But it seems to be getting less universal as Pope Francis gives African Catholics an exemption. 1/29/24 Reuters:
VATICAN CITY, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pope Francis said in an interview published on Monday that Africans were a "special case" in the opposition of bishops and many other people in the continent to homosexuality.But he said he was confident that, except for Africans, critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples would eventually understand it.Blessings were allowed last month in a document called Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust), which has caused widespread debate in the Catholic Church, with particularly strong resistance coming from African bishops."Those who protest vehemently belong to small ideological groups," Francis told Italian newspaper La Stampa. "A special case are Africans: for them homosexuality is something 'bad' from a cultural point of view, they don't tolerate it".
Would the Pope regard married priests or incest as tolerable for Catholics that regarded these as good? I do not think so. The old saying, "Is the Pope Catholic?" increasingly seems to be No.
I'm not a Roman Catholic and not a fan of this pope, but I think too many are falling for disinfo here, reading what activists want us to think the pope wrote, instead of reading what the pope actually said.
ReplyDelete"the Church does not have the power to confer its liturgical blessing when that would somehow offer a form of moral legitimacy to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice." is a direct quote from the English translation of the Fiducia Supplicans declaration on the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings (https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20231218_fiducia-supplicans_en.html)
The Catholic Church has permitted married priests in the Eastern Rite for centuries, and has accepted many married Anglican priests as converts and ordained them. They just don't permit unmarried priests to get married.
ReplyDeleteThe rule about priests and marriage isn't a dogmatic teaching regarding faith/morals, it's just a rule.