LifeSiteNews Puts Pope Francis’ Remarks on ‘Gay People’ (Gay Priests) in Context

Pope Francis.

“The problem is not having this orientation,” [Pope Francis] said. “We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.” — BBC report, “Pope Francis: Who am I to judge gay people?”

Today the media were in another spasm of homosexual promotion, as news accounts of Pope Francis’ comments on not judging “gay people” “reported” that the pope was launching a new era of welcoming homosexuals, even “gay priests.” We turn to our good friends at LifeSiteNews — a Catholic Canadian pro-family website — to clarify Pope Francis’ widely-reported remarks concerning “gay people.”

I am immediately struck by two aspects to this story:

1. As always we have a huge nomenclature problem on the homosexual issue: many people are still confused between the idea of people struggling against homosexual tendencies — and modernist, homosexual activist ‘Gayspeak’ that pushes the notion that a certain subset of people (in every society) “are gay” — i.e., that their natural, inborn “sexual orientation” is homosexual and nothing can be done about it. Obviously, the LGBT lobby and their liberal media allies want us to believe that the Catholic Church and indeed all institutions will move inexorably toward accepting the latter proposition, which they define as truth. However, this concept runs counter to not just Catholic doctrine but the historic teaching of Christianity on sexual sin. (See www.RobGagnon.net.)
2. Note the bolded passage above: despite the media hubbub, by condemning “lobbying by [homosexual] orientation,” Pope Francis essentially disqualifies ALL pro-homosexual (“gay rights”) advocacy and legislation.

You can read the full LifeSite story HERE. — Peter LaBarbera, AFTAH

Below is a BBC account of the pope’s comments:

Pope Francis has said gay people should not be marginalised but integrated into society.

Speaking to reporters on a flight back from Brazil, he reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s position that homosexual acts were sinful, but homosexual orientation was not.

He was responding to questions about whether there was a “gay lobby” in the Vatican.

“If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge them?”

He also said he wanted a greater role for women in the Church, but insisted they could not be priests.

The Pope arrived back in Rome on Monday after a week-long tour of Brazil – his first trip abroad as pontiff – which climaxed with a huge gathering on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach for a world Catholic youth festival.

Festival organisers estimated it attracted more than three million people.

His remarks on gay people are being seen as much less judgemental than his predecessor’s position on the issue.

Pope Benedict XVI signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests.

But Pope Francis said gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.

“The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well,” Pope Francis said in a wide-ranging 80-minute long interview with Vatican journalists.

“It says they should not be marginalised because of this but that they must be integrated into society.”

But he condemned what he described as lobbying by gay people.

“The problem is not having this orientation,” he said. “We must be brothers. The problem is lobbying by this orientation, or lobbies of greedy people, political lobbies, Masonic lobbies, so many lobbies. This is the worse problem.”

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Excerpted from LifeSiteNews:

What Pope Francis could not mean regarding gay priests and what he actually said

by John-Henry Westen, July 29, 2013

Distortion 1: Most media outlets are suggesting that Pope Francis is somehow saying there is nothing wrong with being gay.

“If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge him?” he asked, according to a Vatican Radio English translation of his remarks.

Understanding the Catholic teaching on homosexuality is necessary to understand the meaning of this phrase.

The Catholic faith teaches that all homosexual acts are presented in Sacred Scriptures as “acts of grave depravity”; that they are “intrinsically disordered” and that “under no circumstances can they be approved.” (Catechism 2357)

In another quote the Pope also said, according to Catholic News Serivce: “The problem isn’t this (homosexual) orientation — we must be like brothers and sisters.”

This quote cannot mean that the homosexual inclination is not any problem at all. The Catechism teaches that even the homosexual inclination is “objectively disordered” and is a “trial” for most who experience it.  (Catechism 2358)

Distortion 2: Since the context of the quote is in a discussion about a clergyman who is alleged to have been involved (as a priest) in a homosexual affair, the implication is that the Catholic Church is okay with gay priests.

Firstly, the Roman Catholic Church opposes any sexual activity by priests since they vow celibacy.

Secondly, especially after the horrors of the sex abuse crisis, which many have seen to be related to past tolerance of an active gay sub-culture within the Church, the Catholic Church has forbidden even those men with fixed homosexual inclinations from entering the seminary. In November 2005, the Congregation for Catholic Education released the “Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocation with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders.”

The Instruction forbade admission to seminary to “those who practise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called ‘gay culture’.”

Distortion 3: Never judge and never discriminate.  A few quotes from the Pope strung together would also leave a faulty impression without a knowledge of Catholic teaching on the matter.

In addition to the ‘who am I to judge’ quote some media are translating one phrase of the Pope to say that there must be no discrimination against homosexual persons, and that they must be accepted.

The Catechism does say: They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. (Catechism 2358)

The Catechism is specific that “unjust” discrimination is to be avoided, but the Church also teaches specifically that there is proper discrimination to be applied when it comes to confronting homosexual actions and tendencies.

Firstly as noted above, the ban on homosexuals entering the priesthood is already discrimination, a proper discrimination.  Also in this 1992 Vatican document, the Catholic Church spells out other areas where such discrimination is needed, specifically in the areas of adoption, foster care, teaching, the military, and more.

Read the full LifesiteNews story HERE…