The subject of the Catholic Church and the LGBT is very complex and one that involves many facets of the practices, culture, traditions and beliefs of the Vatican, the bishops, the priests and the Catholic laity. ‘Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ’ said ‘to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father;’ “Dear beloved, it was my desire to write to you about the salvation we share. But now, I find it necessary that I must write to you and urge you to contend for the faith that was entrusted to God’s holy people (saints; Kadesh – holy). Certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have crept in… ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ… I remind you… just as Sodom and Gomorrah… which indulged in gross immorality… giving themselves over to fornication and homosexuality… are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire; likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh… and speak evil of those things with they do not understand… they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! …but, you beloved, remember the words …of the apostles and of our Lord Jesus Christ… building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost… (Epistle of Jude; apostle, brother of James – likely – Judas – half-brother of Jesus; Matt. 13:55).”
This article will cover by sections: the current state of approval of LGBT as members of the Christian Church and having rights to marry; the current positions of the Vatican; the sexual habits of priests; the ‘Bridge’ forming between the Catholic Church and the LGBT community; the Catholic Catechism; the teachings of early church fathers (Church Fathers on Homosexuality); and the Holy Scriptures. Please understand, i follow my Lord who “desires that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9),” but who warns, “enter through the narrow gate; for wide and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it (Matt. 7:13).”
Sincerely, if you do not understand Deuteronomy 10:12-13, or known the One named in Exodus 34:6-7, or believe in the Eternal Judgment to come and of heaven and hell then you will not likely care to welcome my conclusions; but i pray you consider the following facts and truth.
Section 1: Acceptance of LGBT practices in the Church
A National Congregations Study conducted by Duke University professor M. Chaves, examined the acceptance of gay and lesbian congregants from 2006 to 2012 and found that acceptance of gays in the Church as members rose from 37.4% to 48%.
The study did show at the time that in 2012, Catholics were ‘somewhat less acceptance’ of gay and lesbian members in 2012 than in 2006. However, that has changed, and Chaves reported that “the increasing acceptance of gays and lesbians is a well-known trend in America… Churches are no exception.”
In October 2014, Pewresearch.org published the article Young U.S. Catholics overwhelmingly accepting of homosexuality. It revealed that about 85% of those 18-29 welcome gays and lesbians to their congregations. It should be noted that about the same amount no longer read the Holy Scriptures outside of church on any regular basis.
In another 2015 Pew Research Center Study, they found that 41% of those LGBT’s surveyed did not care a less whether the ‘evangelical church’ welcomed them as members. Pew found that 73% of LBGT people perceived evangelical churches to be unfriendly and 79% felt that Catholic churches were unfriendly; 44% believed non-evangelical mainstream churches were unfriendly. Moreover, only 10% of the LGBT said that ‘religion’ was ‘somewhat or very important to them.’ The pro-LGBT Glaad group put out “Accelerating Acceptance 2017: A Harris Poll…” It reported that ‘Millennials ages 18-34 are significantly more likely to openly identity as LGBTQ than older generations;’ and that they are the main driving force of ‘increasingly accepting environments….’
The GLAAD Report (not tested by non-bias studies) said that about 20% of millennials were LGBTQ. That is about 2-4 times what other studies are showing. Various 2017 polls, such as Gallup’s, show between 4% and 12%. But GLAAD follows its poster father Alfred Kinsey, whose skewed biased studies produced lies stated 1 in 10 men were gay in the 1950s. Kinsey’s methods moved the UK, then the US to change old criminal laws on sodomy (that was a different issue), but then that force drove the UN and politicians around the world to approve and desiring same-sex marriages; and then adoption of ‘straight children’ by transgender or same-sex single or married parents.
Nevertheless, the GLAAD-Harris Poll Report showed that 63% of Americans 18-34 openly support the LGBTQ and 52% of those 35-71. Only 22% of all those surveyed said they were uncomfortable with ‘having LGBTQ members at my place of worship.’ And I assume that would be the same for ‘membership.’ Meaning, the follower of Christ welcomes the repentant sinner to hear the word of truth; but they do not welcome them to be teachers, elders, preachers or deacons (1 Tim. 3:10).
Section 2: The current positions of the Vatican
This April 2017, a top Vatican cardinal and other high-ranking bishops praised a new pro-LGBT book by Jesuit ‘father’ J. Martin. The book calls the Catholic Church to build a closer relationship with the ‘LGBT community,’ and to welcome them as church members (more on this in section 4). Cardinal Kevin Farrell, appointed by Pope Francis to head the Vatican’s life and family dicastery (Court), said that “LGBT Catholics are as much a part of our church as any other Catholic… to many parts of our church LGBT people have been made to feel …shamed.” I wonder if Martin or the other pro-LGBT Vatican Council members would say, ‘men who perform sodomy (anal sex/intercourse) with other men, and fornicators and adulterers are as much a part of our church as any other Catholic… and should not feel ashamed… but take part in Holy Communion?’
