Pope Francis says Church must accompany gays, not discriminate [CNA]

[Lea101]

Apologize for discriminating. And yes, there are Catholics who shun gay people, instead of lovingly guiding them to God. There might be more protestants chanting "god hates fa*s but that doesn’t mean that there are no Catholics. There are Catholic parents who kick out their gay children instead of praying for them. My catechism teacher cannot even stand next to a gay person without looking as if he is constipated.

So yes, there are Catholics who should apologize for their disgusting behavior. If you claim to be not one of them, that you have never treated a gay person badly, or said mean stuff about them behind their backs etc, then okay, you don’t have to apologize.

But that doesn’t mean that the rest of us shouldn’t apologize/there is nothing to apologize for

 

[pnewton]

I could list numerous examples of Catholics going way out of their way to be kind to homosexuals. I don’t get what Pope Francis is trying to say here. Maybe it’s different in his neck of the woods? Maybe he isn’t referring to Catholics only?

He is older than many here and is speaking with an historic perspective of sins in the past, at least primarily. There are still a few Catholics that do not understand the universality of human dignity.

 

[Seamus_L]

Whatever happened to denying communion to public sinners ?

 

[Sarcelle]

For the love of God, he was saying something encouraging and intending to foster pastoral outreach to people who have been scorned and condemned just for having feelings they can’t control. And of course people get upset.

Indeed. He did not say we must approve of their sin. He said we must not discriminate against them. What is wrong with that?

Should we deny them jobs they are qualified for or housing? What is righteous about that?

 

[Havard]

Indeed. He did not say we must approve of their sin. He said we must not discriminate against them. What is wrong with that?

Should we deny them jobs they are qualified for or housing? What is righteous about that?

Oh, the Holy Father is right. [Some] other people’s misuse of his words, however, are not.

You can see plenty of folks right on these boards leverage these comments to effectively dropkick the spiritual works of mercy, as if being charitable and truth-telling are somehow mutually exclusive.

 

[pnewton]

Whatever happened to denying communion to public sinners ?

This is an oversimplification of canon law. Yes, there is a provision, but it is not as simple as not giving gay looking people communion. Canon 912 is stronger than 915, which will seldom apply to anyone.