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Cardinal Sarah warns against 'demonic gender ideology'
Posted on December 6, 2016 at 9:34 AM |
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This talk by Cardinal Robert Sarah took place earlier this year at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC. It is essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the ongoing assault on and subsequent destruction of the family in our so called 'progressive' world. Cardinal Sarah also considers what we, as Christians, can do to respond. Here is the text of Cardinal Sarah's address: Thank you for inviting me to this remarkable gathering, in the company of such a distinguished audience. As you well know, what happens in the United States has repercussions everywhere. The entire globe looks to you, waiting and praying, to see what America resolves on the pressing challenges the world faces today. Such is your influence and responsibility. I do not say this lightly, because we find ourselves in such portentous times. 1. The Situation of the World and the Mission of the Church Rapid social and economic development in the past half century has not been accompanied by an equally fervent spiritual progress, as we witness what Pope Francis calls “globalized indifference.” It is the result of giving in to the delusion that we are self-sufficient, that man is his own measure in a pervasive individualism. It is manifested in the fear of suffering in our societies, our closing our eyes and hearts to the poor and vulnerable, and, in a very despicable way, in how we discard the unborn and the elderly. When he prophetically announced the Second Vatican Council in the Apostolic Constitution Humanae Salutis,Saint John XXIII remarked that the human community was in “turmoil” as it sought to establish a new world order where humanity relies entirely on technical and scientific solutions instead of God. Today we are witnessing the next stage – and the consummation – of the efforts to build a utopian paradise on earth without God. It is the stage of denying sin and the fall altogether. But the death of God results in the burial of good, beauty, love and truth. Good becomes evil, beauty is ugly, love becomes the satisfaction of sexual primal instincts, and truths are all relative. So all manner of immorality is not only accepted and tolerated today in advanced societies, but even promoted as a social good. The result is hostility to Christians, and, increasingly, religious persecution. Nowhere is this clearer than in the threat that societies are visiting on the family through a demonic “gender ideology,” a deadly impulse that is being experienced in a world increasingly cut off from God through ideological colonialism. Saint Pope John XXIII observed in 1962: “Tasks of immense gravity and amplitude await the Church, as in the most tragic periods of her history. The Church must now inject the vivifying and perennial energies of the gospel into the veins of the human community.” This remains the challenge that the Church is facing presently, more even than in 1962, and it is our task today. This is what I spoke of in my book God or Nothing: “Today the Church must fight against prevailing trends, with courage and hope, and not be afraid to raise her voice to denounce the hypocrites, the manipulators, and the false prophets. For two thousand years, the Church has faced many contrary winds but at the end of the most difficult journey, the victory was always won.” 2. The Family “The future of the world and the Church passes through the family.” These prophetic words of Saint John Paul II show how the Church, in our time, must, above all, defend and promote the beauty of the Christian family in fidelity to God’s design. In his post-synodal Exhortation on the Family, Amoris Lætitia (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis states clearly: “In no way must the Church desist from proposing the full ideal of marriage, God’s plan in all its grandeur … proposing less than what Jesus offers to the human being.” This is why the Holy Father openly and vigorously defends Church teaching on contraception, abortion, homosexuality, reproductive technologies, the education of children and much more. In my first five years as Archbishop of Conakry (Guinea, Africa), I made it my task to dedicate all of my pastoral letters to the family. Perhaps only the beauty of the family can reawaken the longing for God in the innermost recesses of the conscience of our brothers and sisters, and heal the wounds inflicted on our humanity by sin. Saint John Paul, the Pope of the new evangelization, describes in Familiaris Consortio how the family is the first place where the Gospel is welcomed and is also the first herald of the Gospel. How true this is! The generous and responsible love of spouses, made visible through the self-giving of parents, who welcome and nurture children as a gift of God, makes love visible in our generation. It makes present the perfect charity of the Trinity. “If you see charity, you see the Trinity,” wrote Saint Augustine. From the beginning of creation, God, who is a communion of persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three different Persons, yet one – has built a Trinitarian structure into our very nature. In the continent of my origin, Africa, we declare: “Man is nothing without woman, woman is nothing without man, and the two are nothing without a third element, which is the child.” The Triune God dwells within each of us and imbues our whole being: God’s own