Paul, ‘called to be an apostle and servant of Jesus Christ,’ said to the Corinthians and us, “It is reported that there is immorality among you… as among the Gentiles… (and it is without repentance, therefore) removed them from your midst… (1 Cor. 5:1-).’ When you ‘come together as a church’ and take communion; I tell you, “Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty… (1 Cor. 10:27).”
Nevertheless, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, made a cardinal by Pope Francis, also endorses the pro-LBGT movement saying, “in too many parts of our church LGBT people have been made to feel unwelcome, excluded and even shamed… LGBT Catholics are as much a part of our church as any other Catholic.” Tobin in the recent past criticized 4 cardinals who spoke against “Amoris Laetitia: the Holy Father Francis to Bishops, Priests…”
| In Pope Francis’ very long Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia (2016), after speaking in section 13 on ‘the marital union… two become one flesh…’he said, in section 29 “we have contemplated the relationship between human families and the divine Trinity. The word of God tells us that the family is entrusted to a man, a woman and their children, so that they may become a communion of persons in the image of the union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Begetting and raising children… and to share in Eucharistic communion…” Then in section 32 the pope evolves saying, “…Anthropological and cultural changes in our times influence all aspects of life and call for an analytic and diversified approach.” He did not say that the Lord God does not change; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And so are His commands; and His judgment is just and does not change.
Bishop Francis went on to say in section 36, ‘We need to be humble and realistic, acknowledging that at times the way we present our Christian beliefs and treat other people has helped contribute to today’s problematic situation… (sec. 37) we have long thought that simply by stressing doctrinal, bioethical and moral issues, without encouraging openness to grace, we were providing sufficient support to families, strengthening the marriage bond… (sec. 38) nowadays we are grateful too for the witness of marriages that have not only proved lasting, but also fruitful and loving.” He continues in section 41 quoting in part the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of (Catholic) Bishops – October 2014, saying, “Marital problems are ‘often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect, to make sacrifices and to forgive one another. Failures give rise to new relationships, new couples, new civil unions, and new marriages, creating family situations which are complex and problematic for the Christian life.” {If they are speaking of sin, it is Not ‘problematic’ – continual willful sin is damning – see Heb. 10:26.} Bishop of Rome Francis and Head of the Vatican and Catholic church continued, in section 56, “Yet another challenge is posed by the various forms of an ideology of gender that ‘denies the difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a woman and envisages a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family. This ideology leads to educational programs and legislative enactments that promote a personal identity and emotional intimacy radically separated from the biological difference between male and female. Consequently, human identity becomes the choice of the individual, one which can also change over time… in this way, human life and parenthood have become modular and separable realities, subject mainly to the wishes of individuals or couples. It is one thing to be understanding of human weakness and the complexities of life, and another to accept ideologies that attempt to sunder what are inseparable aspects of reality. Let us not fall into the sin of trying to replace the Creator… At the same time, we are called to protect our humanity, and this means, in the first place, accepting it and respecting it as it was created.” Continuing (sec. 59), “Our teaching on marriage and the family cannot fail to be inspired and transformed by this message of love and tenderness… (60) Jesus… looked upon the women and men whom He met with love and tenderness…” [No, not always with tenderness; tax collectors in the temple, other Pharisees, etc.] Continuing (61), “Marriage is ‘a gift’ from the Lord… Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled (Heb. 13:4).” [Let me ask, does that mean if a husband beats or abuses his wife during sex it is ok? Sex between husband (Adam/man) and wife (Eve/woman) is undefiled as long as it does not involved willful sin. It not give license to jump into the bed and fantasize about pornographic images of another or the neighbors spouse; or to lie or murder or homosexual acts.] In section 67, the man called Pope Francis said, “The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), in its Pastoral Constitution… was concerned ‘to promote the dignity of marriage and the family.’ The Constitution ‘defined marriage as a community of life and love, placing love at the center of the family… ‘True love between husband and wife…’ Christ the Lord ‘makes Himself present to the Christian spouses in the sacrament of marriage’ and remains with them… purifies it and brings it to fulfilment. By His Spirit, He gives spouses the capacity to live that love… In this way, the spouses are consecrated and by means of a special grace build up the Body of Christ and form a domestic church…” Section 70 continuing, “…Pope Benedict XVI… on the topic of love of man and woman… stressed that ‘marriage based on an exclusive and definitive love becomes an icon of the relationship between God and His people… (sec. 71) Scripture and Tradition give us access to a knowledge of the Trinity, which is revealed with the features of a family… (72) The sacrament of marriage is not a social convention, an empty ritual… it is a gift given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses, since ‘their mutual belonging is a real representation… of Christ and the Church (quoting Pope John Paul II – 1981).’ …Marriage is a vocation… the decision to marry and to have a family ought to be the fruit of a process of vocational discernment. (73) ‘Mutual self-giving in the sacrament of matrimony is grounded in the grace of baptism… (John Paul II )’.” Francis continues (75), “In the Church’s Latin tradition, the ministers of the sacrament of marriage are the man and the woman who marry, by manifesting their consent… Canon Law also recognizes the validity of certain unions celebrated without the presence of an ordained minister… the couple who marry are the ministers of the sacrament. Nor does it affect the centrality of the consent given by the man and the woman, which of itself establishes the sacramental bond… (77) In addition to true natural marriage… exist other religious traditions… anyone who wants to bring into this world a family which teaches children to be excited by every gesture aimed at overcoming evil… will encounter our gratitude and our appreciation.” [Dear bishop; It is not enough to aim at some understanding of evil. One must through the Lord overcome the temptations of the Evil One; including adultery, fornication and homosexuality] I shall continue again with Francis’ words, “(79) When faced with difficult situations and wounded families… Pastors are obliged to exercise careful discernment… while clearly stating the Church’s teaching, pastors are to avoid judgments that do not take into account the complexity of various situations… (80) Marriage is firstly an ‘intimate partnership of life and love, which is a good for the spouses themselves, while sexuality is ‘ordered to the conjugal love of man and woman.” [Seriously Francis, do you think two naked same-sex partners can lay in the same bed for days, or months, or years, without giving the other much pleasure (Mark 4:19)?] Ok by now you the reader understands the flow and thought process of the Pope, so let’s fast-forward about 50 pages. Francis continues, “(90) Saint Paul… love is patient, love is king… love forgives… (107) Today we recognize that being able to forgive others implies the liberating experience of understanding and forgiving ourselves… God’s love is unconditional… (113) Married couples joined by love speak well of each other… bears all things… (121) …the mystery of marriage: God makes of the two spouses one single existence… (122) there is no need to lay upon two limited persons the tremendous burden of having to reproduce perfectly the union existing between Christ and His Church… (123) after the love that unites us to God, conjugal love is the greatest form of friendship… intimacy… stability… Marriage joins to all this… the stable commitment to share and shape together the whole of life…’ “(199)…Different communities will have to devise more practical and effective initiatives that respect both the Church’s teaching and local problems and needs… (200) …in Christ we have been ‘set free from sin…’ ‘(201) This effort calls for missionary conversion by everyone in the Church… Seminarians should receive a more extensive interdisciplinary, and not merely doctrinal formation in the areas of engagement and marriage.” [does Francis think today is different for what Abraham, or the prophets or apostles encountered in term of sexual relations and couples?] And here Francis says, (292) “Christian marriage, as a reflection of the union between Christ and His Church, is fully realized in the union between a man and a woman who give themselves to each other in a free, faithful and exclusive love… Some forms of union radically contradict this ideal, while others realize it in at least a partial and analogous way. The Synod Fathers (2015) stated that the Church does not disregard the constructive elements in those situations which do not yet or no longer correspond to her teaching on marriage. (293) Then Fathers also considered the specific situation of a merely civil marriage… when such unions attain a particular stability, legally recognized, are characterized by deep affection and responsibility for their offspring and demonstrate an ability to overcome trials; they can provide occasions for pastoral care with a view to the eventual celebration of the sacrament of marriage… it is a source of concern that many young people today distrust marriage and live together… For the Church’s pastors are not only responsible for promoting Christian marriage, but also the ‘pastoral discernment of the situations of a great many who no longer live this reality… (294) The choice of a civil marriage or in many cases, of simple cohabitation, is often not motivated by prejudice or resistance to a sacramental union, but by cultural or contingent satiations… (296) The Council of Jerusalem… the way of the Church is not to condemn anyone forever, it is to pour out the balm of God’s mercy on all those who ask for it with a sincere heart…” [Wait a minute Francis, you forgot to say ‘a sincere REPENTANT heart;’ and also did not disclose that the Council of Jerusalem warned the church “to abstain from… sexual immorality (Acts 15:29).”] Pope Francis concludes saying there is a, “(301)… need of special discernment in certain ‘irregular’ situations… It can no longer simply be said that all those in any ‘irregular’ situation are living in a state of mortal sin and are deprived of sanctifying grace. More is involved here than mere ignorance of the rule… (302) The Catechism of the Catholic Church clearly mentions these factors: ‘immutability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments and other psychological or social factors… Marriage is also the experience of belonging completely to another…” |
Wow, that means no one is lost – there is no hell for humans. Read Romans again, ‘we are without excuse;’ there is no separation for free will or ignorance of conscience without serious disability; and free will choices which lead to a depraved mind also do not excuse us from judgment – repent Bishops and preach the scriptures before the Lord judges you.
