Posted on 12/23/2023 8:36:18 PM PST by SeekAndFind
If you have followed my writing and speaking over the decades, you will know that Catholicism has not been a focus of my ministry, either praising it or criticizing it. At the same time, I recognize the important role of the Catholic Church in standing for the sanctity of life and the meaning of marriage. That’s what makes the recent pronouncement of Pope Francis, allowing priests to “bless” same-sex couples, especially distressing. What act of apostasy will be next?
My Catholic colleague John Zmirak wrote on Tuesday, “Today I got one of those emails nobody wants to receive. You know, the ones where a journalist informs you that the leader of your church has authoritatively endorsed grave, unrepented sin; mocked not just timeless and current church teaching but the natural law itself; and opened up faithful clergy to persecution by the State. And by the way, would you like to comment?” (Later in his article, Zmirak references “Pope Francis’ poisonous reign of error.”)
Specifically, quoting from the Washington Times, “Pope Francis on Monday approved letting priests bless same-sex couples, sparking criticism from conservative Catholics and praise from the LGBTQ community.
“Such blessings would not rise to the level of church-sanctioned same-sex marriages, the Vatican cautioned, but would offer gay Catholics the opportunity to seek God’s mercy without being subjected to ‘an exhaustive moral analysis.’
“The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the declaration, ‘Fiducia supplicans,’ with the pope’s approval but not his signature less than three months after a papal letter said such blessings were possible so long as they ‘do not transmit a wrong conception of marriage.’”
This is not just a step in the wrong direction. It is theological double-talk, spiritual drivel, and a mockery of the Word of God. Surely, faithful Catholics around the world will reject this apostate message. It has no support in Scripture, in divine morality, or in historic Church tradition, whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant.
And so, rather than try to parse the theological nuances of the Pope’s statement, which in the end helps no one and harms many, let me be straightforward.
No priest or Pope or pastor or spiritual leader can bless something that God Himself does not bless. Their words are empty and void of divine power or authority. They are human utterances and nothing more.
As much as a gay couple may be in love, as much as they may revere the traditions of their Church (at least, some of the traditions), and as much as they may be models of kindness and loyalty, the fact is that male + male or female + female represents a fundamental violation of the meaning of marriage, not to mention a fundamental violation of the nature and purpose of humanity.
How then can a priest bless a couple whose very relationship goes against the order and plan of God? And, speaking in particular of two gay men, how can a priest, representing the Lord, bless them when the Lord Himself deems their sexual relationship to be something detestable in His sight (Leviticus 18:22) and when Paul says that those who practice such things will be excluded from the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
You might say, “You fundamentalists are always attacking homosexuality. What about adultery? What about other kinds of sexual immorality? What about all you Bible-thumping Christians who are addicted to porn?”
But that’s the whole point.
If a Christian leader said, “We are now blessing couples living in adultery,” there would be outrage.
If that leader said, “We are now offering special blessings for all the couples living together out of wedlock,” there would be pushback.
If a church had a weekly porn night where after worship and prayer, the congregants would watch porn, it would set the internet ablaze.
But that is not happening, except perhaps in the case of divorces without biblical justification, followed by illegitimate marriages which are sometimes “blessed” by compromised clergy.
Otherwise, no major Church leaders are sanctioning adultery or fornication or pornography. But some are sanctioning same-sex unions (or, in more compromised settings, same-sex “marriages”). That is why we respond as we do.
It’s the same thing with LGBTQ+ activism in general.
That activism is affecting children in our nursery schools and young adults on our college campuses. It is everywhere in our society, from social media to the world of sports, and from TV and Hollywood to the business world.
We cannot avoid confronting LGBTQ+ activism and ideology wherever we turn, so we either push back with our own values or we cave in and capitulate.
It’s the same with the Pope’s ridiculous pronouncement. There must be a reply.
The fact that “Such blessings would not rise to the level of church-sanctioned same-sex marriages” is meaningless.
The “blessings” would sanction something God does not sanction and give false assurances to the couples involved. And is there a gay Catholic on the planet who would not see this as another step in the direction of the ultimate goal, namely, the full acceptance of gay relationships by the Catholic Church?
As for the notion that these blessings were possible as long as they “do not transmit a wrong conception of marriage,” my response is short and sweet: Are you kidding me?
Really now, is the Pope telling us a gay couple can live together, can be emotionally and physically intimate, and can commit to lifelong faithfulness without transmitting a wrong conception of marriage? What is the big difference between the two — other than the obvious fact that two men or two women cannot marry in God’s sight?
In August, I addressed the Church of England’s decision to allow Anglican clergy to “bless” same-sex couples, yet another apostate step made by this rapidly declining faith group.
What will now happen with the Catholic Church?
That is for Catholics to answer, but without question, this could lead to a major rift of sorts, as the strong, conservative elements of the Church will reject this pronouncement outright, whatever the cost. The effects could be seismic. (As I noted in that August article, it is “progressive” Christianity that is dying; the real gospel is thriving.)
