The Catholic Church's Confused LGBTQ Approach (2023)

OPINION:

Every organization needs a structure to thrive and survive. A business needs a business plan with a budget, expected human resources required, expected revenue, and much more. The structure provides stability and a structure to refer to when the company is in trouble.

The military structure is in the form of a chain of command. If each military made their own decisions, there would be total chaos in combat situations. Instead, superiors command their troops, which they must obey. This structure ensures that everyone works in the same direction and this teamwork allows to achieve the objectives.

The structure and associated stability offer the possibility of success in many areas of life.

it's like that with herCatholic Church. Ancestral structure that preserves the oldest existing onesChristian Churchfor almost 2000 years. Commonly known as doctrine, the structure of the Catholic faith is essential to maintaining the body ofIglesia. This teaching includes the belief inJesus Christas a child of God. teaches thatJesusdied for the sins of all mankind, whoYHe rose again on the third day and suchYit will come again If you consider yourself a Catholic, believe these teachings.

Catholic doctrine also teaches certain concepts of good and evil. He claims that sex outside of marriage is wrong. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Killing a baby in the womb is wrong. The death penalty is wrong for a reason. The term "devout" Catholic is often used, but if you disagreeIglesiafrom the above teachings or from any other point, you really cannot call yourself pious. Catholic cafeteria might be a better description for those who choose what to believe.

One part of Catholic teaching that receives a lot of media attention today is the belief that homosexuality is unnatural and wrong. In the West, where transgender rights and drag queens entertaining kindergartners have become high on the cultural agenda, it's theIglesiaThe longstanding traditional belief is dismissed by many as non-contact.

Among those who pointIglesiaCardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg must change. As a cardinal, his statements carry particular weight. There are only 178 cardinals in theCatholic Church, each chosen by a Pope. Hollerich was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019. He was elected General Rapporteur of the German Synod on Synodality, a meeting of senior Catholic officials in Germany that makes recommendations on synodality.Iglesia.

Despite the fact that Cardinal Hollerich is bound, among other things, by a vow of obedienceCatholic Churchhe ministers to and, in his teaching, has recently challenged long-established Catholic teaching that human sexuality is reserved in the sacrament of Matrimony between a man and a woman. In public statements, Hollerich spoke of scientific and sociological factors that form the basis of thisIglesiaThe 2,000-year-old understanding of human sexuality has changed. This is theIglesiaHis teachings are flawed. They are essentially wrong and need to be changed.

The cardinal's comments have a much deeper impact than whether it's okay to be gay. Commentaries are just a domino among the bricks that make up the Articles of Faith. Using the Bible as a guide, Paul's letter to the Ephesians is filled with wedding imagery. According to Cardinal Hollerich, Saint Paul was wrong. The Bible is wrong. If the cardinal is right, what other parts of the Bible are wrong? A bit of that? All that? By promoting the culturally popular notion that gay people are perfectly normal, the cardinal undermines the book that serves as the foundation of Christianity itself.

This is alarming on many levels. The structure ofIglesiaurges priests to show obedience, even those raised to the high status of cardinal. that is obedienceIglesia, his teaching and his leader. Is there a process by which changes can be made to theIglesia, but this process does not include random priests expressing their disagreements publicly. Failure to comply with the structure undermines the stability and even the credibility of theCatholic Church.

The cardinal's duty of obedience to the Pope is indisputable. What is Pope Francis' position on homosexuality? If he has read the mainstream media, he is not sure of the answer to this question.

In recent comments to the Associated Press on the gay issue, Pope Francis told the reporter: "We are all children of God and God loves us exactly as we are." crime . Is that it then? According to the Pope, God loves homosexuals, so it must be okay?

Not so fast.

The Pope has made similar comments in the past and the mainstream media always seems to interpret this as this Pope blessing homosexual relationships. Inevitably, a day or two later, the Vatican will try to recover the context of the Pope's words, but by then the headlines have been read and the gay community has declared another public relations victory.

A deeper dive into the Pope's comments goes a long way to clarify this.Iglesias attitude on the subject has not changed. In the same discussion with the AP reporter, the Holy Father reiterated the idea that Church doctrine says that homosexual activity is a sin. In fact, in 2021, the Vatican Magisterium declared that theCatholic Churchhe could not bless same-sex couples because "God cannot bless sin."

Pope Francis even said: "First let us distinguish between sin and crime." His argument was that while gay activity may be a sin, it should not be prosecuted as a crime, specifically targeting nations that use the death penalty.

What the Pope is also saying is that homosexuals should be welcome in the Church.Iglesiaand treated with respect and kindness, despite the fact that homosexual acts are considered inherently disturbing. This seems difficult to understand for some. it should not be

Jesusthe tax collector welcomed anywayto becrazy ways.Jesushe loved the individual, but not all of that individual's actions. We see the same pattern throughout the Son of Man.to bejourney on earth.YHe accepted imperfect people and loved them despite their sins, not because of them.Yhe did not approve of their sins.YI loved the individuals.

The truth is that we are all imperfect human beings.JesusHe loves us all despite our faults. The fact that Pope Francis calls homosexuality a sin but welcomes homosexuals into the Church does not send a mixed message. She follows in the footsteps ofJesus Christyourself.

Cardinal Hollerich is wrong. Accepting sin at the expense of the stability and structure of the last 2,000 years is not the path to enlightenment.Yshould sit and look at pope francis and see how to embrace the sinnerJesusdoing often changes the behavior in question.

• Tim Constantine is a columnist for the Washington Times.