Hypothetical Question: What will you do if the Catholic Church accepts gay "marriage"?

[pianistclare]

I am just saying the Church will more or less look like any other Protestant denomination. They have actively rejected the Bible. We have bishops who support it. It’s only a matter of time we have a liberal pope who wants to make the Church “inclusive”

Whoa. Actively rejected the Bible?
Are you kidding?

No. Never going to happen.
Learn what the church teaches about marriage first.

 

[gracepoole]

Lesser importance was a poor formulation by me.
Im well aware of our church’s view on devorce and remarriage as its explicitly described as a highly immoral action in the Cathecism and I obviously agree with the church teachings, but to me personally it would be easier to swallow remarriage than same-sex marriages.

I see it as the difference between heresy with big H and small H, same-sex marriage are Heresy at its worst while remarriage is heresy with an small H.
(My personal opinion obviously).

So the heresy commited in the Catholic Church if we where to allow same-sex marriage is of such a nasty character that I would be left with no choice, but to leave.
And to me there is no other opotion than the Orthodox Church as they are apostolic too.

( btw I’ve been Protestant and trust me, I’ll never go down that road again)
As I said in my previous post, I speak for myself only).

Thank you. Like you, Protestantism isn’t in my future.

 

[cornucopian1984]

Whoa. Actively rejected the Bible?
Are you kidding?

No. Never going to happen.
Learn what the church teaches about marriage first.

I know what the Bible says. The mainline Protestant Churches are social justice clubs. I heard they are passing out condoms. Soon it wouldn’t surprise me if they passed out porn DVDs. They will say it helps people bond.

 

[shelby_sun]

I want to know about those arranged marriages or people who married so young to help their families. There were many reason other than love that people married in the past. Are we suppose to believe they were all guided by God, rather than culture or desperation. That still goes on today. Children marrying the “right kind of person” to please their parents only to be extremely unhappy. we are all human beings just trying to get it right but so likely to make mistakes, even while God is trying to guide us. So divorce is going to happen and should not be judged by others.

I know gay couples that have been together and faithful, doing God’s work helping the poor, doing a great deal of community service, going to Church. I don’t know what they are doing behind closed door, I only know what good they are doing in public. People need to stop judging when they simply do not have all the facts. I only hope those who have claimed to live the church if things change actually do. The Catholic Church should not want them.

 

[1newcatholic]

I accept the Catholic Church at its face value; that it is dogmatically infallible.

If it contradicted itself on a dogmatic question, then that would be proof not only that the church is false, but that God himself were false.

Don’t you see the irony of that? “I accept the claim that they can never be wrong, and reject their authority to make changes.” Those two statements don’t go together.

 

[Jeanne_S]

I am just saying the Church will more or less look like any other Protestant denomination. They have actively rejected the Bible. We have bishops who support it. It’s only a matter of time we have a liberal pope who wants to make the Church “inclusive”

The Catholic Church isn’t like any other Protestant denomination,That in itself is a contradiction of terms.Christ founded the Catholic Church,it is only those who broke off from the Church that are Protestants.

 

[bigdave3119]

Then I would say “we have a new protestant chuirch”. Then I would seek out the true anf faithful Catholic Church. After all we have the Word of the Lord that his church will remain until the end. I choose to believe what Jesus promised!!

 

[EasterJoy]

Don’t you see the irony of that? “I accept the claim that they can never be wrong, and reject their authority to make changes.” Those two statements don’t go together.

They do not have unlimited authority. They have the authority to change disciplines, such as whether or not priests can marry. They the authority to declare revealed truth definitively, but they do not have the authority to change revealed truth, such as whether or not two people of the same gender are capable of forming a sexual union intended by the Creator and elevated to the dignity of a sacrament between Christians. They can’t change the Trinity to a Quadrinity or declare, “oops, Mary wasn’t a lifelong virgin, after all” or “the Resurrection was metaphorical, not a real physical Resurrection” and so on.

IOW, if Joseph Smith’s experience (whatever it was) had happened to a Supreme Pontiff, we wouldn’t all be Mormon. The Pope may only teach the unchanging truth of the Church, not something else he came up with.

