German synod father says Church could give 'private blessings' to same-sex unions [CH-UK]

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A bishop of the Catholic Church is suggesting the Church can BLESS sin?!?!?!?

:eek::eek::eek:
 
From the ** BIBLE:**

"But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a Gospel

other than the one that we preached to you, let that one be anathema!" (Gal 1, 8).

LUKE 18:8

“When the SON OF MAN comes, will HE find FAITH on the earth?”
Code: 
     Quote from: Apocalypse 3
[1] And to the angel of the church of Sardis, write: These things saith he, that hath the

seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast the name of

being alive: and thou art dead. [2] Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain,

which are ready to die. For I find not thy works full before my God. [3] Have in mind

therefore in what manner thou hast received and heard: and observe, and do penance. If

then thou shalt not watch, I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what

hour I will come to thee. [4] But thou hast a few names in Sardis, which have not defiled

their garments: and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy. [5] He that

shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name

out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen…

:knight2::highprayer::signofcross:
 
What will it take before action is finally taken by the Holy See against some of the German Bishops ?
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                                                 This is from the same publication as the first article
                 The German bishops have declared independence from Rome on same-sex marriage: how far will the rot spread now?  [catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2015/08/06/the-german-bishops-have-declared-independence-from-rome-on-same-sex-marriage-how-far-will-the-rot-spread-now/](http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2015/08/06/the-german-bishops-have-declared-independence-from-rome-on-same-sex-marriage-how-far-will-the-rot-spread-now/)

                                              How can this be anything other than defiance of Catholic teaching.
 
Seamus_L said:
What will it take before action is finally taken by the Holy See against some of the German Bishops ?
Code: 
                                                 This is from the same publication as the first article
                 The German bishops have declared independence from Rome on same-sex marriage: how far will the rot spread now?  [catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2015/08/06/the-german-bishops-have-declared-independence-from-rome-on-same-sex-marriage-how-far-will-the-rot-spread-now/](http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2015/08/06/the-german-bishops-have-declared-independence-from-rome-on-same-sex-marriage-how-far-will-the-rot-spread-now/)

                                              How can this be anything other than defiance of Catholic teaching.
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This is the sort of thing that happens when one is more interested in money flowing to the coffers than eternal souls.
 
SWolf said:
This is the sort of thing that happens when one is more interested in money flowing to the coffers than eternal souls.
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German bishops are paid generous 6 figure salaries thanks to the income of the Church tax. It is interesting that the best paid bishops, whose salaries depend upon the “feet”, if you will, of the German people, are also by far the most liberal… God bless the few German bishops who opposed the recent decision of the German bishops’ conference to employ those in openly gay relationships as Church employees.
 
Wow. Just wow.
I am not the Pope, thank God, but if I were, I would feel compelled to discipline my shepherds out of love for them.
This is a sad thing for them and the souls they are pastoring.
 
Why does the Vatican let heresy persist as an equally valid opinion as the tradition of the Church. Allowing this stuff to be expressed without any response from Rome is only going to cause problems for the church. How can we assert a truth if we also express its opposite in as an option?
 
i’ve never understood why a woman, perhaps in a moment of depression and weakness, can be auto-excommunicated for an abortion but clergy and celebrity/political laity can get on a national/global stage and support abortion, gay marriage, etc. and nothing is done.
 
The Pope has tried to explain ‘synodality’ to people but they just won’t listen. The ‘proposals’ are an expression of one perspective for the sake of synodality. Hopefully what will happen is that the African Bishops won’t be as obstinately defiant against synodality and will contribute their perspectives with theological bases and let the process of synodality flow in the interests of discerning Gods will.

I’m starting to move from annoyance to complete irritation with the obstinate blockers of the process. It happened with Vatican II and other councils of the vision of the 20th century papacy as well. The reforms of Vatican II were often inordinately skewed because of the obstinate conservative blockers who wouldn’t come to the table in the reforms with their perspective because… ‘nothing can change! It all has to stay the same! We refuse to contribute to anything that proposes even the slightest change!’ Why can’t they get it and just… leave. I hold my hopes for the conservative African bishops properly participating in synodality as envisioned by Pope Francis. Otherwise the divisions are just going to be compounded and any reforms will once again be skewed by obstinate blockers!!
 
LongingSoul said:
The Pope has tried to explain ‘synodality’ to people but they just won’t listen. The ‘proposals’ are an expression of one perspective for the sake of synodality. Hopefully what will happen is that the African Bishops won’t be as obstinately defiant against synodality and will contribute their perspectives with theological bases and let the process of synodality flow in the interests of discerning Gods will.

