Posted on 06/02/2021 11:35:08 AM PDT by ebb tide
Less than three months after the Vatican issued a decree forbidding priests from blessing same-sex unions, nearly two dozen U.S. Catholic leaders and organizations kicked off the celebration of Pride month with a blessings service for LGBTQ Catholics.
"God is inviting you to draw near and that God desires a deep and intimate relationship with all of you," Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, told the virtual participants of the Catholic Pride Blessing on June 1.
"May God, the source of life and love, fill you with the joy of knowing your great dignity and worth as God's child, who was created in love and filled with blessings from the first moment of your existence," Stowe continued.
Stowe, one of the most vocal U.S. Catholic prelates in support of the LGBTQ community, was joined by a number of leaders from Catholic advocacy groups and national LGBTQ rights organizations. The event was organized by DignityUSA; co-sponsors included NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, the Institute Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, the Tyler Clementi Foundation and the Women's Ordination Conference.
"In many ways, we have the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to thank for sparking this event," said DignityUSA vice-president Meli Barber at the start of the event, in reference to the Vatican ban on blessing gay unions in March.
"In Germany, over 100 Catholic churches held blessings for same-sex couples. Bishops have questioned the wisdom of the responsum. We heard from many Catholics, in our town halls, on social media, and through other channels, that they disagreed with the Vatican," she said, highlighting the global backlash over the decree. "We thought we’d offer a way for people to come together in celebration of the inclusive church and world we are all working to build, and you all responded with enthusiasm."
Special blessings were also offered by the former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Díaz; former president of Ireland Mary McAleese; and AIDS activist and married gay priest, Fr. Bernárd J. Lynch; among others.
During the service, the leadership team of Families with Dignity, a Catholic ministry supporting LGBTQ families, paid tribute to the queer community for its special contribution to the arts, resiliency in the face of bullying and rejection and a willingness to adopt children in need.
"We bless you who transform the rejection you receive from others into loving care and compassion for those in need," the leadership team prayed during the event.
In addition to the Vatican's tersely worded decree that God "cannot bless sin," 2021 has yielded mixed results in terms of the institutional Catholic Church's relationship with the LGBTQ community.
In January, nine Catholic bishops, including a cardinal, signed on to a joint statement released by the Tyler Clementi Foundation — a group that fights anti-LGBTQ bullying in schools and faith communities — that affirmed "all people of goodwill should help, support, and defend LGBT youth." Since its release, another six bishops have added their name to the statement, along with scores of Catholic religious orders, schools and organizations. At the same time, the U.S. bishops' conference has opposed an executive order by the Biden administration extending federal nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people.
In Rome, on Monday, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See posted a photo online of the Pride flag displayed outside the embassy in Rome, marking the beginning of Pride month. "The United States respects the dignity and equality of LGBTQI+ people," stated a tweet from the embassy's official account. "LGBTQI+ rights are human rights."
As the virtual service neared its conclusion, DignityUSA's executive director Marianne Duddy-Burke offered attendees a blessing of encouragement: "Go with pride, which is not sin for you, but salvation."
Barf Alert Ping
“Homosexuals are God’s special people” - Apple’s CEO, Thimmy Cook
Pure satanic evil!
The guys and gals at Babylon Bee have this covered!
https://babylonbee.com/news/first-ever-pride-month-ruined-by-40-days-of-rain
I looked it up for craps and giggles one time, what percent of the population is gay, and according to the United States census of 2020, only .5% of the US population identifies as being LGBTQp, only a half of one percent, big deal.
They are given way more power, way more recognition, then their numbers suggest.
In fact, they are losing the Ls, L Women have been slowly converting back to strait when they realize they can’t have a real family that way. That is why you see all of that Transgender stuff, trying to recruit kids into their behavior, to help replace the Ls so they don’t shrink their already tiny population.
All this is, is political power
That is all
LGBTQ is on the decline
False prophets have a special corner in he!! waiting.
No doubt they will have a special reception in front of the throne of God at their judgement.
It’s now a full court press to normalize evil of all stripes.
It does get a bit discouraging & hopeless at times...but we have no choice but to stand up to this vile satanic behavior.
A ‘key’ of Peter .... 1 Peter 4:17. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”.
It is really not that difficult to see a different Peter set up a locksmith shop in Rome. The preacher/priest class goes first on judgment day.
June is actually the Month of the Sacred....The devotion to the Sacred Heart is one of the most widely practiced and well known Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ’s physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity.
I cannot help but think that Francis made John Stowe a bishop just for this purpose. The guy is a raving lunatic, so partisan he CONDEMNED the Covington Catholic kids (from nearby in KY) because he despises Trump and the pro-life cause itself. But his big cause is homosexuality, which he longs to see celebrated in the Catholic Church.
To catholics and protestants alike... All our denominations are in trouble, the anti church is here
You can be Catholic or you can be gay but you can not be Catholic and gay. The two are mutually exclusive. Now, you can pretend to be catholic and gay but ...
The “pride” month is trying to outdo the idiocy of black month. The left is just full of cults.
Romans chapter 1 is very clear on God's view of homosexual and deviant behavior. If a Christian doesn't see homosexual acts and deviant behavior as sin it's because they are ignorant of God's Word or they willing choose to reject God's Word.
True but my point was using Gods house to “bless” sin as Israel did with idol worship, church prostitutes etc.
Addendum, it didn’t turn out well for Jerusalem and Judah.
June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
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