image and likeness. Every human being, like the persons of the Trinity, has the capacity to be united with other persons in communion through the vinculum caritatis – the bond of charity – of the Holy Spirit. The family is a natural preparation and anticipation of the communion that is possible when we are united with God. The family, as it were, is a natural praeparatio evangelica – written into our nature. This is why the devil is so intent on destroying the family. If the family is destroyed, we lose our God-given, anthropological foundations and so find it more difficult to welcome the saving Good News of Jesus Christ: self-giving, fruitful love. St. John Paul explained: if it is true that the family is the place where more than anywhere else human beings can flourish and truly be themselves, it is also a place where human beings can be humanly and spiritually wounded. The rupture of the foundational relationships of someone’s life – through separation, divorce or distorted impositions of the family, such as cohabitation and same sex unions – is a deep wound that closes the heart to self-giving love unto death, and even leads to cynicism and despair. These situations cause damage to little children through inflicting upon them a deep existential doubt about love. They are a scandal – a stumbling block – that prevents the most vulnerable from believing in such love, and a crushing burden that can prevent them from opening to the healing power of the Gospel. Advanced societies, including – I regret – this nation have done and continue to do everything possible to legalize such situations. But this can never be a truthful solution. It is like putting bandages on an infected wound. It will continue to poison the body until antibiotics are taken. Sadly, the advent of artificial reproductive technologies, surrogacy, so-called homosexual “marriage”, and other evils of gender ideology, will inflict even more wounds in the midst of the generations we live with. This is why it is so important to fight to protect the family, the first cell of the life of the Church and every society. This is not about abstract ideas. It is not an ideological war between competing ideas. This is about defending ourselves, children and future generations from a demonic ideology that says children do not need mothers and fathers. It denies human nature and wants to cut off entire generations from God. 3. Religious Freedom I encourage you to truly make use of the freedom willed by your founding fathers, lest you lose it. In so many other countries, on almost a daily basis, we hear of merciless beheadings, futile bombings of churches, torching of orphanages and ruthless expulsions of entire families from homes that religious minorities suffer worldwide simply because of their beliefs. Even in this yet young twenty-first century of barely 16 years, one million people have been martyred around the world because of their belief in Jesus Christ. Yet the violence against Christians is not just physical, it is also political, ideological and cultural. This form of religious persecution is equally damaging, yet more hidden. It does not destroy physically but spiritually; it demolishes the teaching of Jesus and His Church and, hence, the foundations of faith by leading souls astray. By this violence, political leaders, lobby groups and mass media seek to neutralize and depersonalize the conscience of Christians so as to dissolve them in a fluid society without religion and without God. This is the will of the Evil One: to close Heaven … out of envy. Do we not see signs of this insidious war in this great nation of the United States? In the name of “tolerance,” the Church’s teachings on marriage, sexuality and the human person are dismantled. The legalization of same sex marriage, the obligation to accept contraception within health care programs, and even “bathroom bills” that allow men to use the women’s restrooms and locker rooms. Should not a biological man use the men’s restroom? How simpler can that concept be? How low we are sinking for a nation built on a set of moral claims about God, the human person, the meaning of life, and the purpose of society, given by America’s first settlers and founders! God is named in your founding documents as “Creator” and “Supreme Judge” over individuals and government. The human person endowed with God-given and therefore inalienable rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” George Washington wrote that “the establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the motive that induced me to the field of battle.” Today, we find ourselves before the battle of a sickness that has pervaded our world. I repeat: the battle of a sickness. That is what we face. I call this sickness “the liquidation, the eclipse of God.” Pope Francis describes the causes of this “sickness.” I quote: “Religious liberty is not only that of thought or private worship. It is freedom to live according to ethical principles consequent upon the truth found, be it privately or publicly. This is a great challenge in the globalized world, where weak thought – which is like a sickness – also lowers the general ethical level, and in the name of a false concept of tolerance ends up by persecuting those who defend the truth about man and the ethical consequences.” What are the remedies to this sickness? What should we do to protect the family, religious freedom, and marriage – as revealed to us by God? Concluding Remarks Before such a distinguished gathering, I offer three humble suggestions. 