Posted on 12/19/2023 8:15:26 AM PST by ebb tide
The recently canceled Bishop of Tyler, Texas, His Excellency Joseph Strickland, is calling on Catholic bishops to resist Fiducia Supplicans, a document released earlier today by Pope Francis in conjunction with left-wing Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández that calls for blessings of homosexual couples.
In remarks shared exclusively with LifeSiteNews via video, Bishop Strickland encouraged “my brother bishops that we all join with a voice of strength and joy in the Lord in these last days of Advent and say ‘no’ to this latest document.”
“We really simply need to be a united voice saying, ‘no,’ we will not respond to this,” Strickland stated. “We will not incorporate this into the life of the Church because we simply must say ‘no.’ And it needs to be a united voice.”
READ: BREAKING: Pope Francis publishes norms for clergy to ‘bless’ homosexual couples
Strickland was unceremoniously dismissed from his post as the ordinary of Tyler on November 11 after refusing Pope Francis’ request to resign. He had been serving in that position since 2012. Francis’ decision prompted massive outcry from Catholics not just in the United States but across the world due to Strickland’s reputation for being an outspoken defender of Church teaching.
Fiducia Supplicans has been heralded by dissident, pro-LGBT priest Fr. James Martin as well as mainstream media outlets. “The declaration opens the door to non-liturgical blessings for same-sex couples, something that had been previously off limits for bishops, priests and deacons,” Martin exuberantly stated in a post on X today. “Along with many priests, I will now be delighted to bless my friends in same-sex unions.”
At the same time, the document has been roundly criticized by Catholics loyal to the Church’s unchanging magisterium, which forcefully condemns “blessings” for homosexual “unions.”
READ: Fr. James Martin announces he will bless his ‘friends in same-sex unions’ after Pope’s new text
As reported by LifeSite earlier this month, Bishop Strickland was banned from saying Mass in the Diocese of Tyler. He has kept a low public profile over the past month. In his video message today, he said that it would be appropriate to “ask for a clarification of the true teachings of our Catholic faith.” Presumably he is suggesting a dubia should be issued to the Pope.
“In history, with the kinds of issues that we’re facing, a pope would call for a council,” he also stated. “That isn’t likely to happen now, but we need a united voice, something like a council, to address the confusion and the issues that continually arise to know the truth of Jesus Christ that is unchanging.”
Fernández was named Prefect of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith in July. He was elevated to the cardinalate in September. He previously wrote an erotic book in 1995 titled Heal me with your mouth: The art of kissing. LifeSite’s Vatican correspondent Michael Haynes interviewed Fernández, who hails from Argentina, in October about his openness to blessings for same-sex couples, which he has expressed support for on multiple occasions.
Ping
Actually, the pope is using good marketing skills. If you can’t get butts in the seats then change the rules to satisfy more customer since the ones you have are already solid having faith in them. The NFL is famous for this and they make millions off the stupidity of the fans.
wy69
I sincerely doubt that my bishop will say anything, either way. (Gomez, Los Angeles).
I would hope Cordileone, and maybe, Paprocki would speak up.
However, I also think McElroy, Cupich, Tobin and Gregory (all Frankencardinals) are all celebrating in some bath house.
It may be “good marketing skills” by the depraved standards of “The World”, but it’s terrible “evangelization skills”, by God’s standards. In fact, the resounding success of Latin Mass communities and parishes shows that ORTHODOXY attracts people and begets vocations. Trying to be “relevant”, in the “Spirit of Vatican II”, drives people away.
Yes, and for Strickland to ask them for anything at all after the US conference of cowardly bishops had no comment on his unjust removal reveals the strength of his character, and his faith, in contrast to theirs.
From now on when I say “Argentine Apostate” I’ll have to specify if I meant bergoglio or fernández...
“...drives people away.”
I didn’t say it was good. I said it will be successful because the church, like our government, has brainwashed their constituents into thinking it is okay because they said so. And that’s how all marketing is done. This is why we have so many successful scams and ponzi schemes. The people believe what they are told. And right after they get taken is when the lightbulb suddenly comes on.
People have been taught to trust organizations to the point of suicide. Terrorist groups like hamas, and others government, commercials, public school, elections...oh the list is endless. And that’s what good marketing can do.
I believe it was Thomas Tusser who said, “A fool and his money are soon parted.” You can substitute beliefs in there also.
wy69
I understand what you’re saying.
I don’t agree. I believe the experiment has been performed, and the results are observable.
Unapologetic orthodoxy attracts people and begets vocations. See the Latin Mass communities, and even the “Novus Ordo” parishes that stress traditional devotions and clear preaching of the Catholic Faith. Mr. Bergoglio hates them for a reason ...
Being “relevant to the world”, in the 1970s “Spirit of Vatican II” sense, creates apathy, kills vocations, and drives people away.
Pandering to the queers will just accelerate the problem: there aren’t enough queers (for which, thank God), and the pandering will just disgust and repel people even faster.
So, who’ll be the lucky priest/bishop who gets the perform the blessing on Soupy and his bf?
Why not join them for a threesome, ya blasphemous pervert?
The Novus Ordo has a measure of adaptability that suits it well for a truly global Catholic Church. The Church has always excelled at adopting local appearances without losing the same spirit imparted to the Apostles at Pentecost.
But this particular decision to make homosexuality a normalcy is just a recogniion of diversity the church has successfully been able to side step allowing the conventional church to remain in tack with the traditional morals and behaviors. The main one being the Bible’s stance on the topic and that if there is going to be an alignment with God’s will then the perveyors of the behavior of recreational sex like this will not be able to achieve forgiveness of the sin when continuing the behavior while trying to use God for a get out of jail free pass. You cannot use God. So “Repentance is a thing that cannot be trifled with every day. Daily transgression and daily repentance is not that which is pleasing in the sight of God”
1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” But that depends on whether the sinner is actually trying to ask forgiveness or is just trying to justify his position while using God?
So if homosexuality is a sin, and God forgives the sin and expects it to not be repeated purposfully, then there lies the problem in two fold, not intending to stop the unacceptable behavior, and trying to get away with it in the churches views.
wy69
I hope you will not take it as a personal affront that I literally laughed out loud upon reading this. It is such a ridiculous absurdity that I could not do otherwise. The Church has been truly global for centuries, and became truly global through the unity of the Latin Mass. The Novus Ordo has an extreme adaptability that suits it to the most outrageous, sacrilegious, and blasphemous abuses. I know. I lived through the Cultural Revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. I saw it first hand.
But this particular decision to make homosexuality a normalcy is just a recogniion of diversity
Oh, vomit. You cannot normalize perversion. Four sins cry out to Heaven for vengeance: Murder, Sodomy, Oppression of the poor, and defrauding the worker. People who call themselves "gay" are not merely identifying themselves with sin, they are identifying themselves with one of the most heinous sins, condemned as an abomination in God's Holy Scripture, in the litany of sins. Their behavior is satanic, and a slap in the face of Our Lord. To bless it is blasphemous.
So if homosexuality is a sin,
If? IF???? Sodomy is condemned most thoroughly in both Old and New Testaments. It is condemned by natural law. Even the frequently modernist "Catechism of the Catholic Church" recognizes sodomy as something "inherently disordered", that can "under no circumstances ... be approved." Anyone who wishes to be forgiven his sins must also repent of them. Far from repenting, people who self-identify as "gay" are proudly (see the Seven Deadly Sins) wallowing in their unnatural lust (again, see the Seven Deadly Sins). This business of daring to "bless" them in their sodomite unions a blasphemy.
Resist Francis to his face, like Paul did to Peter.
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