Pope Francis here stopped short of saying what was in his heart. But he did say it soon after he was elected pope. In 2013, on his return flight from Rio, Brazil, he said, “If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has goodwill; who am I to judge a gay person? …The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this very well. It says they should not be marginalized because of this (orientation) but that they must be integrated into society.” But after returning to Roman and its Cardinal, he recanted and they stated the official position of the Catholic Church on the issue is that while homosexual desires or attractions are not in themselves sinful (they are at first temptations – that lead to sin and death – see James 1), the physical acts are.
For decades, the Vatican has regarded homosexuality as a “disorder,” and Pope Francis’ predecessor Pope Benedict XVI formally barred men with what the Vatican deemed “deep-seated” homosexuality from entering the priesthood. John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter reported on the meeting as well and said the Pope also addressed the question of the Vatican’s reported ‘gay lobby.’ Saying, “His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.”
In a 2013 interview with the Italian Jesuit magazine La Civilta Cattolica, Pope Francis said, “”A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality. I replied with another question: ‘Tell me, when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person… In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.”
The bishops of the Catholic Church have much to change (but not the definition of biblical marriage) In 2014 a Univision poll found that 54 percent of U.S. Catholics supported same-sex marriage. Fifty-nine percent supported admitting women to the priesthood. Sixty percent thought Catholics who had divorced and remarried outside the church should be eligible to receive communion. Sixty-one percent thought priests should be allowed to marry. Seventy-six percent thought abortion should be permitted at least in some circumstances. Seventy-nine percent supported contraception. And now a few years later the percentages are increasing.
Decline of the Catholic Church
Section 3: The sexual habits of priests
In 1994, Pope John Paul II in his letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente called on Catholics to prepare for the coming millennium by examining their conscience; and though he expressed regret for the Church failing in some areas; he and the Cardinals stopped short of speaking about sexually immoral priests. D. Cozzens, a Catholic priest, wrote, The Changing Face of the Priesthood (2000) where he estimated that between 20 and 60 percent of all Catholic priests are gay.
He and others such as Father G. Wills in his Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit (2000), speak of how the Vatican and bishops are silence on the issue. Moreover, Wills, reveals ‘historical dishonesties,’ ‘doctrinal dishonesties,’ and ‘a presence in the Vatican to this day’ full of ‘deceitfulness.’ Wills writes, “In fact, the admission of married men and women to the priesthood — which is bound to come anyway — may well come for the wrong reason, not because women and the community deserve this, but because of panic at the perception that the priesthood is becoming predominantly gay.”
In the 1980s, the John Jay Report estimated that ‘homosexual men entered the seminaries in noticeable numbers from the late 1970s through the 1980s;’ and that about 15-58% of all priests in the US were actively gay. In the 1990s, Wolf and Sipe, put forth a study that the percentage of gay Catholic priest was much higher than the national average. UK’s Bishop Elizabeth Stuart, with the L&G Christian Movement and a professor of Christian Theology, reported in 2008 that “at least 33% of all priests in the Catholic Church are homosexual.”
Various studies between 1990 and 2015 on AIDS and Catholic priests have revealed that they have HIV/AIDS between 4 and 7 times the national average. A 2002 LA Times poll of 1,854 priests revealed that 9% stated they were ‘homosexual,’ and another 6% said they were ‘somewhere in between but more on the homosexual side.’ And likely another 33% lied and abstain from answering – but not from immoral acts; where sexual abuse of children, or homosexual perverted acts with another man. In that LA poll, 17% of the priests said that a ‘homosexual subculture’ existed in the Catholic diocese and 53% said that it existed in the seminary where they attended.
Childabuserecovery.com reported Catholic mass grave sites in Canada, Ireland, Spain and parts of Europe where as many as 350,000 children have been buried. The International Common Law Court of Justice in Brussels raised charges against Pope Francis and the Catholic Church in 2014 for cover-ups and guilt of causing the deaths of many of these children.
In the HBO documentaries ‘Deliver us from Evil (2006),’ and ‘Mea Maxima Culpa (2012),’ they displayed the manner in which priests abused young children and adults, studies of the statistics, confessions and the covered that cost the Catholic church hundreds of millions a dollars and millions of members. They interviewed Father O’Grady of Ireland who told of his having molested over 25 children in California and how the bishops transferred him from one diocese to another and how the Church begged the families to remain silence for the sake of the Church. Mea… Culpa showed the case of students at a Catholic School for the Deaf where children were sexually abused and the cover-up went from the church in Wisconsin to the highest office of the Vatican.
Just from 2001 to 2010, the Holy See (Vatican) was dealing with over 3,000 sexual abuse cases by priests who were active in the Church in the previous 50 years. A 2004 study by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice for the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops found 4,392 priests and deacons (in process of becoming a priest) between 1950 and 2002 accused by 10,667 individuals of sexual abuse of a youth under 18. A report estimated that 4% of all priests have sex with minors.