1. First: Be prophetic. The Book of Proverbs tells us: “Where there is no vision, discernment, the people perish” (29, 18). Discern carefully – in your lives, your homes, your workplaces – how, in your nation, God is being eroded, eclipsed, liquidated. Blessed Paul VI saw that in 1968 when, for the Church, he so courageously wrote Humanae Vitae. What are the threats to Christian identity and the family today? ISIS, the growing influence of China, the colonization of ideologies such as gender? How do we react? 2. Be faithful. This is my second suggestion. Specifically for you, as men and women called to influence even the political sphere you have a mission of bringing Divine Revelation to bear in the lives of your fellow citizens. Uphold the wise principles of your founding fathers. Do not be afraid to proclaim the truth with love, especially about marriage according to God’s plan, just as courageously as Saint John the Baptist, who risked his life to proclaim the truth. The battle to preserve the roots of mankind is perhaps the greatest challenge that our world has faced since its origins. In the words of Saint Catherine of Siena: “Proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear.” 3. Third: Pray. Sometimes, in front of happenings in the world, our nation or even the Church, the results of our prayer might tempt us to become discouraged. Like Sisyphus in the Greek myth: condemned to roll a large boulder uphill, only to see it roll down again as soon as he had reached the top. Pope Benedict XVI in Deus Caritas Est encourages us : “People who pray are not wasting their time, even though the situation appears desperate and seems to call for action alone.” Whether in doctrine or morality or everyday decisions, the heart of prayer is to discern God’s will. This can only happen in prolonged moments of silence where, like Elijah before the horrendous threats of Queen Jezebel, we allow the “gentle breeze” of God to enlighten us and confirm us along our journey to do God’s will. Such was the virginal silence of the Blessed Mother. At a marriage, the wedding feast of Cana, when for a new family “they have no wine,” Mary our Mother trusted in the grace given by Jesus to bestow the joy of love overflowing – Amoris Lætitia. She pronounced her very last words, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2: 1-12).Then she remained silent. Be prophetic. Be faithful. Pray. That is why I came to this prayer breakfast. To encourage you. Be prophetic. Be faithful. And, above all, pray. These three suggestions make present that the battle for the soul of America, and the soul of the world, is primarily spiritual. They show that the battle is fought firstly with our own conversion to God’s will every day. And so I wholly welcome this initiative, and join you in prayer that this great country may experience a new great “spiritual awakening”, and help stem the tide of evil that is spreading in the world. I am confident that your efforts will no doubt contribute to protecting human life, strengthening the family, and safeguarding religious freedom not only here in these United States, but everywhere in the world. For in the end: it is “God or nothing.” |
Where have all the Catholic men gone?
Posted on April 19, 2016 at 11:42 AM |
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A call to Catholic men to right the wrongs of a
broken society Here’s a question for Catholic men: did you know
that you have the power to mend our broken society? All
the sadness and despair, the lies and deceit, the selfishness and
infidelity; you have the answer to all of these problems. The future of our world; a future of beauty, goodness and truth is in your hands! Confused? Don't be. Consider for
a moment when the perfect world God created changed. It was in the
Garden of Eden, when Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat the fruit from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and both she and Adam ate the
fruit. This is the moment everything started to go wrong. This is the moment sin and death entered into our world. But what
if you could help to right the wrong? Jesus, through his passion and Resurrection,
redeemed that fatal mistake made by our forefathers in Eden, yet too many
in the world reject the redemption Jesus offers them; preferring to ignore
it and to continue buying into the relativist culture that tells them anything
goes. A culture that encourages selfishness for the sake of one’s own
wants and desires. So is there something we Catholic men can do to
bring people to accept Christ's redemption on the Cross? How can we
play a part in helping to heal the wounds of the single biggest mistake made by
humanity? A good starting point is to identify Adam’s first
mistake. If we take ourselves back to the Garden of Eden, at the very
moment the serpent persuades Eve to eat the fruit and she obliges. Where
is Adam at this point? Why is he not protecting his wife from the cunning
serpent and telling her to do as God instructed and not eat the fruit from the
tree? This example of Adam failing to protect and care
for his wife is all too prevalent in our world today. And such a failure has serious repercussions.
Adam, after eating the fruit, suddenly realised that he and his wife were naked and
he no longer saw her as God intended him to see her. Rather, it was her
body alone that he could see. His eyes could no longer appreciate Eve’s
purity in her soul, that part of her which is the very core of her being.
Instead he looked upon her as an object for pleasure and gratification.
