Pope Francis: To Be ‘Scandalized’ By Gay Couple Blessings is ‘Hypocrisy’

[Michie]

Pope Francis has come to the defense of the controversial document several times since its publication.

Pope Francis this week again defended the Vatican’s controversial document authorizing blessings for same-sex couples, with the Holy Father arguing that humans “must all respect each other” and stating that blessings should be extended to “everyone.”

The Pope’s comments come from an exclusive Italian-language interview he gave to the Italian weekly print periodical Credere, which will be available in newsstands across Italy on Thursday.

When asked by editor Father Vincenzo Vitale about Fiducia Supplicans — the December document published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) that authorized nonliturgical blessings for same-sex couples and others in “irregular situations” — the Pope said that “the gravest sins … are those that disguise themselves with a more ‘angelic’ appearance.”

“No one is scandalized if I give a blessing to an entrepreneur who perhaps exploits people: and this is a very serious sin,” the Holy Father said. “Whereas they are scandalized if I give it to a homosexual … This is hypocrisy! We must all respect each other. Everyone.”

“I don’t bless a ‘homosexual marriage,’” the pope said. “I bless two people who love each other and I also ask them to pray for me.”

“Always in confessions, when these situations arrive, homosexual people, remarried people, I always pray and bless,” he continued. “The blessing is not to be denied to anyone. Everyone, everyone. Mind you, I am talking about people: those who are capable of receiving baptism,” Francis continued.


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Pope Francis: To Be ‘Scandalized’ By Gay Couple Blessings is ‘Hypocrisy’

Pope Francis has come to the defense of the controversial document several times since its publication.

www.ncregister.com

 

[Wolseley]

He just doesn't get it, does he?

 

[Michie]

He just doesn't get it, does he?

It appears he does not understand a large segment of the flock.

 

[fide]

It appears he does not understand either Christian moral theology or the natural moral law. I say "it appears," but I suspect the problem is not a lack of understanding but rather an interior rejection of the law. If this is not yet an abomination of desolation, I shudder to think how bad things are yet to become.

 

[Michie]

Today I saw the headline, “Pope denounces ‘hypocrisy’ of those who criticise LGBT blessings.” I found that disconcerting, because I have been critical of LGBT blessings. It grieves me to be regarded as a hypocrite by the Holy Father.

Why does Pope Francis call such criticism hypocrisy? He explains: “Nobody gets scandalised if I give my blessings to a businessman who perhaps exploits people, and this is a very grave sin. But they get scandalised if I give them to a homosexual.”

“This is hypocrisy,” he said.

Is blessing a businessman, who perhaps exploits people, analogous to “LGBT blessings”? It’s illuminating to consider the differences.

First, to bless the businessman is to bless an individual. By contrast, “LGBT blessings” does not refer to the blessing of individuals. Rather, Fiducia Supplicans is about “blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples.”

Second, to bless this businessman is to bless someone who perhaps exploits people. If he does, he may or may not be aware of it, and if he is aware of it, he may or may not intend to continue the exploitation despite the blessing. One hopes that if he is aware of exploiting people, the blessing becomes the occasion of his following the example of Zacchaeus, who responded beautifully to the blessing of having Jesus in his home: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold” (Lk 19:8).

In any case, if there is no reason to think that the businessman seeks the blessing as approval of his exploitative practices, neither he nor onlookers are likely to regard the blessing as approval.

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Hypocrisy and same-sex blessings

www.catholicworldreport.com

 

[RileyG]

How about? No blessings for same sex couples. They must repent of their sins and "relationships" before they are welcomed at the table.

 

[Michie]

HOLY FATHER, YOU ARE NOT LISTENING! AND NOT LISTENING, YOU MIX APPLES AND ORANGES IN A FEEBLE ATTEMPT AT APOLOGETICS CONCERNING F******S*******!

The sad case of mixing apples and oranges and misrepresenting the actual concerns of orthodox, sane, post-Vatican II, flexible clergy and la...

southernorderspage.blogspot.com

 

[Wolseley]

It appears he does not understand either Christian moral theology or the natural moral law. I say "it appears," but I suspect the problem is not a lack of understanding but rather an interior rejection of the law. If this is not yet an abomination of desolation, I shudder to think how bad things are yet to become.

Wow, fide. I said myself that sexual deviancy would be the catalyst for the apocalypse, but your statement above hit me right between the eyes. I never thought about it that way, but it makes sense.....if altars to perversion are erected in holy places, there's no other term for it except an "abomination of desolation".

That was incredibly profound, brother. I'm going to have to think on this, and do some research. That's just......very deep.

 

[fide]

Wow, fide. I said myself that sexual deviancy would be the catalyst for the apocalypse, but your statement above hit me right between the eyes. I never thought about it that way, but it makes sense.....if altars to perversion are erected in holy places, there's no other term for it except an "abomination of desolation".

That was incredibly profound, brother. I'm going to have to think on this, and do some research. That's just......very deep.

This matter is most serious, and does call us to intense, focused attention. Every word (I'm using Matthew's account here) is significant:

Mt 24:15 “When you see the desolating abomination spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),​

16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains,...​

But we must hear it all, to understand it all...
May the Lord help us to hear, to see, to understand, to respond in faith - and in hope - and in holy charity.

 

[chevyontheriver]

It appears he does not understand a large segment of the flock.

Does he have the smell of the sheep or the smell of the wolves? On this it seems the latter.