The Catholic Church was warned by many of its own high level advisors to come forward years and even perhaps decades earlier; or that it would cost the Church millions of members and a billion dollars. Well it cost tens of millions of members (and maybe hundreds of millions of potential future Catholics) and about $4 billion so far. The National Catholic Reporter in November 2015 stated, ‘The U.S. Catholic church has incurred nearly $ 4 billion in costs related to the priest sex abuse crisis during the past 65 years.’ Who knows how many billions it has cost worldwide, but it is very sad shame that their tons of gold or Euro reserve and Euro printing-press could not have found better use – say maybe to care for the poor.
The Catholic Church is debating the issue of marriage for their priests; and remember their first ‘pope’ Peter the apostle was married. Archbishop Parolin, perhaps the second to the pope, stated the subject of marriage for priests should be up for discussion because ‘it’s an ecclesiastical tradition and not a dogma of the Church.’ Several polls, such as by PewResearch show the majority of American Catholics wanting priest to be allowed to marry; in 2013 it was 58% and in 2017 likely closer to 70%.
Jordan, author ofThe Silence of Sodom: Homosexuality in Modern Catholicism (2002) speaking of the Catholic hierarchy wrote, “They are really poisonous people, and they work out their own inner demonology by getting into positions in power and exercising it” against other gay men, women, and anyone whom they perceive to be a threat. “Alongside that are suffering priests who seem sincere all the way down, who are trying to be faithful to God, and also to take care of people and change the institution. They are the ones who are always forgotten, and read out of the story from both sides.” Jordan, professor of religion at Emory University, explains that the Catholic structure attracts homosexual priest. He offers stories and observations in his book.
When Paul VI became pope in 1963, by one account he took his papal name not from any predecessor but from a former lover, a film actor. That is said by gay French writer Roger Peyrefitte, whose 1976 allegations about Paul VI caused such a stir that Paul took to the balcony of St. Peter’s to denounce the “horrible and slanderous” accusations. Paul looked a laughingstock, and the Curia learned a lesson: better to ignore such charges than to amplify them by denial. Nevertheless, though the allegation was silly, the facts of homosexual priests were not. In the 1970s, the center of gay life in Rome was a cruising area called Monte Caprino, on the Capitoline Hill. Many gay monks and their friends went to that place. “It was like its own little city,” one monk remembered, “with hundreds of people—everyone from seminarians to bishops—and then there were, conveniently, bushes off to the side.” Monte Caprino was compromised by the air of secrecy around the place.
In a 2010 investigation of contract fixing for construction projects, Italian police wiretaps happened to catch a papal usher and Gentleman of His Holiness, Angelo Balducci, allegedly hiring male prostitutes, some of whom may have been seminarians, through a Nigerian member of a Vatican choir. The choir member was dismissed and Balducci was convicted for corruption, but not for his immoral acts.
It was said in the 1970s and 1980s that Gay saunas were good places to meet other gay priests and monks. The saunas in the late afternoon or evening on Thursdays were full, when pontifical universities had no classes; also Sundays after Mass some gay clerics use the saunas. Additionally, J. Moss, the American owner of the oldest gay bars in Rome – the Hangar, said that the rise of Internet cruising, combined with the Vatican’s crackdown on gay priests, decimated his gay clerical clientele. As reported by VanityFair.com in 2013, Moss told one news source, “There used to be so many seminarians—such beautiful men—who came to the bar, and we would even get hired to take parties to them in some of the religious houses. Now there’s nobody.”
Reports revealed that senior level Vatican official have attended gay retreats. Also, it was found that gay priests often use Facebook and other social-networking or internet sites such as, Venerabilis, to find gay encounters. Many formerly gay priests, such as Meier in his book, Hidden Voices: Reflections of a Gay, Catholic Priest, reveal the problems and reality of the Catholic homosexual priest situation.
In 1992, Jason Berry, a winner of the Catholic Press Award, estimated that $400 million had been paid out to keep cases quiet in the previous decade. According to BishopAccountability.org (in 2015), at least 6,400 U.S. priests have been accused of abuse, but only about 4,000 of those have been named. Dioceses across the U.S. have paid out more than $3 billion in settlements. The Los Angeles Archdiocese agreed in 2007 to pay more than 500 abuse victims $660 million. Later settlements pushed the archdiocese’s tab to more than $740 million.
Even though the celibacy requirement has caused many heterosexuals not to become Catholic priests and has caused a world-wide shortage, there are more than 410,000 Catholic priests. Using only moderate estimates, over 100,000 of them are homosexual; and at least 50,000 actively gay; and at least 25,000 still abusing boys and other under adult aged children – especially those in Catholic-ran orphanages. A few of them are exposed at BishopAccountablity.org and SNAPnetworking.org is an internet ‘Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests’ that provides support, stories and resources.