Does this ring any bells? Is this not an accurate reflection of how many men view women in our world today? Adam, created to have dominion over all the animals
of the world and to be protector-in-chief of God’s creation, including his
wife, had gone from a soldier for God to a man of weakness; a wretch with no
backbone. And so it is with us men today. Instead of
protecting our wives and ensuring their safety and security in this world of
sin, we have let them become the object of our own selfish desires and
gratification. We, like Adam, have taken our eye off the ball and have
failed our women. We have failed them badly. Everywhere we turn there is infidelity, adultery,
divorce, pornography, selfishness, violence, hate and intolerance. The world is in ruins because of relativist
ideals, especially those borne out of the sexual revolution. But we
Catholic men have been charged with making something out of those ruins; to
take them and to build a pillar of love for the whole world to see. We are
called to succeed where Adam failed. We have a duty to carry out God’s
original plan for His Creation; that is to serve, protect and defend all that
God has entrusted to our care, especially our wives and children. We must see our wives as God intended; with a
perfect love. That is, the same perfect love we witness when we see
Christ hanging from the Cross. This, brothers, is the love we are called
to show our wives. It is not lustful, it is not selfish. It is pure
sacrifice. We, like Christ, must be prepared to lay down our lives for
our wives and our children, putting their needs before our own. Only in
living out this kind of love will we be able to repair the wounds in our
society; a society that is broken, having lost all sense of what it really
means to be in love. Our world today is full of love built on
sand. We have love built on lies, we have love built on selfish desires,
we have love built on one night stands, and we have love built on
adultery. The result of this is broken relationships, broken families,
and ultimately broken children who have never experienced the love they need in
order to thrive. Society needs strong leaders in love. It needs an
authentic, unselfish and unconditional love that is free from the horrid pain
of selfishness and lies. The sexual revolution encourages people to dip
in and out of relationships as and when they please. There is no attempt
to encourage staying power, no attempt to encourage true fidelity. It is
every man and woman for themselves. Yet as Catholic men we are called to
be much better than this, much better! We are called to be soldiers for
God, bringing His perfect love to the world by living it out in our homes and
in our everyday lives, setting an example for our broken society. God is looking down at the earth and asking “Where
have all my Catholic men gone? Where are my soldiers? Where are the
men my Son died for?” Brothers, let us be true. True to God, true
to our wives, true to our children, and true to our world. Let us use our call to greatness, our call to be saints, to make a real difference to our world. Let us never tire of striving to
show the kind of love that Christ showed on the Cross, when he gave everything
he had, shedding every last drop of blood for his people. We too are
called to give everything we have. So, with a deep sense of prayer and
trust in the Holy Spirit, let us go forth and be true protectors of God’s
creation. Let us be sure to love our wives and families with that
perfect love so unselfishly evidenced by the broken body of Jesus Christ
hanging on the Cross. |
Christ’s Passion and Crucifixion….was it really worth it?
Posted on March 24, 2016 at 1:02 PM |
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As we journey with Christ through his Passion and
Crucifixion it is worth bearing in mind some of the little things we as human
beings are drawn to but that are contrary to God’s desire for our lives. The intolerable pain and suffering taken on by Jesus as he
was abused, spat upon, mocked, and beaten is something we must all think about
over these next few days. Having large
nails driven into your hands and feet and being attached to a cross is
something we simply can’t imagine. Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion was not some kind of crazy
act designed to impress. It was
essential. It was needed in order to
reconcile each and every human being to God.
Each and every sin against God is represented by a drop of blood shed by
Christ or by a nail driven into his bones. Yet was it really worth it? Do we really appreciate the freedom Christ
gave us when he undertook this most loving, selfless act? Consider this… Jesus didn’t suffer so that I could hate. Jesus didn't suffer so that I could be violent or persecute. Jesus didn’t suffer so that I could hold grudges. Jesus didn’t suffer so that I could gossip, complain or
criticise. Jesus didn’t suffer so that I could lie and be unfaithful. Jesus didn’t suffer so that I would forget about him and
never talk to him in prayer. Jesus didn’t suffer so that I would rather do something else
than spend time with him at Holy Mass and the Sacraments. Jesus didn’t suffer for a select few. He suffered for me. |
Finding hope in Peter's weakness
Posted on March 22, 2016 at 1:09 PM |
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From today’s Gospel: ‘Simon Peter said, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus
replied, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow me now; you will follow me later.’
