Let’s rewind back to March 2021. The Associated Press published an article saying that the Vatican, under the authority of Pope Francis, issued a formal response to the question of whether the Catholic Church could bless gay unions. And the answer, according to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a two page explanation published in seven different languages, was that the Catholic Church COULD NOT bless the unions of two men or two women because “God cannot bless sin.” See here:
Of course,
those pushing the LGBT agenda were disappointed, while many staunch Catholics
were pleased. But this has been the
official long-standing teaching of the Catholic Church since the beginning.
Ok, fast
forward to December 18, 2023, when this same pope did a complete turnabout and
made another formal declaration
allowing Catholic priests to now bless same-sex unions! The
Associated Press calls it a “radical change in Vatican policy,” and so it
is. The article said that the pope’s
reasoning was that people seeking God’s love and mercy should not be subject to
“exhaustive moral analysis.”
Well, that
may be true, but the real analysis should be focused, in this case, on the pope
and his complete reversal of his previous formal declaration. In two short years, Pope Francis’ view
changed from “God cannot bless sin” to “God does indeed bless sin.”
So, can one
formal Catholic declaration nullify another formal Catholic declaration only two
years later? It certainly seems so.
But in an
attempt to do damage control, the pope said that this ritual of blessing such
couples was not to be confused with the sacrament of marriage. See here:
It appears
that this new document offers an “extensive definition” of the term “blessing”
in Scripture. Yes, as is often the case,
the Catholic Church is playing fast and loose with certain biblical terms. Apparently,
it is now ok to bless perverted and unbiblical lifestyles. But is the Church also willing to bless
murderers, whoremongers and slave traders (1 Timothy 1:9-10) in their chosen
lifestyle? How about blessing the lives
of idolaters, thieves, drunkards and swindlers (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)? If not, then why not? Aren’t these offenders listed together in the
Bible with homosexuals? Yes, indeed
(read the two Scripture passages I just quoted above). So, if one of these lifestyles is wrong, they
are all wrong! Let’s be biblically consistent.
But it seems
that being consistent with Scripture is not high on the list of the pope’s
agenda.
What is His Agenda?
So how does
this work? From the Catholic Church’s
standpoint, does this mean that the priest can now encourage and even bless the
union of a gay couple, but it is not ok to bless them in marriage? But why bless a homosexual “union” at all, if
you are not willing to go all the way?
It’s either right in the eyes of God… or it’s not. The pope needs to choose one and stick with
that choice.
But blessing
these unions in any way is an approval, an acceptance, of their ungodly
behavior. The pope, because he knows it
is very controversial, is not fully accepting homosexual marriages at this time. Francis should show the world what he really believes. The question is, will he side with the God of
the Bible or will he refuse to because of some global agenda?
This is just
an incremental game he’s playing. It is
pretty obvious to me that the pope will indeed cave in somewhere down the line
and eventually allow such “marriages.”
It’s just a matter of time. When
the winds of change are strong enough, and he convinces enough people, I
believe the pope will reject the Scriptures and justify homosexual
marriages. But I am certainly glad that
many Catholics are standing against the pope on this issue.
He wants to
embrace the idea so that he can appease one group, and yet he is distancing
himself from it to appease another group.
He is trying to please both sides.
As they say, he wants to have his cake and eat it, too. But either way, this “cake” will cause his
downfall, either in the eyes of God, or in the eyes of the LGBT crowd.
A few months
ago, I posted an article addressing the pope’s views on homosexuality and dealt
with it in more detail. See here:
https://answeringcatholicclaims.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-pope-on-homosexuality.html
How to Actually Handle This Sin
In another NBC News article on this topic, the pope
is quoted to have said, “We cannot be judges who only deny, reject, and
exclude.” See here:
Pope Francis signals he's open to
blessings for same-sex unions by Catholic priests (nbcnews.com)
If you’ll
notice, people who are constantly trying to justify their sins will often say
things like what the pope said just above.
They will quote Matthew 7:1 – “Judge not, that ye be not judged,”
and say, “See! Jesus, Himself,
says you can’t judge me!”