I’m starting to move from annoyance to complete irritation with the obstinate blockers of the process. It happened with Vatican II and other councils of the vision of the 20th century papacy as well. The reforms of Vatican II were often inordinately skewed because of the obstinate conservative blockers who wouldn’t come to the table in the reforms with their perspective because… ‘nothing can change! It all has to stay the same! We refuse to contribute to anything that proposes even the slightest change!’ Why can’t they get it and just… leave. I hold my hopes for the conservative African bishops properly participating in synodality as envisioned by Pope Francis. Otherwise the divisions are just going to be compounded and any reforms will once again be skewed by obstinate blockers!!
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There is a great deal wrong with what you have written. But I’ll just note that your idea of synodality as a sort of heretical idea drop where anybody can toss in their totally unacceptable and iconoclastic thoughts about marriage is not what authentic synodality is about. Furthermore, your assumption that the Pope welcomes this kind of theological baloney is absolutely unfounded. The idea that same-sex unions can be sanctioned in any way is not and will never be Catholic.
 
When it comes to “blockers,” I don’t see that anyone is trying to block discussion. Rather the well publicized problems seem to have arisen because a certain contingent of participants attempted to control the process, the discussion, and the outcome, beginning even before the start of the synod.
 
Colorad007 said:
There is a great deal wrong with what you have written. But I’ll just note that your idea of synodality as a sort of heretical idea drop where anybody can toss in their totally unacceptable and iconoclastic thoughts about marriage is not what authentic synodality is about. Furthermore, your assumption that the Pope welcomes this kind of theological baloney is absolutely unfounded. The idea that same-sex unions can be sanctioned in any way is not and will never be Catholic.
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Why doesn’t the Church ever use the ‘heretic’ accusation anymore do you think? Because it became a violent weapon of hate to silence people is why. How do we mere laymen and women feel so qualified to use it to describe synod fathers? It was even the Church who developed the concept of ‘devils advocate’ to test truth. There is this absolute certainty that only a certain type of extreme is heretical but very little acknowledgment that the heresies associated with legalism and and fundamentalism have possibly been more destructive in the Church. That’s what synodality seeks to subvert… both extremes of ‘heresy’. (Not my word)
 
JimG said:
When it comes to “blockers,” I don’t see that anyone is trying to block discussion. Rather the well publicized problems seem to have arisen because a certain contingent of participants attempted to control the process, the discussion, and the outcome, beginning even before the start of the synod.
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Pope Francis has in different ways ‘exposed’ some of the ingrained culture of the Vatican that’s been controlled by another agenda for a long time… hence his overlooking the process of things at time. His Christmas speech to the Curia also exposed the agenda that needed to loosen its hold over the Vatican. He’s a canny and discerning man with a spirit of fearlessness to cleanse the Church in answer to his calling to the papacy.
 
LongingSoul said:
Pope Francis has in different ways ‘exposed’ some of the ingrained culture of the Vatican that’s been controlled by another agenda for a long time… hence his overlooking the process of things at time. His Christmas speech to the Curia also exposed the agenda that needed to loosen its hold over the Vatican. He’s a canny and discerning man with a spirit of fearlessness to cleanse the Church in answer to his calling to the.
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Pope Francis was doing some “blocking” of his own this week:

“The family – as God wants it, composed of a man and a woman for the good of the spouses and also the generation and education of children – is deformed by powerful contrary projects supported by ideological colonization.”

I am pretty sure that he isn’t exactly doing a salsa dance after hearing about bishops advocating for the kind of ideological colonization he talks about almost relentlessly.

You also should realize that the Church’s teaching in family and sexuality isn’t an “agenda” or a “culture” that prevails in Rome. It is none other than the teaching of Christ’s Church, and therefore Christ himself.
 
Colorad007 said:
Pope Francis was doing some “blocking” of his own this week:

“The family – as God wants it, composed of a man and a woman for the good of the spouses and also the generation and education of children – is deformed by powerful contrary projects supported by ideological colonization.”

I am pretty sure that he isn’t exactly doing a salsa dance after hearing about bishops advocating for the kind of ideological colonization he talks about almost relentlessly.