 

[E_7]

What will I do? Nothing, because it will never happen. The Catholic Church was built by Christ who is all perfect. Your question can be read as “What will you do if Christ accepts gay marriage?” Never happening. Complete contradiction of a perfect God and perfect man.

The only ones that accepts gay marriages are human beings (because of the original sin we aren’t perfect) and the fallen angels (including the opposite of St. Michael: Satan, obviously).

The world can come up with all the threatening against the Church, but guess what? The one we should fear is God. If not giving in to the world will bring you death, because you remained true to the Catholic Church and Christ, hurray! Welcome to the Martyrs club.

We are not of this world, we are just passing by before going back to where we belong.

There is no power on Earth that can overpower the Catholic Church that is built by Christ who is all perfect and Truth. Nor the gates of hell will overcome her. The Church that was built by God himself who is all perfect will never give in to the sinful and immoral pleasures of the world.

 

[signit]

I agree with the other Catholics on this. I don’t see any possibility that actually “accept” (perform, encourage) same-sex marriage.

In therms of the specific question, what I would do if the Church did, it wouldn’t change my faith or the way I run my life.

But really, perhaps the Church might relax its focus on secular same-sex marriage – but I don’t expect to see same-sex marriage approved of by the Church and I don’t expect to see sacramental same-sex marriage. If I’m wrong, I can’t wait to see the doctrinal explanation that would be given.

I’m not speaking of individual pastors relaxing the Catholic stance on this issue. I’m speaking of the amounts of money being spent by the Church to block secular same-sex marriage. I could see that ending or dissipating – at least I could see that before I could see sacramental same-sex marriage.

I can see some of this.

I can see some changing “around the edges” like not putting money into anti-gay ballot questions if it becomes a lost cause, or not encouraging people to vote for anti-gay candidates, if that becomes a lost cause.

Also, maybe not vigorously opposing pro-gay benefits or anti-discrimination policies in the workplace or anti-bullying policies in schools. Somebody might say something like, “Based on what we now know from social science, gays don’t recruit young people, so we have no need to oppose anti-bullying programs because we know young people aren’t going to ‘turn gay.’”

 

[Michael1978]

Don’t you see the irony of that? “I accept the claim that they can never be wrong, and reject their authority to make changes.” Those two statements don’t go together.

There’s no irony here at all. The Church does not have the authority to change the teachings of Christ. Period.

 

[runningdude]

…
The only ones that accepts gay marriages are human beings (because of the original sin we aren’t perfect) and the fallen angels (including the opposite of St. Michael: Satan, obviously).
…

I would not go that far. The fallen angels have superior intelligence; they know what conforms to human nature and what does not. They may advocated for immoral behavior, but it would not be because they “accept” it is as conforming to human nature; quite the opposite I’d image.

 

[runningdude]

Don’t you see the irony of that? “I accept the claim that they can never be wrong, and reject their authority to make changes.” Those two statements don’t go together.

There is not irony. The Catholic Church claims to be an instrument of God that can infallibly discern objective truth; truth that is independent of the church’s opinion or wishes. If the church says something is true, and then changes its mind and says it was wrong, then the church logically cannot be infallible.

From my extensive studies and reflection, I have found that every religion on Earth, save the Catholic religion, has fatal logical flaws that must mean they are wrong. I have found no such flaw in the Catholic Church. There are numerous issues that were not explicitly defined in the bible or by the early apostles. There have been long debates to discern the truth. Some sides in these debates were wrong. It was the church as a whole that discerned the truth, and in most instances, the incorrect side humbly submitted to the church.

There have also been political decisions that have been indefensible, such as diverting troops heading to retake Jerusalem to attack Constantinople instead. There have been management decisions that were morally repugnant, such as allowing predatory priests access to children, whatever the mitigating circumstances. However, none of these decisions impute the constant maintenance of the deposit of faith. Immoral popes and leaders have never attempted to justify their actions with theology that conflicted with established doctrines.

I accept as a matter of faith that the Catholic Church is the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church founded by my Lord incarnate, Jesus Christ. I accept this rationally and logically. I have inspected each doctrine and found it perfectly internally consistent. I acknowledge as a matter of intellectual honesty that the church is led by very intelligent philosophers who are never going to allow any deviation from this perfect consistency. It is by faith alone that I ascribe this to divine guidance rather than greed and lust for power.