As for the gay Catholic couples who see this as a beacon of hope and a sign of the humanity and compassion of the Church, I don’t pretend to see the world through their eyes, and I don’t claim to understand the pain and the struggle they have endured.
I will just say this, with brokenness, not with triumphalism: I don’t doubt your love for each other. I don’t doubt that part of you really wants to honor the Lord. But I can only tell you the truth. God has a better way, and He never intended you to unite with someone of the same sex.
If you will lay your life before Him, surrendering fully to Jesus as Lord, He will forgive all your sins and give you a fresh new start. Cry out to Him today!
Dr. Michael Brown(www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book isWhy So Many Christians Have Left the Faith.
Man cannot change the times and laws of God.
Pope Francis, by doing so, is establishing the RC has God’s authority to change times and laws.
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
-Daniel 7:25
Francis wanted to give such people sacramental communion a few years ago and already printed it in a document claiming to be the decision of a bishops meeting, but he was caught and had to remove it. But someone snuck it in with a footnote, and that let him tell his friendly heretical bishop friend it was ok to give communion to sinners.
Ann Barnhart has videos explaining how he is not pope, and she might be right.
For three centuries after Christ died there was no Pope, no Vatican, and no ‘Bible’ and yet the first Christians were utterly devoted to God and worshipped him at the risk and cost of their lives.
He may think he's doing that, but he'll either end up backing down, or he'll die and his successor will quickly cancel this nonsense ... or he'll end up triggering a schism that will make the Protestant Reformation look like an old ladies' tea party.
You have an archbishop of the Catholic Church, a former Papal nuncio to Washington, openly calling the Pope an Apostate. Let that sink in ...
No “exhaustive moral analysis “ is needed. Sin is easy to identify and does not require “analysis” of any knind.
I have one question for Frank:
WHO THE HECK DOES HE THINK HE IS.
He is the epitome of a ...please excuse the vulgarity...the TURD IN THE PUNCHBOWL.
The sooner the Church can get rid of him...the BETTER.
It depends on where in prophecy we are. Francis may be the last Pope, because the Church is in its final heresy.
Pope Frank seems to think he can.
The RC historically has claimed the right to do this.
“ The RC historically has claimed the right to do this.”
False.
Pope and God don’t have anything to do with each other.
This is NOT the final days.
If Catholics have to really take a stand for the good of the Catholic Church...I suggest we join the Eastern Division of the Church. Why not?...We have our religion, beliefs, tenets in tacked or we join Frank. My choice is the Eastern Catholic Church and let the “Pope and Vatican and Rome” fend for themselves. THAT WILL CAUSE A MAJOR SHIFT.
What is missing prophetically that would make it the last days, to your knowledge?
I do agree with you that the people need to abandon the heretical church if they want change. That move has to be absolute.
Definitely keep watching.
The acceleration of events these days is truly jaw-dropping
The RCC let the camel’s nose get into the tent many years ago when they turned a blind eye to homosexuals flocking to the priesthood. Now other parts of the camel are in the tent.
Excellent discussion on The World Over. The regulars with Raymond Arroyo said the Mafia and Cosa Nostra could ask for special permission for priestly blessings on the same basis as the gay couples. Just set aside some inconvenient moral matters for them, too.
They said bishops and priests are going to be pressured by the woke types and it’s wrong to try to ignore the matter as “he didn’t actually say gays could have marriages recognized.” Blessing the fact that they are violating a moral law of the Church and getting away with it puts the virtuous people who don’t act upon same sex attraction feelings in a defensive position.
More and more it seems that Pope Francis is the False Prophet of the end times. Now we must find the other two, the Anti-Christ (A popular man whom many love and has an answer for all problems) and The Great Whore of Babylon (A beautiful woman all love who is the essence of immorality—a popular singer perhaps?) There is another prophecy—That of the Third Rome. Moscow is set to Rule all Europe and the west—and return Europe to Christ! Orthodoxy will replace the Vatican—Hagia Sophia, will be a cathedral again and Byzantium a Christian land.
---->False.
No, it's true.
“Sunday is our mark or authority...the church is above the Bible, and this transference of Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.” — Catholic Record of London, Ontario, September 1, 1923.
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change (Saturday Sabbath to Sunday) was her act...And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.” — H.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons.
“The (Roman Catholic) Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday.” — The Catholic Universe Bulletin, August 14, 1942, p. 4.
“The arguments...are firmly grounded on the word of God, and having been closely studied with the Bible in hand, leave no escape for the conscientious Protestant except the abandonment of Sunday worship and the return to Saturday, commanded by their teacher, the Bible, or, unwilling to abandon the tradition of the Catholic Church, which enjoins the keeping of Sunday, and which they have accepted in direct opposition to their teacher, the Bible, consistently accept her (the Catholic Church) in all her teachings. Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicism and the keeping holy of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.” — James Cardinal Gibbons, in Catholic Mirror, December 23, 1893.
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