Peter said to him, ‘Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for
you.’ ‘Lay down your life for me?’ answered Jesus. ‘I tell you most solemnly,
before the cock crows you will have disowned me three times.’’ This small passage from today’s Gospel follows on nicely
from our reflection on yesterday’s Gospel when we compared the simple love Mary
had for Jesus in needing to be close to him with Martha’s need to be on the go. In being so preoccupied Martha missed out on
precious quality time with Jesus, a mistake Mary was not prepared to make. And today we have Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples,
claiming that he would lay down his life for Jesus. That, you would think, is a step up from the
love shown by Mary. And it is. And Peter would, of course, eventually become
a martyr for Christ in Rome. But for now
Jesus has an unfortunate surprise for Peter.
He tells him that he is going to deny him. Imagine your best friend, or even your
spouse, telling you that they know you will betray them in some way. You, like Peter, would be very disappointed
to hear such news! But then don’t we
betray people every day, denying their true value as fellow human beings and
children of God? Don’t we gossip,
complain and criticise other people behind their back on a regular basis? These are human weaknesses and no human is
exempt from them. Even St Peter fell
into this trap! So, in that sense, we
are in good company. But, like St Peter, we are called to greater things. We are called to overcome our human weakness
and realise the hurt caused by some of our actions. How can we forget the look on Peter’s face in
Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ when he heard the cock crow? How can we forget the way he then rushed to
the feet of Mary and sobbed uncontrollably as he clung to her garment,
realising how foolish and weak he had been?
We are all capable of moments of weakness in our
lives, even to the point of mistreating or even denying those most precious to
us. The next time you fall into this
trap look for the comforting arms of your mother Mary, just as Peter did, and
seek reconciliation with Jesus in the Sacrament of Confession. This is how we can overcome our weakness and
become saints. If Peter can do it, so
can we. |
Go away, and do not sin any more
Posted on March 11, 2016 at 12:03 PM |
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Sunday’s
Gospel (John 8:1-11): ‘Jesus went
to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all
the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been
caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of
everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act
of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women
like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a
test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started
writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question,
he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be
the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground
again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the
eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there.
He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No
one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away, and do
not sin any more.’’ In the Jubilee Year of Mercy this particular passage of
scripture stands out more than most. It
is a perfect example of the new world order that Jesus seeks to achieve. It is a world of mercy, where no sin is
incapable of forgiveness. It is a world
where hate, grudges, complaints and criticism reign no more. What Jesus wrote in the sand is a mystery. But his message is abundantly clear. We must be careful not to judge and condemn
the goodness or otherwise of people when we ourselves are in a sinful state. If we are aware of someone acting contrary to
the Gospel we are called to be like Jesus and do two things. First, we are called to show kindness, mercy
and compassion and to put our arm around the person to show them that they are
loved. Second, we are called to
encourage them to seek the forgiveness of God, to live in accordance with the
Gospel, and to refrain from committing sin again. This is precisely how things are played out when we go to
Confession. Jesus welcomes us, puts his
loving arms around us and forgives our sins.
He then asks us to go and sin no more.
And while we must take Jesus’ call to refrain from further sin very
seriously, he understands our weaknesses and the difficulties and struggles we
experience in our world. That is why he
welcomes us again and again in Confession.
He never tires of pouring out his forgiveness. He just needs us to be willing to make the
effort to go to him. |
The Parable of the Merciful Father
Posted on March 4, 2016 at 12:22 PM |
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Pope Francis’ latest comments on paedophilia, same-sex unions, abortion, the EU and more….
Posted on February 19, 2016 at 6:56 AM |
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Pope Francis didn't just talk about Donald Trump's value as a Christian and contraception on his latest flight home to Rome. There is so much more that the mainstream media has failed to cover. So here it is....the stuff you probably haven't yet heard about: Pope Francis on paedophilia in the Church and the part
played by Pope Benedict XVI to eradicate it: “First, a bishop who moves a
priest to another parish when a case of pedophilia is discovered is a reckless
[inconsciente] man and the best thing he can do is to present his resignation.
