This is disheartening.
It’s extremely sad to see, at almost every turn, bishop against bishop, pastor against pastor, and even Bishops’ Conference against Bishops’ Conference on several issues.
Frankly, this whole controversy that’s erupted around Bishop Paprocki’s decree (which is simply a
reiteration ** of Catholic teaching) is ridiculous. As Bishop Paprocki commented in an interview earlier this week, "[T]he decree is a rather straightforward application of existing Church teaching and canon law.** The Catholic Church has been very clear for two thousand years that we do not accept same-sex “marriage,” yet many people seem to think that the Church must simply cave in to the popular culture now that same-sex “marriage” has been declared legal in civil law."
I find Bishop McGrath’s statement to be very troubling, however. This is what I mean about bishop being against bishop: by him saying that “the pastoral response in the Diocese of San Jose remains just that: compassionate and pastoral”, this implies that what Bishop Paprocki has done in his diocese is
not compassionate, nor are his directives pastoral. What are we to make of this?
I truly believe that Bishop Paprocki’s decree was compassionate and is indeed very pastoral. He cares about his flock, and does not want Catholics in his diocese (or anywhere) to be scandalized at a Rite of Christian Burial for an unrepentant person who openly dissented from Church teaching by living in a state sanctioned same-sex marriage. Of course, one can certainly have Masses offered for such a person, as one can do for
any person living or dead. But a
public funeral, a
public Rite of Christian Burial (especially in the context of the Holy Mass), for an unrepentant person living in a state of manifest grave sin is indeed scandalous.
One of the nine ways of assisting in the sin of another is to remain silent. In his pastoral and compassionate judgement, Bishop Paprocki has decided to
not remain silent.
Furthermore, it seems that Bishop McGrath has made the same mistake that Fr. Martin and many others (Catholic or secular) have made regarding Bishop Paprocki’s decree. In his statement, Bishop McGrath mentions that “Recent news reports of policies and practices related to members of the LGBT community in other dioceses can be confusing.” Also, the original Instagram post of Bishop McGrath’s letter (since removed) had this as part of the caption: “However, our bishop just put out a letter saying that our diocese (a collection of 52 churches in Santa Clara County) will continue providing these services to ALL people, regardless of their sexual orientation. Go, Bishop McGrath!!”
It’s clear that they did not understand what Bishop Paprocki’s decree was getting at. The decree was specifically aimed at those who have contracted a state sanctioned same-sex marriage. From Bishop Paprocki’s own mouth, in that same interview I linked above, emphases mine:
A lot of people seem to have missed the [decree’s] whole point of the call to repentance and conversion. They seem to think that the decree is a blanket condemnation of people who are gay and lesbian. It is not. My decree does not focus on “LGBT people,” but on so-called same-sex “marriage,” which is a public legal status. No one is ever denied the sacraments or Christian burial for simply having a homosexual orientation. Even someone who had entered into a same-sex “marriage” can receive the sacraments and be given ecclesiastical funeral rites if they repent and renounce their “marriage.”
Bishop McGrath mentions that those “in good faith” may receive Christian Burial if they request it. But what of those who make the request in “bad faith”? This is what Bishop Paprocki is addressing. Bishop McGrath does not address the matter of requests made in bad faith in his extremely short statement, and this is why Bishop Paprocki’s decree is a bit longer, as Bishop Paprocki does address this possibility.
Bishop McGrath also quotes Pope Francis: "The Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak.” That’s awesome! I totally 100% agree with this! But we also have to remember what St. Paul said, and realize that it doesn’t contradict in any way what Pope Francis said:
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Cor 11:27-32)
The constant teaching of the magisterium and Christ’s own words from the Gospels are thrown out of the window in the name of compassion and being pastoral.