In 2014, the Vatican ‘defrocked’ 848 priests who raped or molested children and sanctioned another 2,572 with lesser penalties. It is still handling over 3,000 cases received since 2004. Note in 2010, 464 cases (out of tens of thousands not reported) were reported, that was twice the amount in 2009.
In 2012, just in the Australian state of Victoria there were 40 suicides by children due to sexual abuse. In 2010, 13 suicides in Belgium were linked to sexual abuse by a priest. Likewise, in the last decade hundreds of abused children in the UK committed suicide, many had been abused by a priest – Catholic or Anglican. SNAP has reported numerous testimonies of such suicides. It is estimated that over 20% of all children are subject to sexual abuse by age 16. There is up to a 5x suicide rate/risk for sexually abused children. WHO reported LGBTs were among groups with the highest suicide risk. The UN World Health Organization estimates about 800,000 people die to suicide every year (and millions attempt suicide each year), and that it is the second leading cause of death for those ages 15-29.
Section 4: ‘Bridge’ between the Catholic Church and the LGBT
April 2017: Top Catholic Vatican Cardinals and officials (up to the Pope) get it wrong by supporting and praising Jesuit Rev. J. Martin’s book ‘Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community can enter into a relationship of respect, compassion and sensitivity.’ It is not the title where the author and church ‘elders’ miss it; it is the book’s explicit message and such acceptance as by Pope Francis’ spokesperson on ‘life issues,’ Cardinal Farrell who said, “Father Martin’s brave, prophetic and inspiring new book marks an essential step in inviting church leaders to minister with more compassion, and in reminding LGBT Catholics that they are as much a part of our church as any other Catholic… to many parts of our church LGBT people have been made to feel …shamed.”
Well, this is very sad coming from one of the highest positioned elders over a billion Catholics. The ‘homosexual’ may be part of the Catholic church; but Moses, Christ and the apostle Paul (with John and others) made it clear, ‘speaking the truth, with love (Eph. 4:15),’ that the homosexual IS NOT PART OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST and that “the sexually immoral… homosexual (in the original Greek ‘men who have sex with men – as in Lev. 18:22 ‘detestable; abomination’)… will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God (heaven)… (1 Cor. 6:9-10; Gal. 5:19-; Rev. 22:15).”
Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor-at-large at America magazine, says there are only two or three priests in the U.S. who have said publicly that they are homosexual. “There are hundreds, if not thousands, of celibate gay priests working in the Catholic church today who are beloved by their parishioners,” Martin said. “And there are a number of reasons why almost all of them feel unable to be honest. They are either uncomfortable themselves, or they’re told specifically by their superiors not to talk about it.”
U.S. Bishop McElory (of California) calls for an “urgency to replace a culture of alienation with a culture of merciful inclusion.” May i remind by Catholic brothers two things: 1. It is better to be shamed (1 Cor.15:34; Ezek. 16:58-63) temporarily on earth; than to “awake to everlasting shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2).” 2. This is the same path that the Episcopal Church (starting in 1991), the Anglican Church (2003), the Presbyterian General Assembly (2011), certain Lutheran and other protestant churches took before they not only welcomed homosexuals as church members, but also as priests and performers of ‘same-sex marriages.’ It cut the Episcopal Church and its membership and funds in half. Vatican maybe soon if you don’t return to ‘sola scriptura‘ before books of men: “mene, mene, tekel, parsin” For more see:
Path to Same-Sex Marriage: Part I
When President Trump rescinded the Obama administration’s transgender bathroom order, Martin tweeted his support of boys using the girls’ bathroom and vice versa to over 100,000 twitter followers.
Section 5: Catholic Catechism
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) states, “(section 1625) The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman…” (2357) “Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the some sex… The Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity (1 Cor. 6:10; 1 Tim. 1:10), tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarily. Under no circumstances can they be approved.” (2358) “The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible… They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and if they are Christians (see Heb. 10:26), to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition. (2359) Homosexual persons are called to chastity… they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.” [The Catechism (CCC) is the position of Vatican II and the Catholic Church; when they stray from the Holy Scriptures, it should become significant to the believer. Here, the writers of the CCC mostly get it right; but they leave it in a vague manner as to whether a homosexual can be a Christian or more importantly, be saved.]