Is that clear? Cardinal Ratzinger deserves an
applause. Yes, an applause for him. He had all of the documentation. He’s a man
who as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had
everything in his hands. He conducted all the investigations, and went on, went
on, went on, until he couldn’t go any further. But, if you remember, 10 days
before the death of St. John Paul II, in that Via Crucis of Holy Friday, he
said to the whole Church that it needed to clean up the dirt of the Church. And
in the Pro-Eligendo Pontefice Mass, despite knowing that he was a candidate, he
wasn’t stupid, he didn’t care to “make-up” his answer, he said exactly the same
thing. He was the brave one who helped so many open this door. So, I want to
remember him because sometimes we forget about this hidden works that were the
foundations for “taking the lid off the pot.” And, the final thing I would like
to say that it’s a monstrosity, because a priest is consecrated to lead a child
to God, and he eats him in a diabolical sacrifice. He destroys him.” Pope Francis on same-sex unions and adoption by same-sex
couples: “I think what the Church has
always said about this. “ “On people of the same sex, I
repeat what I said on the trip to Rio di Janeiro. It’s in the Catechism of the
Catholic Church.” Pope Francis on abortion: “Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime. It is to throw someone out in order to save another. That’s what the Mafia does. It is a crime, an absolute evil. Abortion is not a theological problem, it is a human problem, it is a medical problem. You kill one person to save another, in the best-case scenario. Or to live comfortably, no? It’s against the Hippocratic oaths doctors must take. It is an evil in and of itself, but it is not a religious evil in the beginning, no, it’s a human evil. Then obviously, as with every human evil, each killing is condemned.” Pope Francis on the European
Union: “I like this idea of the
re-foundation of the European Union, maybe it can be done, because Europe — I
do not say is unique, but it has a force, a culture, a history that cannot be
wasted, and we must do everything so that the European Union has the strength
and also the inspiration to make it go forward. That’s what I think.” Pope Francis on the reintegration
into the Church of re-married persons: “Integrating in the Church doesn’t
mean receiving Communion. I know married Catholics in a second union who go to
church, who go to church once or twice a year and say I want communion, as if
joining in Communion were an award. It’s a work towards integration, all doors
are open, but we cannot say, “from here on they can have Communion.” This would
be an injury also to marriage, to the couple, because it wouldn’t allow them to
proceed on this path of integration. And those two were happy. They used a very
beautiful expression: we don’t receive Eucharistic Communion, but we receive
communion when we visit hospitals and in this and this and this. Their
integration is that. If there is something more, the Lord will tell them, but
it’s a path, a road.” On Pope John Paull II’s friendship with Ana Teresa
Tymieniecka: “In
my own experience, including when I ask for advice, I would ask a collaborator,
a friend, I also like to hear the opinion of a woman because they have such
wealth. They look at things in a different way. I like to say that women are
those who form life in their wombs — and this is a comparison I make — they
have this charism of giving you things you can build with. A friendship with a
woman is not a sin. [It’s] a friendship. A romantic relationship with a woman
who is not your wife, that is a sin. Understand? But
the Pope is a man. The Pope needs the input of women, too. And the Pope, too,
has a heart that can have a healthy, holy friendship with a woman. There are
saint-friends — Francis and Clare, Teresa and John of the Cross — don't be
frightened. But women are still not considered so well; we have not understood
the good that a woman do for the life of a priest and of the church in the
sense of counsel, help of a healthy friendship.” And finally, what did the pope ask for in Guadalupe? “I asked for the world, for peace,
so many things. The poor thing ended up with her head like this (raises arms
around head). I asked forgiveness, I asked that the Church grows healthy, I
asked for the Mexican people. And another thing I asked a lot for: that priests
to be true priests, and sisters true sisters, and bishops true bishops. As the
Lord wants. This I asked a lot for, but then, the things a child tells his
mother are a bit of a secret.” Read the full text of the pope’s in-flight interview here: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/full-text-of-pope-francis-in-flight-interview-from-mexico-to-rome/#ixzz40bOhqqG7 |
Clarifying the pope’s comments about contraception
Posted on February 19, 2016 at 4:36 AM |
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Another
in-flight interview, yet another media frenzy.
