Pope to church: Be more accepting of divorced Catholics, gays and lesbians

CNN ^ | 8 April 2016 | Richard Allen Greene

[SkyPilot]

"Every person, regardless of sexual orientation, ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration"

That statement right there puts homosexual acts on an equal platform with sexual activity between a man and a woman, a husband and wife.

[Oratam]

The sedevacantists may have a point after all.

[terycarl]

Got way too much “acceptance” of homosexuals in the Church as it is.

It is in no way sinful to be a homosexual.

[terycarl]

You can go to Mass each and every day as a divorced Catholic. You can go to Confession if you want or say the rosary or pray unmolested in church if it is open. What more do those who are not in alignment with Church teachings want? I doubt most of them even believe in the real presence which is why there’s an embarrassing rush to receive communion at Confirmation and Holy Communion time. Last time I was there, I and a Jewish in-law were the only ones to not rush up to the layman in flip-flops handing out the Host. Sheesh!

You can receive the Eucharist as a divorced Catholic...however not so if you remarry.

[elpadre]

after saving from death the woman caught in sin (adultery)he told her to “go and sin no more.” Does the Pope agree with Jesus??

[Chainmail]

Really. So all of the rampant sexual abuse of young men and boys was not harmful? Not sinful?
Sorry - homosexuality is a serious mental disorder that has wrecked most institutions, in particular the Church.
Being a homosexual is a sad affliction and deserves sympathy and prayers. Acting on that deranged condition is the killer and it will take decades and longer to fix the damage.

[DuncanWaring]

No, it puts the person on an equal platform, not their acts.

[DuncanWaring]

Acting on homosexual inclinations is sinful.

Acting on heterosexual inclinations is sinful outside of marriage.

Having homosexual inclinations is not sinful.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

This is all unbelievable. Oh man....

[tbw2]

Michael Savage spoke several times of the very liberal people helping the Pope write speeches, like God wants you to be a radical environmentalist.
While the Pope is Communist leaning, I wonder to what degree his aids are slipping in even more left wing PC crap into official doctrine.

[SkyPilot]

No, it puts the person on an equal platform, not their acts.

I am sorry, but you are mistaken.

Even using the terms "regardless of sexual orientation" gives tacit and implicit endorsement and validation of homosexuality, and places those acts on a par with God given and sanctioned sexuality between a man and a women, husband and wife.

Whenever you give any quarter and legitimacy to sin, you have already lost.

Sexuality to God is sacred. That is why He set it apart under the confines of marriage between men and women. Marriage between a man and women, and the children produced by this union, are a mirror of the Trininty. It is beauty.

Homosexuality not only takes that which God has made sacred and defiles it, but the very notion that homosexuality is somehow normal, or even noble, is spitting in the face of God and His Word.

There is no such thing as "sexual orientation." There is only sin, only defiance, only condemnation for those who refuses to repent. One cannot be outside the will of God as a homosexual and still claim they are just fine. Even if they claim they are not committing homosexual acts at the present time, their minds and hearts are still mired in the lust of abomination and wickedness.

The sins a homosexual man or woman deliberately entertain in their minds may be more evil than anything they would ever think of doing. Jesus said the guilt of a man (or woman) is the same as if they acted out their fantasies of lust. (Matthew 5:27-28). What Francis clearly sanctions, and what he clearly said, is spitting in the face of God.

Francis is an wicked man. He is in defiance of Almighty God. If he read and followed the Scriptures, he never would be spewing this "Sexual Orientation" garbage.

"To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their cmind and their conscience are defiled."

Titus 1:15

There is another verse in Scripture that Francis and those who are advocating these sins should know:

[Chainmail]

"Having homosexual inclinations is not sinful"

No, but intrinsically disordered. It is a terrible metal defect that creates a dead branch on the family tree. It also causes Uncles to be kept away from Nephews in my family.

[Chainmail]

That’s “mental” not “metal”. If it were metal, a surface grinder could easily remove the problem.

[miss marmelstein]

When was that rule changed? My aunt was divorced and when we were kids, she never received communion. She was annoyingly bitter about it even though she had destroyed her own marriage.

[trebb]

Good and Evil are black and white. There is no middle ground. Jesus and Satan are polar opposites. God's standards cannot be compromised.

Which is why Jesus had to die for us - no man, past/present/future could possibly be worthy w/o His Death and Resurrection. Ironic that so many of the saved seem to think they're more worthy because they never entertain the same sins as others - the wages of all sin is death and that means that someone who broke the "least" of the commandments is as doomed as he who broke the most (or even all) of them.

Looking down one's nose at others seems to be a major fault of many Christians who have no sense of how bad they really were before God forgave their sins and decided not to recognize them any more because of Jesus' sacrifice of Love.

Why did Jesus hang with those who the Apostles thought were too degenerate for Him to hang with? Why did He say He did it?

Bonus question: Why did Jonah try to run from God's errand for him in Nineveh? What did God do as a result?

Your arguments would be great except for they presume too much perfection and self-righteous holiness for yourself - go through a whole day w/i a single sinful thought or action and then preach - Jesus was the only Man to walk the Earth that ever managed that and He will remain so.

So many who preach, "Hate the sin, love the sinner" are such hypocrites that it's amazing that they never happen to glance in a mirror that gives them a clear picture of themselves. How God's Word and intentions gets twisted by the oh-so-holy of His kids.

[SkyPilot]

I hold no illusions of special righteousness for myself. It is only by the blood of Christ and his sacrifice that I am redeemed. It is also wrong for the Catholic Church, and the pope, to teach that sin is not sin. That is called leading people astray, and Jesus spoke in the strongest condemnation of that practice.

[trebb]

I hold no illusions of special righteousness for myself. It is only by the blood of Christ and his sacrifice that I am redeemed. It is also wrong for the Catholic Church, and the pope, to teach that sin is not sin. That is called leading people astray, and Jesus spoke in the strongest condemnation of that practice.

Excommunicating folks for "special" sins doesn't do what our only possible useful purpose to god is - carrying the Word of His love and how to be saved through the blood of Christ. Else you have a parody of the old joke for a Church:

A man moves into a new town and decides to go to church. When he gets there, he is met with a long questionnaire/application. He answers truthfully and is denied admission because he is a sinner and not pure enough for that church. He goes home and is kneeling by the bed praying. he tells God he doesn't know what to do because he wants to belong to a church community but they won't let him in. To his amazement, God replies, "Don't worry about them my beloved son, I can't get in there either".

Teach what sin is is only part of the deal - especially since even the worst sinner can be saved by accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. While it is recommended to try to be less sinful in thought and deed, it is not necessary as a stipulation for salvation - even p[aul lamented that he did that which he would not do and did not that which he would do - he was telling us that even after meeting the risen Christ and becoming a prime time purveyor of the Word, he still had a sinful nature. How can we expect better of anyone else? The Word is a much better draw than a cudgel of the sins one is committing - I am acquainted with several homosexuals and one expressed interest in the Bible. We had many chats and he was amazed that he could be saved and that God loved him - he had been hearing that his sin of homosexuality meant he was damned forever. Pretty sorry message when He preaches Love x 3.