Section 6: Church Fathers on Homosexuality
Justin Martyr (2nd Century Christian leader and martyr): “We have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men… first, because we see that almost all so exposed are brought up to prostitution. And for this pollution a multitude of females and hermaphrodites (with both sex organs), and those who commit unmentionable iniquities are found in every nation… And anyone who uses such persons, besides the godless and infamous and impure intercourse, may possibly be having intercourse with their relative… And there are some who prostitute… for the purpose of sodomy…”
Clement of Alexandria (2nd Century and disciple of the apostle Paul and added to certain early Bibles as an appendix): “The fate of the Sodomites was judgment to those who had done wrong, instruction to those who hear. The Sodomites, after having much luxury, fell into uncleanness, practicing adultery shamelessly and burned with insane love for boys; the All-Seeing Word (God), whose notice those who commit such iniquities cannot escape, cast His eye on them… (and) ordered Sodom to be burned, pouring forth a little of the sagacious fire on licentiousness; lest lust, through want of punishment, should throw wide the gates to those that were rushing into voluptuous-ness. Accordingly, the just punishment of the Sodomites became to men an image of the salvation which is well calculated for men. For those who have not committed like sins with those who are punished, will never receive a like punishment.”
Athenagoras (2nd Century): “…those who do not abstain …males with males committing shocking abominations… dishonor the workmanship of God.”
Tertullian (160-225): “(such) frenzies of passions – impious both toward the bodies and toward the sexes – beyond the laws of nature, we banish not only from the threshold, but from all shelter of the Church, because they are beyond sins, they are monstrosities.”
Eusebius of Caesarea (260-340): “God in the law given to Moses having forbid all unlawful marriage, and all unseemly practice, including the union of women with women and men with men.”
Saint Jerome (340-420; author of the Catholic Latin Vulgate Bible): “Sodom and Gomorrah might have appeased God’s wrath had they been willing to repent; and through the aid of fasting gain themselves tears of repentance.”
St. John Chrysostom (347-407): “But if thou scoff at hearing of hell… remember the burning of Sodom and that conflagration …and consider how great is that sin, to have forced hell to appear even before its time! …For that rain (of fire) was unwonted, for the intercourse was contrary to nature, and it deluged the land, since lust had done so their souls… men making a body of this sort more worthless than the very land of Sodom. And what is there more detestable than a man who has pandered himself (to another man), and what more execrable?” “The pagans were addicted to the love of boys, and one of their wise men made a law that pederasty… should not be allowed to slaves… As for their passion for boys, whom they called their paedica, it is not fit to be named.” “Certain men in the church come in gazing about at the beauty of women; others curious about the blooming youth of boys; do you not marvel that lightning bolts are not launched from heaven; and all these things are not plucked up from their foundations? They are worthy both of thunderbolts and Hell… but God, who is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forbears awhile (a little while sometimes) His wrath, calling all to repentance…”
[Yes I do marvel and wonder my brother Chrysostom, but I also do know of cases the Lord has swallow some in the ground and struck others with lightning to death]
St. Augustine (354-430), a doctor of the Catholic Church: “Those offences and shameful acts (of homosexuality) which are contrary to nature are everywhere and at all times to be held in detestation and punished; such were those of the Sodomites, which if nations commit, they should be held guilty of the same crime by the divine law, which has not so made men that they should in that way abuse one another. For even that fellowship which should be between God and us is violated, when that same nature of which He is author is polluted by the perversity of lust.”
Cyprian of Carthage (3rd Century): “Turn your looks to the abominations, not less to be deplored… Men emasculated and all the pride and vigor of their sex is effeminate in the disgrace of their enervated body… broken down man into woman. …The more he is degraded, the more skillful he is considered to be. Such a one looked upon – oh Shame! And looked upon with pleasure… Nor is there wanting authority for the enticing abomination… that Jupiter of theirs is not more supreme in dominion than in vice, inflamed with earthly love in the midst of his own thunders… now breaking forth by the help of birds to violate the purity of boys. And now put the question: Can he who looks upon such things be healthy-minded or modest? Men imitate the gods whom they adore, and to such miserable beings their crimes become their religion.”
Basil the Great (4th Century): “He who is guilty of unseemliness (homosexual immoral acts) with males will be under discipline for the same time as adulterers…” “O monk, if you are young in either body or mind, shun the companionship of other young men and avoid them as you would a flame; for through them the enemy (devils) has kindled the desires of many and then handed them over to eternal fire…”
Pope St. Gregory the Great, Catholic ‘holy father’ and Doctor (540-604): “Sacred Scripture itself confirms that sulfur evokes the stench of the flesh, as it speaks of the rain of fire and sulfur poured upon Sodom by the Lord. He punished Sodom for the crimes of the flesh, and the very type of punishment He chose emphasized the shame of that crime. For sulfur stinks, and fire burns. So it was just that Sodomites, burning with perverse desires arising from the flesh like stench, should perish by fire and sulfur so that through this just punishment they would realize the evil they had committed, led by a perverse desire.”