It seems that every time Pope Francis takes to the skies there is more
and more controversy, particularly from those who seem to have a strange
interest in changing Church teaching. This
time one of the more interesting comments from the Holy Father was on the
subject of contraception. The pope was
asked a question about the Zika virus and whether abortion [as the lesser of
two evils] or avoiding pregnancy would be acceptable courses of action for women
to take. In response the pope stated
that “Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime. It is to throw
someone out in order to save another. That’s what the Mafia does. It is a
crime, an absolute evil.” So that is
pretty clear. But
it’s what he then went on to say that may be a cause for concern for some. He said: “Paul VI, a
great man, in a difficult situation in Africa, permitted nuns to use contraceptives
in cases of rape.” He added later: “avoiding
pregnancy is not an absolute evil. In certain cases, as in this one, or in the
one I mentioned of Blessed Paul VI, it was clear.” Francis is, of course, referring to Pope Paul
VI, one of the greatest and most outspoken proponents of Catholic teaching on
sexuality. So is the pope suggesting
that the use of contraceptives is okay?
In order to tackle this question it is perhaps best to give due
consideration to Church teaching on the matter.
Firstly, by referring to ‘avoiding pregnancy not being an absolute evil’
the pope isn’t necessarily referring to contraception. For some time the Church has accepted the use
of natural family planning by married couples.
This is where a couple recognise their own pattern of fertility and use
this knowledge to plan a family in order to give them the opportunity to raise
their children in the best environment possible. Natural family planning is not contrary to
the teaching of the Church in the same way as contraception because, unlike
contraception, natural family planning is still open to new life during each
sexual encounter and the couple also give themselves completely to the
other. With contraception there is a
clear barrier between the man and woman which prevents one giving him or herself
completely to the other and there is also a distinct lack of openness to new
life. As
Catholics we are called to give ourselves completely to the other in
marriage. And as sexual union is part of
our marriage then we must be prepared to give ourselves completely to the other
each time we embrace that act. We have
to be a gift to our spouse. Totally and
unconditionally. If we do not do this
i.e. by using contraception, then we are acting contrary to Church teaching. This is why contraception is immoral. So
what about the nuns in Africa? In these
cases there would have been no voluntarily act of self-giving on the part of
the nuns. The nuns did not desire to
participate in this sexual encounter. As
a result the use of birth control in this instance is not viewed as being an
immoral barrier between the self-giving love of one spouse to another with the
accompanying openness to new life.
Rather it is seen as an act of self-defence on the part of someone upon
whom a criminal act is being perpetrated. Further, the sexual encounter in this case was not within the realm of marriage i.e. it was not conjugal. Therefore, it actually falls outwith Church teaching on the issue (an issue tackled by Jimmy Akin here).
This, I expect, is why Pope Paul VI sanctioned their use in these
circumstances. This,
of course, is entirely different from the situation surrounding the Zika
virus. Here we are talking about women
who are voluntarily engaging in sexual relations but who are using
contraceptives to prevent new life. This
is clearly immoral and contrary to Church teaching. These women do, however, have recourse to natural family planning, which is very much in accordance with the Church and is not immoral. Let’s
be clear, Church teaching on contraception is not about to change. |
Catholic Teaching on Homosexuality: The Truth.
Posted on February 4, 2016 at 12:37 PM |
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Following a recent discussion on our Facebook page I
thought it might be useful to draft up a short note on our Catholic faith and
homosexuality. It is intentionally
brief. For a more in-depth article on the matter please click
this link. Our Catholic faith tells us that homosexual acts are
wrong. I think it's hard for us to hear this in such an abrupt way in today's
world but this is what we are taught by faith. The reason such acts are wrong
is that God has ordered us male and female for the authentic union that is
marriage between man and woman and to be completely open to the precious gift
of new life. Homosexual acts are not ordered in this way and are thus sinful.
