1/2/2024 Why it is wrong for Pope Francis to formally permit Roman Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples.Read Now Why are blessings important to Catholics? Blessings are called "sacramentals" because they prepare us to receive the grace of the sacraments and help us to grow to be more like Christ (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1670). Therefore, the blessings being sacramental is as such, held to produce the following specific effects: Excitation of pious emotions and affections of the heart and, by means of these, remission of venial sin and of the temporal punishment due to it. Freedom from power of evil spirits. Preservation and restoration of bodily health temporal or spiritual. In the ordination of a priest, the anointing of the priest’s hands signifies that the hands of the newly ordained priest are being prepared for the sacred duties whereby he receives the power of consecrating the bread and the wine, anointing the sick and blessing people. A constitutive blessing, invoked by a bishop, priest or deacon, signifies the permanent sanctification and dedication of a person or thing for some sacred purpose. Here the person or object takes on a sacred character and would not be returned to non-sacred or profane use. If there was nothing wrong, with blessing of a same-sex couple, why was there furor about it and why does the Vatican have to come up with a new document: Fiducia Supplicans to explain the blessings. Based on Divine Law. The rejection of homosexual behavior that is found in the Old Testament is well known. In Genesis 19, two angels in disguise visit the city of Sodom and are offered hospitality and shelter by Lot. During the night, the men of Sodom demand that Lot hand over his guests for homosexual intercourse. Lot refuses, and the angels blind the men of Sodom. Lot and his household escape, and the town is destroyed by fire “because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord” (Gen. 19:13). Natural Law People have a basic, ethical intuition that certain behaviors are wrong because they are unnatural. We perceive intuitively that the natural sex partner of a human is another human, not an animal. The same reasoning applies to the case of homosexual behavior. The natural sex partner for a man is a woman, and the natural sex partner for a woman is a man. Thus, people have the corresponding intuition concerning homosexuality that they do about bestiality—that it is wrong because it is unnatural. “Basing itself on sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2357). This declaration (Fiducia Supplicans) by the Church has been described as being part of Pope Francis's efforts at greater LGBT inclusion in the Catholic Church, and viewed by many theologians and commentators as a dramatic stepping stone to future marriage equality. After this declaration, there was widespread blessings of same-sex couples by priests. The German Church stated that the decision was an important stepping stone towards sacramental recognition of same-sex marriages within Catholicism, and Bishop Johan Bonny praised the decision as "moving towards" this goal. “Sacramental recognition” God forbid! The Liberals and Modernists do not see that these blessings are based on false charity and that it only encourages the LGBT groups to continue to dwell in their sinfulness. In Fiducia supplicans, it explains that it does not provide for changes with respect to the institution of marriage in the Catholic Church. Marriage is still understood only as the union between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all kind of marriages that are not heterosexual and monogamous, such as same-sex marriage, as well as any kind of heterosexual or bisexual bigamy and polygamy. The aim of marriage is pro-creation to have children to build a family. Therefore a same-sex marriage should not be condoned or encouraged. The informal and spontaneous blessing is neither a sacrament nor a rite of the Catholic Church, it may be an act out of charity for fellow man but if the same-sex couple fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged. A same-sex couple, if they, have the desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and of truth, then they are worthy of a blessing. Otherwise then the act of blessing in public becomes scandalous as the impression that a priest approves of a same-sex couple which will further encourage other such couples, which contradicts the Church’s pastoral intent to guide and save souls. Then the power given to a priest to bless is degraded too as the graces from the blessing would be in vain. In a case of a same-sex couple, according to the Church’s teachings, it is an unusual situation when such a couple asks for a blessing. It would be better that such blessings be made in private to avoid scandal or undue attention, after a consultation and guidance of a priest. A priest who knows the value of a blessing (whether liturgical or pastoral), which calls on God’s blessing, giving graces, upon this couple; he should check to see if they have good intention i.e. who acknowledge themselves humbly as sinners, to want to change their lives, to only continue in a platonic relationship; and if they are baptized Catholics or not, if the couple intend to repent and conform their lives according to Church teachings, to open their lives to God, to ask for his help to live better, and also to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived with greater faithfulness; if this is so, then a priest should guide them accordingly, teaching them to pray and to pray for the couple. (As we ought to entrust our lives in the power of prayer.) In this way it is pastoral. A priest should not just simply give blessings to such a couple since at the last judgement, they will be more severely judged if they did not have the intention to conform to the grace given to them. Then it would seem that God’s blessing was taken too frivolously. “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and through sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection” (CCC 2357– 2359). For the Catholic Church marriage only between a baptised man and a woman is a sacrament. Therefore, there is no chance to recognise same-sex marriage by the Church. Definition and the meaning of the marriage is written in the Holy Scripture. There is room for everyone in the Church, but there is no consent for same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is inconsistent with the Holy Scripture as marriage is based on God’s natural law. The natural law cannot be changed by the human unlike church law. For this reason there is no chance for recognition of same-sex marriage by the Catholic Church. The official interpretation of Scripture, provided by the Magisterium of the Church, is binding for all Catholics who are supposed to listen to this teaching. It is difficult to reconcile the official teaching of the Church with the recognition of same-sex marriage. Secular law should take precedence over natural law as not everyone belongs to a religious community. So what is the intention of Pope Francis in allowing this? Is this to pervert the teaching of the Church? Is it the intention to destroy the sacredness of marriage which will consequently be the destruction of the family? Aren’t these additional consequences of Vatican Council II?
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AuthorAn artist, entrepreneur, a loving family man, 30 years a Catholic traditionalist upholding traditions for the love of God. Shop for Catholic giftsArchives
January 2024
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