You also should realize that the Church’s teaching in family and sexuality isn’t an “agenda” or a “culture” that prevails in Rome. It is none other than the teaching of Christ’s Church, and therefore Christ himself.
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The ‘agenda’ is not Catholic teaching. The ‘agenda’ is an obstacle to the faith. Here are some of the examples he gave in his Christmas speech…
  1. The disease of thinking we are “immortal”, “immune” or downright “indispensable”, neglecting the need for regular check-ups. A Curia which is not self-critical, which does not keep up with things, which does not seek to be more fit, is a sick body. A simple visit to the cemetery might help us see the names of many people who thought they were immortal, immune and indispensable! It is the disease of the rich fool in the Gospel, who thought he would live forever (cf. Lk 12:13-21), but also of those who turn into lords and masters, and think of themselves as above others and not at their service. It is often an effect of the pathology of power, from a superiority complex, from a narcissism which passionately gazes at its own image and does not see the image of God on the face of others, especially the weakest and those most in need.[8] The antidote to this plague is the grace of realizing that we are sinners and able to say heartily: “We are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty” (Lk 17:10).
  2. Another disease is the “Martha complex”, excessive busy-ness. It is found in those who immerse themselves in work and inevitably neglect “the better part”: sitting at the feet of Jesus (cf. Lk 10:38-42). Jesus called his disciples to “rest a while” (cf. Mk 6:31) for a reason, because neglecting needed rest leads to stress and agitation. A time of rest, for those who have completed their work, is necessary, obligatory and should be taken seriously: by spending time with one’s family and respecting holidays as moments of spiritual and physical recharging. We need to learn from Qohelet that “for everything there is a season” (3:1-15).
  3. Then too there is the disease of mental and spiritual “petrification”. It is found in those who have a heart of stone, the “stiff-necked” (Acts 7:51-60), in those who in the course of time lose their interior serenity, alertness and daring, and hide under a pile of papers, turning into paper pushers and not men of God (cf. Heb 3:12). It is dangerous to lose the human sensitivity that enables us to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice! This is the disease of those who lose “the sentiments of Jesus” (cf. Phil 2:5-11), because as time goes on their hearts grow hard and become incapable of loving unconditionally the Father and our neighbour (cf. Mt 22:34-35). Being a Christian means “having the same sentiments that were in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5), sentiments of humility and unselfishness, of detachment and generosity.[9]
  4. The disease of excessive planning and of functionalism. When the apostle plans everything down to the last detail and believes that with perfect planning things will fall into place, he becomes an accountant or an office manager. Things need to be prepared well, but without ever falling into the temptation of trying to contain and direct the freedom of the Holy Spirit, which is always greater and more flexible than any human planning (cf. Jn 3:8). We contract this disease because “it is always more easy and comfortable to settle in our own sedentary and unchanging ways. In truth, the Church shows her fidelity to the Holy Spirit to the extent that she does not try to control or tame him… to tame the Holy Spirit! … He is freshness, imagination, and newness”.[10]
  5. The disease of poor coordination. Once its members lose communion among themselves, the body loses its harmonious functioning and its equilibrium; it then becomes an orchestra which produces noise: its members do not work together and lose the spirit of fellowship and teamwork. When the foot says to the arm: “I don’t need you ”, or the hand says to the head, “I’m in charge”, they create discomfort and scandal.
  6. There is also a “spiritual Alzheimer’s disease”. It consists in losing the memory of our personal “salvation history”, our past history with the Lord and our “first love” (Rev 2:4). It involves a progressive decline in the spiritual faculties which in the long or short run greatly handicaps a person by making him incapable of doing anything on his own, living in a state of absolute dependence on his often imaginary perceptions. We see it in those who have lost the memory of their encounter with the Lord; in those who no longer see life’s meaning in “deuteronomic” terms; in those who are completely caught up in the present moment, in their passions, whims and obsessions; in those who build walls and routines around themselves, and thus become more and more the slaves of idols carved by their own hands.
 