There are many sinful acts so this isn't necessarily a singling out of
homosexual people. Consider sex outside marriage between a man and a woman,
which is also wrong, as is the use of contraception. It’s absolutely critical to also bear in mind that having
same-sex attraction is different to homosexual acts. Mere attraction is not of
itself sinful. It is only when these feelings are acted upon where it is deemed
to be wrong. This is something that many
people get confused about. I think it's also important to see the positive side of
the Church's teaching on homosexuality. It seeks to protect humanity by
promoting the love between a man and a woman for the sake of giving new life to
the world and raising this new life in marriage, which throughout history has
been the best place for kids to thrive. The Church doesn't say a man can't love
a man or a woman can't love a woman. Indeed, such a notion is completely
contrary to Church teaching. It simply states that it is wrong to interfere
with God's clear and natural plan for humanity. It's not about hating homosexuals as many people wrongly
think. It's actually about loving everyone and calling them all to live in
accordance with God's plan. That too is a form of love though it is often hard
for this society to see it in this modern age of relativism. In my time running the Scots Catholic website
and social media accounts I have often been corrected for straying out of line
with respect to Church teaching. I have
learned so much in terms of my faith and I am grateful to those who have
offered their generous help. For me,
they are simply doing God’s work. They
are doing what Jesus did and are challenging me, and I shouldn’t be afraid to
be challenged. In fairness to anyone who abides by the teaching of
Christ and his Church on this matter, they are simply trying to live out their
lives as God intended and they are well within their rights to stay true to God
no matter what the world may tell them. Jesus and the Apostles were ridiculed and even
put to death for going against the tide and remaining faithful to God's
teaching. But they remained faithful. And we are called to do the same. It is also very important to note that there are many,
many gay people living out their Catholic faith chastely in the Church. Their
call to chastity is no different to the call to chastity of single people in
the Church. And we must remember, the Church is open to all people
and she loves all people, especially those of us who sin. That's why I'm a
member. Many people query whether the Church might change its
stance with respect to homosexual acts. This is highly unlikely given the wrongs
of homosexual acts is contained in scripture, the Word of God. It's also
entrenched in nature itself and the ability of man and woman to procreate
(something the Church wants to protect for the sake of the family). I appreciate
this is a difficult teaching for some, especially in today's society, but the
Church can't fit around the whims of society. First and foremost, the Church
can't stray from the Truth it has protected for 2000 years. And secondly, it
would be impossible to satisfy everyone all of the time. The Church, like Jesus, is here to challenge
us with the Truth. It is not here so
that we can abuse it for our own ends. The Church is also here to bring God’s mercy to us
through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
There is no sin we can commit that is too great that we can’t reconcile
ourselves to God. He loves us like no other.
For more information on reconciling our Catholic
faith with same-sex attraction, click this link to go to the Courage RC website. |
Petitioner seeks to legalise incest between consenting adults in Scotland
Posted on January 26, 2016 at 4:10 AM |
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Scottish MSPs will today discuss a petition calling on the
government to make incest legal between consenting adults over the age of
21. The petition, by Richard Morris, claims that the existing
law is “inappropriate, unfair, ineffective and discriminatory” and suggests
that public “prejudice and bigotry” about incest was caused by ignorance. He has also apparently likened the issue to
historical treatment of homosexuals. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear on the matter
of incest and states the following: ‘2388Incest
designates intimate relations between relatives or in-laws within a degree
that prohibits marriage between them. St. Paul stigmatizes this especially grave
offense: "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you
. . . for a man is living with his father's wife. . . . In
the name of the Lord Jesus . . . you are to deliver this man to Satan
for the destruction of the flesh. . . . " Incest corrupts family relationships and marks
a regression toward animality.’ We are left in no doubt by St Paul’s
words. Incest is destruction of the
flesh and is mortal sin. Indeed all
instances of sexual relations outside of marriage are sinful and must be
avoided. And look how St Paul uses the
name of Jesus to hit home the severity of incest. It is not in St Paul’s name that an
individual guilty of incest is to be delivered to the devil, but in the name of
Jesus. It’s interesting that the petitioner Mr Morris cites the
treatment of homosexuals to support his case.
The Catholic Church’s stance on homosexual acts is clear, and many
people in the Church and indeed others who believe such acts to be wrong, have
stated their concern that increased liberalism with respect to homosexuality
will open wider the floodgates of a deeply disturbing and increasingly
sickening new sexual revolution in our society.
I believe Mr Morris’s petition is evidence of this. Our Blessed Mother Mary, when she appeared to the children
in Fatima in the early twentieth century, stated that more people go to hell
for sins of the flesh than for any other sin.
That’s the Mother of God speaking.
It’s not the view of some radical religious nut, or priest, or bishop. It’s not even a pope speaking. It’s Mary, the Mother of our God and Queen of
Heaven.
So let us pray that Mary’s voice will be heard
and that our MSPs decide to reject this petition and retain existing laws on
incest in our country. |
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