 

[mommamaree]

There is not irony. The Catholic Church claims to be an instrument of God that can infallibly discern objective truth; truth that is independent of the church’s opinion or wishes. If the church says something is true, and then changes its mind and says it was wrong, then the church logically cannot be infallible.

From my extensive studies and reflection, I have found that every religion on Earth, save the Catholic religion, has fatal logical flaws that must mean they are wrong. I have found no such flaw in the Catholic Church. There are numerous issues that were not explicitly defined in the bible or by the early apostles. There have been long debates to discern the truth. Some sides in these debates were wrong. It was the church as a whole that discerned the truth, and in most instances, the incorrect side humbly submitted to the church.

There have also been political decisions that have been indefensible, such as diverting troops heading to retake Jerusalem to attack Constantinople instead. There have been management decisions that were morally repugnant, such as allowing predatory priests access to children, whatever the mitigating circumstances. However, none of these decisions impute the constant maintenance of the deposit of faith. Immoral popes and leaders have never attempted to justify their actions with theology that conflicted with established doctrines.

I accept as a matter of faith that the Catholic Church is the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church founded by my Lord incarnate, Jesus Christ. I accept this rationally and logically. I have inspected each doctrine and found it perfectly internally consistent. I acknowledge as a matter of intellectual honesty that the church is led by very intelligent philosophers who are never going to allow any deviation from this perfect consistency. It is by faith alone that I ascribe this to divine guidance rather than greed and lust for power.

Beautiful explanation. This is why I am Catholic. No matter how many heterodox or unfaithful shepherds we might have, over the centuries in the Church and in present day, the Holy Spirit has always protected the Church from teaching error. We have had some bishops promoting errors in our history, but those challenges were overcome by bishops and laypeople adhering to the orthodox and ancient teachings of the Church. The fact that such had happened before and the Church was brought through the crisis, and with a clearer and more beautiful and more complete vision to present to the faithful for our belief, is the thing that consoles me in our current struggles. The battle has already been won. Our Lord Jesus promised us that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. And as we are often told, Catholics are born for combat. So we must press on, faithfully and prayerfully.

 

[Demetra2]

Here is what I would do:

Remain faithful to the ancient teachings of the Church.
Live a life of penance and reparation.
Tell the Truth, if God places opportunities before me to do so.
Raise my children to know what the Bible and the Church’s teachings have always taught, before the modern break.
Be charitable and treat all human beings with respect, even if I must correct or admonish. If I must do those things, I will pray God will help me do so with gentleness and humility and love in my heart for them.
Accept martyrdom, if God asks it of me.
And at the advice of St. Padre Pio, I will do my best to “Pray, hope and don’t worry”.

These are what I would do if the bishops attempted to abandon any of the moral teachings of the Church, whether same-sex marriage, or other offenses against marriage, or approving contraception, etc. We already have many bishops approving such things, so it is not too far a stretch, in my mind, for the unfaithful bishops to attempt a runaround to undermine Church teaching. But all I can do is pray and trust in Jesus.

Thank you for your thoughts. I would have to agree. If the upcoming synod managed to change any church doctrine I would have to believe that it was heretical and against the will of God. I don’t believe that will happen though. Our current beliefs may be restated in a vague and confusing way but ultimately they will not change.

 

[Joe_5859]

I would realize I was in a hypothetical fantasy.

If one does not realize that it is impossible for the Church to say there is such a thing as same sex marriage, then one does not understand the Church. It’s important to recognize this in order to understand what the Church is.

Right.

What would I do? Well, the first thing I would do is wake up because the only place this could possibly happen is in my dreams (or, more accurately, my nightmares).

 

[Elizium23]

Let’s get real here and project what would happen if this came to pass. What would happen is a huge, epic schism, the likes of which we have not seen for 500 years. The liberals would go one way, supporting homosexual “marriage” and other impossibilities. Faithful, orthodox Catholics would go another way. Perhaps the liberals would take the Pope and several Cardinals with them. But orthodox Catholics would subsequently elect a Pope for the remnant Church and the heretic Pope would be an anti-pope. Nobody would need to leave the Catholic Church for Orthodoxy or anything else, we would simply stay in the Church while yet another branch falls from the tree to wither and die.

