homosexual “marriage” laws and never to cooperate in their enactment:
“In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally
recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to
marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty,” the document states.
“One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment
or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from
material cooperation on the level of their application.”
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 2357-2359),
homosexual acts constitute “grave depravity” and are “intrinsically
disordered,” a doctrine that has been taught throughout the Church’s
2,000-year history. The Catechism also expresses compassion for those
who suffer from the temptations associated with same-sex attraction and
urges a life of chastity.
