So, has anyone else heard the news from the latest RCC synod?
http://online.wsj.com/articles/bishops-scrap-welcome-to-gay-catholics-in-sign-of-split-1413658267
Of course, from the secular media, the RCC stance towards gays was watered down a bit from the start of the synod to the end, but it still seems a lot more open than in past years. I understand loving those in sin, such as homosexuals, and cohabiting couples, but is that what the synod really means? What did Pope Francis mean earlier this year (or was it last year?) when he said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” Does he mean that it is ok to have homosexual desires or that it is ok to live a homosexual lifestyle and seek God? According to Christianity Today, it seems like a fight between the "progressive" Pope and the conservative global south.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/catholic.synod.closes.without.any.major.shift.on.h omosexuality.or.divorcees/41887.htm
Do you think that the RCC will continue to open up or is this only a nicer public face on what the church already teaches?
Disclosure: I'm an evangelical, but I'm very interested in what the RCC decides.
Catholic bishops voted Saturday to water down a report earlier this week that advocated a significant shift in the church’s approach to gays and divorced Catholics, reflecting a deep split within the church’s leadership.
In a vote Saturday evening, an assembly of nearly 200 bishops, who have been discussing issues concerning the family at a special meeting known as a synod, took their final vote on a working document released Monday. That document, released halfway through the two-week synod, proposed a far more open approach to gays and suggested a path back to the church for divorced Catholics who have remarried to receive communion.
In a vote Saturday evening, an assembly of nearly 200 bishops, who have been discussing issues concerning the family at a special meeting known as a synod, took their final vote on a working document released Monday. That document, released halfway through the two-week synod, proposed a far more open approach to gays and suggested a path back to the church for divorced Catholics who have remarried to receive communion.
As a result of the vote, both portions were revised. The section originally applauding the “precious support” sometimes found in same-sex unions was dropped, replaced by language simply saying that gays must be “welcomed with respect and delicacy.”
At the same time, the report suggested that remarried Catholics could receive communion after a period of penance. Currently, the church denies communion to Catholics who have remarried, unless their first marriage is annulled.
Of course, from the secular media, the RCC stance towards gays was watered down a bit from the start of the synod to the end, but it still seems a lot more open than in past years. I understand loving those in sin, such as homosexuals, and cohabiting couples, but is that what the synod really means? What did Pope Francis mean earlier this year (or was it last year?) when he said, “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” Does he mean that it is ok to have homosexual desires or that it is ok to live a homosexual lifestyle and seek God? According to Christianity Today, it seems like a fight between the "progressive" Pope and the conservative global south.
Some of the strongest opposition to offering a more welcoming stance to homosexuals came from bishops from the Global South. Homosexuality is illegal in 37 African countries and merits the death sentence in Mauritania, Sudan and northern Nigeria.
Although they have simmered under the surface for years, in laying bare the depth of divisions in the Catholic Church for the first time, Pope Francis' extraordinary synod has shown the Anglican Communion that it is not alone in its own struggles in these areas. Even though the Pope's mission for reform did not meet with the success he hoped, the strong support he got was greater than many expected, given the centuries of tradition and the face that most of the cardinals were appointed by his predecessor, the conservative Pope Benedict, who as Cardinal Ratzinger authored the "intrinsic moral evil" text on homosexuals.
Although they have simmered under the surface for years, in laying bare the depth of divisions in the Catholic Church for the first time, Pope Francis' extraordinary synod has shown the Anglican Communion that it is not alone in its own struggles in these areas. Even though the Pope's mission for reform did not meet with the success he hoped, the strong support he got was greater than many expected, given the centuries of tradition and the face that most of the cardinals were appointed by his predecessor, the conservative Pope Benedict, who as Cardinal Ratzinger authored the "intrinsic moral evil" text on homosexuals.
Do you think that the RCC will continue to open up or is this only a nicer public face on what the church already teaches?
Disclosure: I'm an evangelical, but I'm very interested in what the RCC decides.
Comment