This isn’t novel or different from anything that has happened in the past. There’s nothing new under the sun. For those saying “It can’t happen” you just mean that the Deposit of Faith and the True Church cannot be damaged in this way by heresy, and you are correct. But the possibility of schism is real and looming.

 

[on_the_hill]

Let’s get real here and project what would happen if this came to pass. What would happen is a huge, epic schism, the likes of which we have not seen for 500 years. The liberals would go one way, supporting homosexual “marriage” and other impossibilities. Faithful, orthodox Catholics would go another way. Perhaps the liberals would take the Pope and several Cardinals with them. But orthodox Catholics would subsequently elect a Pope for the remnant Church and the heretic Pope would be an anti-pope. Nobody would need to leave the Catholic Church for Orthodoxy or anything else, we would simply stay in the Church while yet another branch falls from the tree to wither and die.

This isn’t novel or different from anything that has happened in the past. There’s nothing new under the sun. For those saying “It can’t happen” you just mean that the Deposit of Faith and the True Church cannot be damaged in this way by heresy, and you are correct. But the possibility of schism is real and looming.

Yes. Thank you.

The counter to your statement is, of course, that The Church didn’t change. People who profess to be a part of The Church change. So in a way, it comes down to a question of whether or not the people who are the administrators of the Church might change direction, while the Church, not as a physical human entity but as a supernatural entity, is unchangable.

See? Everyone’s right.

 

[marymary1975]

I am not talking about US bishops. Bishops all over the world are currently speaking out publicly AGAINST Church teaching. And it has happened before that bishops formally dissent and are not removed, but continue to promote disorder and disunity through their wayward leadership.

Mommamaree I agree a lot with your feelings. Particularly since if you look at the church’s history many, in fact TOO many, popes and saints have warned about this exactly. Pope Pio X in 1907 warned the church exactly about this same point, same did pope Leon XIII way before. St Francis warned too about this and you have st john bosco’s famous dream about the church. Also we have the message of our lady of LA salette which is worthy of believe (however it was buried in people’s mind when Fatima came". She said “Rome will lose its faith” and spoke about a great abomination. In fact take Fatima and one phrase that speaks volumes that came out of the virgin " but the dogma of the faith will be preserved in Portugal."

If you take into account that at the time by far most countries in Europe were faithful catholics and no one could have even dreamed about the current situation.that phrase says it all. St john bosco predicted that in the century after his there was going to be an ecumenical council and after that “chaos will reign within the church”. So what you are saying has been well warned and predicted to happen by the virgin, popes and multiple saints Now you can argue it is private revelation but the current situation proves that these warnings are real.

However, despite these fears being real we cannot forget our Lady’s final reminder " but in the end my sacred heart will triumph". So yes we are heading towards very difficult times inside the church were many bishops and priests will depart from the truth and true faith. But there will be a small number who will fight for that faith and will preserve and after a very long battle in the end as st john bosco’s saw in his dream with Mary as our Pilar that small group will triumph.

 

[Joe_5859]

Let’s get real here and project what would happen if this came to pass. What would happen is a huge, epic schism, the likes of which we have not seen for 500 years. The liberals would go one way, supporting homosexual “marriage” and other impossibilities. Faithful, orthodox Catholics would go another way. Perhaps the liberals would take the Pope and several Cardinals with them. But orthodox Catholics would subsequently elect a Pope for the remnant Church and the heretic Pope would be an anti-pope. Nobody would need to leave the Catholic Church for Orthodoxy or anything else, we would simply stay in the Church while yet another branch falls from the tree to wither and die.

This isn’t novel or different from anything that has happened in the past. There’s nothing new under the sun. For those saying “It can’t happen” you just mean that the Deposit of Faith and the True Church cannot be damaged in this way by heresy, and you are correct. But the possibility of schism is real and looming.

All of what you said is theoretically possible except for the part about the Pope becoming a heretic and then becoming an anti-pope. A pope is a pope. He doesn’t lose his “popeness” except by death or deliberate resignation. If he were to start teaching heresy, that would mean that papal infallibility is meaningless and/or incorrect.

That said, the OP’s question was “What will you do if the Catholic Church accepts gay “marriage” ?” The Catholic Church will never do that. Could some bishops and a large chunk of the faithful do so? Sure. But that does not constitute the Catholic Church.