  1. The disease of rivalry and vainglory.[11] When appearances, the colour of our clothes and our titles of honour become the primary object in life, we forget the words of Saint Paul: “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:3-4). This is a disease which leads us to be men and woman of deceit, and to live a false “mysticism” and a false “quietism”. Saint Paul himself defines such persons as “enemies of the cross of Christ” because “they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (Phil 3:19).
  2. The disease of existential schizophrenia. This is the disease of those who live a double life, the fruit of that hypocrisy typical of the mediocre and of a progressive spiritual emptiness which no doctorates or academic titles can fill. It is a disease which often strikes those who abandon pastoral service and restrict themselves to bureaucratic matters, thus losing contact with reality, with concrete people. In this way they create their own parallel world, where they set aside all that they teach with severity to others and begin to live a hidden and often dissolute life. For this most serious disease conversion is most urgent and indeed indispensable (cf. Lk 15:11-32).
  3. The disease of gossiping, grumbling and back-biting. I have already spoken many times about this disease, but never enough. It is a grave illness which begins simply, perhaps even in small talk, and takes over a person, making him become a “sower of weeds” (like Satan) and in many cases, a cold-blooded killer of the good name of our colleagues and confrères. It is the disease of cowardly persons who lack the courage to speak out directly, but instead speak behind other people’s backs. Saint Paul admonishes us to do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent” (Phil 2:14-15). Brothers, let us be on our guard against the terrorism of gossip!
  4. The disease of idolizing superiors. This is the disease of those who court their superiors in the hope of gaining their favour. They are victims of careerism and opportunism; they honour persons and not God (cf. Mt 23:8-12). They serve thinking only of what they can get and not of what they should give. Small-minded persons, unhappy and inspired only by their own lethal selfishness (cf. Gal 5:16-25). Superiors themselves could be affected by this disease, when they court their collaborators in order to obtain their submission, loyalty and psychological dependency, but the end result is a real complicity.
  5. The disease of indifference to others. This is where each individual thinks only of himself and loses sincerity and warmth of human relationships. When the most knowledgeable person does not put that knowledge at the service of his less knowledgeable colleagues. When we learn something and then keep it to ourselves rather than sharing it in a helpful way with others. When out of jealousy or deceit we take joy in seeing others fall instead of helping them up and encouraging them.
  6. The disease of a lugubrious face. Those glum and dour persons who think that to be serious we have to put on a face of melancholy and severity, and treat others – especially those we consider our inferiors – with rigour, brusqueness and arrogance. In fact, a show of severity and sterile pessimism[12] are frequently symptoms of fear and insecurity. An apostle must make an effort to be courteous, serene, enthusiastic and joyful, a person who transmits joy everywhere he goes. A heart filled with God is a happy heart which radiates an infectious joy: it is immediately evident! So let us not lose that joyful, humorous and even self-deprecating spirit which makes people amiable even in difficult situations.[13] How beneficial is a good dose of humour! We would do well to recite often the prayer of St. Thomas More.[14] I say it every day, and it helps.
  7. The disease of hoarding. When an apostle tries to fill an existential void in his heart by accumulating material goods, not out of need but only in order to feel secure. The fact is that we are not able to bring material goods with us, since “the winding sheet does not have pockets”, and all our earthly treasures – even if they are gifts – will never be able to fill that void; instead, they will only make it deeper and more demanding. To these persons the Lord repeats: “You say, I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. So be zealous and repent” (Rev 3:17, 19). Accumulating goods only burdens and inexorably slows down the journey! Here I think of an anecdote: the Spanish Jesuits used to describe the Society of Jesus as the “light brigade of the Church”. I remember when a young Jesuit was moving, and while he was loading a truck full of his many possessions, suitcases, books, objects and gifts, an old Jesuit standing by was heard to say with a smile: And this is “the light brigade of the Church”? Our moving can be a sign of this disease.
 
  1. The disease of closed circles, where belonging to a clique becomes more powerful than belonging to the Body and, in some circumstances, to Christ himself. This disease too always begins with good intentions, but with the passing of time it enslaves its members and becomes a cancer which threatens the harmony of the Body and causes immense evil – scandals – especially to our weaker brothers and sisters. Self-destruction, “friendly fire” from our fellow soldiers, is the most insidious danger.[15] It is the evil which strikes from within;[16] and, as Christ says: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste” (Lk 11:17).
  2. Lastly: the disease of worldly profit, of forms of self-exhibition.[17] When an apostle turns his service into power, and his power into a commodity in order to gain worldly profit or even greater power. This is the disease of persons who insatiably try to accumulate power and to this end are ready to slander, defame and discredit others, even in newspapers and magazines. Naturally, so as to put themselves on display and to show that they are more capable than others. This disease does great harm to the Body because it leads persons to justify the use of any means whatsoever to attain their goal, often in the name of justice and transparency! Here I remember a priest who used to call journalists to tell – and invent – private and confidential matters involving his confrères and parishioners. The only thing he was concerned about was being able to see himself on the front page, since this made him feel “powerful and glamorous”, while causing great harm to others and to the Church. Poor sad soul!
 
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