Nude Beach Bishop OK with Gay Relationships

[Soutane]

Nude Beach Bishop OK with Gay Relationships

By Hilary White

June 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Portuguese Catholic bishop has told media that he is “OK” with homosexual relationships and complained that the Church is a “little inflexible” in “cultural matters” like contraception and homosexuality.

In an interview with Ionline, a Portuguese language news site, Januário Torgal Ferreira, bishop for the Armed Forces of Portugal, said, “I do not agree with the notion of [same-sex] marriage. I do agree with and accept a man who lives with a man, and a woman who lives with a woman.”

Acknowledging that the Catholic Church asks homosexuals not to “practice their sexuality,” he continued: “It is certain that a homosexual couple is not theoretical, isn’t it? And affections are translated through this practice, through this psycho-affective fusion of mysterious unity that is the human being.”

The bishop also implied that Catholics need to be more relaxed about “cultural” issues such as public nudity. The bishop first criticized people who he said are “perfectly illiterate, filled with guilt, malice, sensuality, almost castrated.” Such people, he said, will complain to him, “Oh…[sic] you go to the beach and to the pool in trunks.”

“And then?” he responded. “What is the problem? I am a citizen like everyone else!”

After being asked by the interviewer if anyone had actually made such a complaint to him, he admitted, "Not directly
lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10062805.html

 

[canadianguy1143]

Nude Beach Bishop OK with Gay Relationships

By Hilary White

June 28, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Portuguese Catholic bishop has told media that he is “OK” with homosexual relationships and complained that the Church is a “little inflexible” in “cultural matters” like contraception and homosexuality.

In an interview with Ionline, a Portuguese language news site, Januário Torgal Ferreira, bishop for the Armed Forces of Portugal, said, “I do not agree with the notion of [same-sex] marriage. I do agree with and accept a man who lives with a man, and a woman who lives with a woman.”

Acknowledging that the Catholic Church asks homosexuals not to “practice their sexuality,” he continued: “It is certain that a homosexual couple is not theoretical, isn’t it? And affections are translated through this practice, through this psycho-affective fusion of mysterious unity that is the human being.”

The bishop also implied that Catholics need to be more relaxed about “cultural” issues such as public nudity. The bishop first criticized people who he said are “perfectly illiterate, filled with guilt, malice, sensuality, almost castrated.” Such people, he said, will complain to him, “Oh…[sic] you go to the beach and to the pool in trunks.”

“And then?” he responded. “What is the problem? I am a citizen like everyone else!”

After being asked by the interviewer if anyone had actually made such a complaint to him, he admitted, "Not directly
lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10062805.html

I could fill this post with all sorts of comments but I would be told that Bishops are the Apostles and how dare we criticize them. Or be reminded that it is against CAF rules to criticize a member of the Clergy and be banned.

What this tells me is that the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Spiritual Works of Mercy take a back seat to being polite.

 

[Shin]

‘Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us be neither dogs that do not bark or silent onlookers nor paid servants who run away before the wolf.’

St. Boniface

‘It is a work of charity to shout: “Here is the wolf!” when it enters the flock or anywhere else.’

St. Francis de Sales

 

[Dale_M]

Here is a link to the Portuguese language original article:

ionline.pt/conteudo/66412–concordo-e-aceito-um-homem-que-viva-com-um-homem

Unfortunately, online translation for Portuguese is still crude. Google’s does better than Yahoo’s Babelfish, but both are difficult to read and require interpretation or guessing on our part.

Fortunately, the blog Rorate Caeli has provided a translation of some excerpts relevant to the LifeSite article piece.

rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2010/06/portuguese-archbishop-ok-with-men-who.html

It does not appear that the bishop is saying nude beaches are okay. What he says is that is okay for him to go to the beach, even if some women bathe topless.

From what I can tell, the practice of topless sunbathing is still popular in Portugal, much as it was in France 30 years ago. This practice is distinct from nude beaches.

He does say that “I do not agree with the notion of [same-sex] marriage -, I do agree with and accept a man who lives with a man, and a woman who lives with a woman.”

And he does say he supports artificial birth control:
“I do not accept the dogmatism of natural methods. People often do not wish to be realistic. But what matters most is that there continues to be a great dialogue, because truth is never possessed in full.”

As you might surmise, the bishop is a rather quirky fellow. He lives in an apartment block, perhaps, according to him, the only bishop to do so. I am unsure of the translation, and Rorate Caeli doesn’t mention it, but it seems that although he is still the bishop for the Armed Forces, they have booted him from his office.

Perhaps someone who reads Portuguese would be willing to clarify his position with the Armed Forces?

 

[white_sheep]

Hopefully that isn’t what he really said, as those things are against Church teaching.