Cardinal Peter Damian (1007-1072): “Truly, this vice is never to be compared with any other vice because it surpasses the enormity of all vices.… It defiles everything, stains everything, and pollutes everything. And as for itself, it permits nothing pure, nothing clean, and nothing other than filth… The miserable flesh burns with the heat of lust; the cold mind trembles with the rancor of suspicion; and in the heart of the miserable man chaos boils like Tartarus [Hell]. …In fact, after this most poisonous serpent once sinks its fangs into the unhappy soul, sense is snatched away, memory is borne off, and the sharpness of the mind is obscured. It becomes unmindful of God and even forgetful of itself. This plague undermines the foundation of faith, weakens the strength of hope, and destroys the bond of charity; it takes away justice, subverts fortitude, banishes temperance, and blunts the keenness of prudence… and it expels the whole host of the virtues from the chamber of the human heart and introduces every barbarous vice as if the bolts of the doors were pulled out.”
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274); author of Summa Theologiae: “If all the sins of the flesh are worthy of condemnation because by them man allows himself to be dominated by that which he has of the animal nature, much more deserving of condemnation are the sins against nature by which man degrades his own animal nature. …Man can sin against nature in two ways. First, he sins against his specific rational nature, acting contrary to reason. In this sense, we can say that every sin is a sin against man’s nature, because it is against man’s right reason… Secondly, man sins against nature when he goes against his generic nature, that is to say, his animal nature. Now, it is evident that, in accord with natural order, the union of the sexes among animals is ordered towards conception. From this it follows that every sexual intercourse that cannot lead to conception is opposed to man’s animal nature.”
St. Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444): “No sin in the world grips the soul as the accursed sodomy; this sin has always been detestable by all those who live according to God… Deviant passion is close to madness; this vice disturbs the intellect, destroys elevation and generosity of soul, brings the mind down from great thoughts to the lowliest, makes the person slothful, irascible, obstinate and obdurate, servile and soft and incapable of anything; furthermore, agitated by an insatiable craving for pleasure, the person follows not reason but frenzy… They become blind and, when their thoughts should soar to high and great things, they are broken down and reduced to vile and useless and putrid things, which could never make them happy… Just as people participate in the glory of God in different degrees, so also in hell some suffer more than others. He who lived with this vice of sodomy suffers more than another, for this is the greatest sin.”
The Didache 2:2 (70 AD; ‘The Teachings’ – of the Christian Church; it was an appendix to certain of the earliest Bibles): “You shall not commit murder… adultery… fornication …you shall not commit pederasty (sex with a boy or male with a male)… you shall not steal… or practice magic… witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill one that has been born…”
Section 7: The Holy Scriptures
“’O foolish’ Catholics! ‘Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth (Gal.3:1).” If the Scriptures, the Bible, is giving by God ‘for doctrine, correction and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16);’ than I am compelled to rebuke those of you in the Catholic Church and other dominations who push aside the Holy commands and instruction and ‘lean on your own understanding’ rather than Truth.
It should be enough that two or three witnesses from the Bible tell you from the word of God. If the Lord through Moses and the prophets said, ‘life of a creature is in the blood (Lev. 17:11);’ ‘you shall not eat flesh with the blood in it (Gen. 9:4).’ And if the apostles say the same through the first Christian Council at Jerusalem, saying ‘do not eat… the blood of animals (Acts 15:20).’ Then we should not – simple as that.
And if Moses and the prophets and the apostles of the same Jerusalem Council, through the Lord and Jesus Christ taught that homosexuality was a sin leading to eternal hell; and commanded, ‘abstain from sexual immorality (Acts 15:20).’ That should be enough to obey. But tens and even hundreds of millions now choose to believe what they will – according to their own feeling and not the word of God.
I remind you that the Lord was against the ‘priest who murder to hell their flocks by consent and commit lewdness (Hosea 6:9).’ They will be judged. And “the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of the God; and if it begins with us first; what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God (1 Pet. 4:17)?”
We have a choice of obedience and a choice of whom to obey. But selective and partial obedience is so dangerous it leads many to eternal shame and hell. The word says, “obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22); and that “the fear of the Lord – that is wisdom and to depart from evil is understanding (Job 28:28).” But my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do you care to know the name of the Lord (Exo. 34:6-7)? Do you care to love, fear, serve and obey His commands for your own good (Deut. 10:12-13)? For He shall bring everything into judgment – secret and revealed (Eccl. 12:14)!
Nevertheless, “chose for yourselves whom you will obey (Josh. 24:15).“ But know, “He is a holy God; He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your unrepentant sins… (Josh. 24:19).” “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no brides (Deut. 10:17).” The following are a few verses on the subject.
“DO NOT have sexual relations with a man as a man does with a woman; it is detestable; an abomination (Lev. 18:22).”
“God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one man; committing shameful acts with other men… (Rom. 1:26-27).”
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).”
“Marriage is to be honored; and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral (Heb. 13:4).”
“The law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious… for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality… (1 Tim. 1:9-10).”
Jude 7: “In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
“DO YOU NOT KNOW that the Unrighteous WILL NOT inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators… nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites… will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10).”
The TRUTH SOURCE 