But while it
is true that Christians should not just alienate and exclude people for selfish
reasons, it is right to exclude them for biblical
reasons. It is also true that Jesus commanded us to judge people, i.e., to
be fruit inspectors. Yes, judging rightly (John 7:24) is indeed a
biblical mandate.
Furthermore,
Jesus commanded us to treat those in the church WHO REFUSE TO REPENT OF THEIR
SIN as outcasts (Matthew 18:15-17), including the sin of homosexuality. But this alienation is only exercised by the
church after first trying to reconcile
them to God. They must first point
out the offender’s sin. And if he
refuses to confess his sin, they should approach him with witnesses, and if he
still refuses to listen, he must be brought before the church (the local
assembly). And if he’s still
unrepentant, he should be excommunicated for his refusal to turn from his sin,
and the whole local assembly is obligated to treat this person as an outsider
(unless and until he repents). If the
Catholic Church (or any church) wants
to be biblical about this, they would confront homosexuals about their open
sinful lifestyle in the manner prescribed by Jesus in Matthew 18.
Just Being Respectful?
Trying to
excuse the pope’s action, some say that Francis, up to now, held back on his
present view out of respect to honor his predecessor (Benedict XVI), who was
more conservative. But since Benedict
XVI is now dead, the new pope can move in the direction he sees fit.
See here:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/12/pope-francis-same-sex-relationships-blessing-backstory.html
Whether
that’s true or not is pretty much irrelevant.
If Francis is really concerned about honoring his more conservative
predecessor, he would maintain the previous pope’s ideals. But because he hasn’t, I think that this is
just an excuse and that he really doesn’t care what Pope Benedict XVI believed. Remember, he has an agenda to follow.
Repent While There is Time
At the
beginning of this article, Francis was quoted as saying, “People seeking God’s
love and mercy should not be subject to ‘exhaustive moral analysis.’”
Two things I
want to address here. First, the pope is
assuming that those in a gay union
are seeking God’s love and mercy. But
the simple truth is that if someone really wants to seek God, he will humbly
recognize his sin (from the Scriptures) and turn away from it. If he really
wants God’s love and mercy, he will abandon
his sinful lifestyle. But if he refuses
to do this, then this just proves that he is really not concerned about seeking
God at all. He just wants God’s love and
blessings, but refuses to get it on God’s
terms.
He, like the
pope, wants to have his cake and eat it, too.
He wants to do whatever his sinful heart desires, but also have God’s
approval in doing it. But the truth is the
acceptance that gays so desperately desire will never be found apart from God’s
way of doing things.
Secondly, it
is true that no one can prevail in an “exhaustive moral analysis.” We are all
sinners (whether homosexual or heterosexual) and we all deserve Hell. We all
fail the test when analyzed. And yes, as
humans, we should not analyze someone simply to throw his sin in his face, or
to be “holier than thou.”
The reason
we point out someone’s sin should be out of compassion (Jude 1:20-23) and to
make him aware of the danger – so that he can repent and ultimately avoid the Lake of Fire. Pointing out sin (in the right spirit) is
actually an act of love. I understand
that it is never pleasant when someone points out a person’s sin and it may be
easy to get offended. But it is better
to be offended now and end up in Heaven than to pacify your feelings now, and later
suffer an eternity apart from God (Revelation 20:11-15).
Conclusion
To all those
who are in the LGBT camp, this pope is not doing you any favors by promoting
this lifestyle. There are so many supporters
of gay rights out there who are more concerned with your present feelings than with your eternity. If I didn’t care, I’d remain silent and never
talk about it. But this lifestyle of
unrepentant homosexuality is indeed spiritually dangerous and will draw you
away from God… just like the unrepentant heterosexual
can be drawn away by his own lusts, as well.
Both end up in Hell. (1 Corinthians 6:9)
So, can Pope
Francis be trusted? Is it ok for a man
of such power and influence to formally
make two absolutely contradictory Church declarations? Does this “Vicar of
Christ” really care for your soul? I
will leave you to ponder these questions.
