"This is the real world - Not 'Catholic Answers'"

[mrsfrazier]

Do you actually beleive that** all** priests are orthodox in their preaching?

No, I didn’t say or imply that and no I don’t believe that. I do highly respect their position and their education as priests, though. This is not a case of a priest preaching to an entire congregation “go out and get civil marriages”, but of him evaluating a personal situation and trying to guide the couple to a decision. We don’t know all the details involved, and, regardless of whether or not the priest is right, it is nosy and not really appropriate for a parishioner to call and question the priest about the advice he gave privately to a couple. It is the bishop’s job, not ours, to make sure the priests are doing their job correctly. I am not ordained, and neither is the op, so it really isn’t our place to correct private statements made by a priest to a couple. If anything, the op should have contacted the couple personally with his concerns for their spiritual welfare, not the priest.

 

[paramedicgirl]

Are you serious? Can you just overlook such an important piece of what I said just so you can accuse me of supporting abortion? I said I am more concerned over whether a child is getting the care and love it needs than whether the parents are living in sin. Now how can that be reconciled against your accusation of abortion? The particular area you highlighted mentions an infant, hmm, can an abortion produce an infant? I don’t think so. Please refrain from such accusations in the future.

My entire arguement in that post was based on the idea that a child will be born, not aborted. Be gladdened by the supposition that a child will be born into a couple that is, from what LITTLE information we have, making the best of a bad decision. The consulted a Priest before rushing out to do something, sounds to me like they are thinking about the child more than themselves, a selfless act perhaps?

Is it a tragedy that the couple has to deal with this, you bet it is. And I have said this over and over and over again. Sin is never excusable, but there are times when it is unavoidable, and this perhaps is one of them. I am thankfull that the God I know and love is compassionate and just and looks to the very depths of my existence before passing judgement. He understands that I do not live in a perfect world and that there are occasions where I am going to be presented with a problem that cannot be overcome by simply saying its against God. Sometimes we have to work with what we have, and that is not always the best. What I am reading in this thread is exactly what Christ was addressing with the pharisees “you know the law, but you do not understand it”.

You have passed judgement on a couple and a Priest without knowing even 10% of the truth. We have two different versions hereof the same story as it is, in one the Priest advised the couple to marry and in another the woman’s family pressured them into it because they were not willing to continue paying the medical costs. Why did the priest advise this? Why was the family unwilling to pay any more medical costs? Do we have a complete picture? ABSOLUTELY NOT! There is a reason why Priests are trained so heavily in hearing confession, to avoid such situations as we are seeing in this thread.

I’m not accusing you of supporting abortion. But people who employ your logic that condones living in sin might just as easily apply it to other serious situations, including abortion.

 

[chotock]

I’m not accusing you of supporting abortion. But people who employ your logic that condones living in sin might just as easily apply it to other serious situations, including abortion.

thank you, I understand what you are saying. This is why I advocate that we try not to lump all situations into one big pot, while not falling into that “r” word. Its a tight line we all have to walk when evaluating other people’s lives.

 

[DWPC]

Is it sin to simply make a promise in a civil ceremony? Civil marriage establishes marital obligations and rights legally. What occurs *after *the ceremony is up to the people involved. Seems to me that a couple may be technically married by civil authority and remain chaste. One has nothing to do with the other, unless they make it so.

Clearly the intent of the advising priest was to legally “fix” and preserve the child’s rights and the parents’ obligations ASAP. I see no moral problem with a civil marriage for the couple waiting for canonical clearance of impediments to a Church wedding if the welfare of a child is enhanced provided they don’t behave intimately as if married.

 

[gmarie21]

I said I am more concerned over whether a child is getting the care and love it needs than whether the parents are living in sin.

My entire arguement in that post was based on the idea that a child will be born, not aborted. Be gladdened by the supposition that a child will be born into a couple that is, from what LITTLE information we have, making the best of a bad decision. The consulted a Priest before rushing out to do something, sounds to me like they are thinking about the child more than themselves, a selfless act perhaps?

Is it a tragedy that the couple has to deal with this, you bet it is. And I have said this over and over and over again. Sin is never excusable, but there are times when it is unavoidable, and this perhaps is one of them. I am thankfull that the God I know and love is compassionate and just and looks to the very depths of my existence before passing judgement. He understands that I do not live in a perfect world and that there are occasions where I am going to be presented with a problem that cannot be overcome by simply saying its against God. Sometimes we have to work with what we have, and that is not always the best. What I am reading in this thread is exactly what Christ was addressing with the pharisees “you know the law, but you do not understand it”.

You have passed judgement on a couple and a Priest without knowing even 10% of the truth. We have two different versions hereof the same story as it is, in one the Priest advised the couple to marry and in another the woman’s family pressured them into it because they were not willing to continue paying the medical costs. Why did the priest advise this? Why was the family unwilling to pay any more medical costs? Do we have a complete picture? ABSOLUTELY NOT! There is a reason why Priests are trained so heavily in hearing confession, to avoid such situations as we are seeing in this thread.

Well, as the only person posting who has been in the near-same situation as the couple and priest being discussed, I can say that my priest (and other priests we consulted) made it LOUD AND CLEAR that my daughter’s father and I were to do all that we could to live seperately. If there was no means to do this then we were to have lived as sister and brother, sleeping in different rooms and having no physical contact that would be above what one would do with one’s own sister and/or brother.

As for what is best for the child’s SOUL, parents NOT living in sin is best for the child’s SOUL (as well as the souls of the parents). And medical expenses, the child would automatically be on the father’s insurance (as long as he agrees that he is the father and takes full responsibility as per the documents he’ll sign in the hospital). I make $18K per year and pay for my own insurance b/c the govt. insurance won’t get me into a dr. office in my county (there are waiting lists). I make sacrifices in other areas to afford my $170 health insurance payment per month. What is required in this situation is sacrifice and some self denial (what is required for every parent who believes that their child is God’s, not theirs)