The point is not whether The Church is "behind the times", or "out of step with society today; The Church never has been known for paying much attention to such considerations. The point is not even whether The Church. or secular law or opininion, is "Right" or "Wrong" on the issue. In this discussion, matter under examination is the assertion "The Catholic Church Now Accepts Gays". I submit, once more, that assertion is not based on fact, but rather conclusively, is refuted by the available evidence.
Strongly echoing the position articulated
Here:
Quote:Vatican Cardinal Ends Debate: No Communion for Pro-Abortion Politicians or Rainbow Sashers
Says "Are we going to change Divine Law, how God made us?"
VATICAN CITY, February 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, the top Vatican Cardinal in charge of the sacraments of the Catholic Church has made it plain in an on-camera interview with EWTN that pro-abortion politicians may not be admitted to Holy Communion.
A February 11 EWTN broadcast of the news program, World Over Live, with host Raymond Arroyo, featured an interview with Arinze, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The interview covered a wide range of topics, including female altar servers, Latin in the Mass, abortion and the rainbow sash movement.
Arroyo questioned the Vatican Cardinal saying: "Last year, you were asked at a press conference whether a politician, a Catholic politician who supports abortion publicly should be permitted to the Communion rail, should be permitted to receive Communion publicly. What is your response to that?"
Cardinal Arinze responded, "The answer is clear. If a person says I am in favour of killing unborn babies whether they be four thousand or five thousand, I have been in favour of killing them. I will be in favour of killing them tomorrow and next week and next year. So, unborn babies, too bad for you. I am in favour that you should be killed, then the person turn around and say I want to receive Holy Communion. Do you need any Cardinal from the Vatican to answer that?
Laughing, Arroyo responded, "It should be pretty transparent." To which the Cardinal concluded, "Simple, ask the children for First Communion, they'll give you the answer."
Similarly, Cardinal Arinze ruled out Communion for homosexual activists.
Arroyo noted that while some US bishops have refused Communion to Rainbow Sash activists, others such as Archbishop Harry Flynn of Minneapolis - St. Paul have not. Flynn, after meeting with Cardinal Arinze in Rome recently, suggested that the Cardinal was open to allowing communion for Rainbow Sash activists.
Arroyo first confirmed the meeting with Archbishop Flynn took place. "Did such a conversation take place between you and this archbishop?," asked Arroyo, to which Cardinal Arinze responded, "Yes."
Arroyo followed with "And were you open to allowing this group to receive Communion as he inferred in some of the newspapers."
The Vatican Cardinal responded, "No, no. You see, let's get it clear. These rainbow sash people, are they really saying we are homosexuals, we intend to remain so and we want to receive Holy Communion. The question arises; take the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It says it is not condemning a person for having homosexual tendency. We don't condemn anybody for that. But a person stands condemned for acting on it."
On homosexuality the Cardinal was clear. "The Catholic Church has never accepted homosexuality as normal. You read the scripture. It's very clear. What exactly are we examining? Are we going to change Divine Law, how God made us?"
He made a distinction between active homosexuals and those with homosexual tendencies. "Quite another matter if a person had just the tendencies and is making (an) effort to live the Divine Law, then that's fine. So, we respect persons but be clear on the truth," he said.
The Vatican, today, July 7, 2005, openly and unambiguously
Declares War on Cafeteria Catholicism.
Quote:Catholics cannot support abortion rights-Vatican
07 Jul 2005 10:18:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, July 7 (Reuters) - The Vatican on Thursday said too many Roman Catholics were not taking their religion seriously ...
... "Some receive communion while denying the teachings of the Church or publicly supporting immoral choices in life, such as abortion, without thinking that they are committing an act of grave personal dishonesty and causing scandal," it said ...
... the Church, which teaches that life begins at the moment of conception and that abortion is murder, says Catholics cannot have it both ways.
The document lamented what it called "a crisis in the meaning of belonging to the Church" and an inadequate understanding of the Catholic teaching that the presence of Christ in the Eucharist is real and not symbolic.
It said an increasingly secularized society had weakened the sense of mystery in the sacrament of communion. Too few Catholics were approaching communion with the "fear and trembling" that the true presence of God warranted" ...
Now, while the Reuters article references divorce and abortion specifically, note the wording among the article's excerpts from the Vatican document released today:
" ... publicly supporting immoral choices in life ... "
"... a crisis in the meaning of belonging to the Church ... "
The Reuters article's focus not withstanding, The Church does not look askance on divorce and abortion alone; as referenced in the earlier quoted Arinze (Prefect of the
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments) interview article, The Church now, and by ancient, even foundational, tradition, doctrine, and dogma, steadfastly condems homosexual practice (as distinct from homosexual preference), which practice it categorizes as a sin of commission against morality - by definition, a sin of grave spiritual consequence to the perpetrator, and, also by definition, "Dishonest, Scandalous Behavior" (
" ... grave personal dishonesty and causing scandal"). One may not endorse or participate in the physical expression of homosexual tendencies and remain in communion with The Church, precisely as is the case with abortion, artificial contraception, sex outside the sacrament of Matrimony, or remarriage after divorce.
So, in the matter of The Church and homosexuality, who ya gonna believe? Gay-rights proponents, someone citing a purported, apparently "gay-freindly", San Francisco "Canon Lawyer", or the Vatican, its officials, its traditions, its teachings, and its documents? Gotta wonder what part of
"... stands condemmed ... " some folks have trouble grasping.
Note to some in the congregation of San Francisco's Most Holy Redeemer Church (and others of similar stance); enjoy your dreams while you have them. The front desk at the Vatican has your wakeup call scheduled.
