Homosexual Community Claims Church Backtracked

Or so goes the report from The Guardian.  Did the Church really backtrack?  No, she did not!  Come on folks!  This "synod" is a pastoral gathering - it is not a dogmatic or doctrinal council.  There would be no new doctrine coming from this synod - it was a gathering of bishops discussing how to best be pastors for a variety of situations.  As many Catholics have voiced, myself included, the "interim relatio report" was a bit premature.  Synods such as this are works in progress and there will be discussion and disagreement.  Even according the The Guardian article, Pope Francis said:

Personally I would have been very worried and saddened if there hadn’t been these … animated discussions … if everyone had agreed with one another or had kept silent in a false and acquiescent peace. 

So Pope Francis EXPECTED there would be "animated discussions."  In fact, there were - but whomever put out the preliminary report did not report any such animations! So was Pope Francis "the loser" as The Guardian reports?  No, not at all!

Pope Francis arrives for the last day of the synod. Photograph: Franco Origlia/Getty Images

The Guardian essentially reports that the synod spoke of two issues, homosexuality and the matter of divorced and remarried Catholics receiving Holy Communion.  Um, according to what I've been hearing, those were MINOR topics of discussion with the PRIMARY concern being toward FAMILIES and especially those which have been displaced by war and terrorism.  The bishops are seeking a pastoral and humanitarian way of reaching THOSE families.  Those who are saying the two topics were primary discussions are either misinformed or being deliberately dishonest in their reporting to try and further an agenda.

One of the things I did hear discussed on EWTN Radio today was the fact that the Church is not changing her stance on homosexual "marriage," this cannot happen.  Homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord and the Church cannot "accept" such in "marriage" - as that would be putting her blessing on an abomination!  The subject of cohabitation came up too - which fundamentally is JUST AS WRONG as homosexuality!  Both situations are sexual relationships outside the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.

Should Catholics be caring and compassionate to those who have homosexual tendencies?  Certainly!  Being caring and compassionate does not mean we "give in" to those who want to change morality.

One priest offers some "advice" to Pope Francis, here is an excerpt:

I have heard the words of my Holy Father and taken them to heart. I sincerely want to be that kind of priest.

However, I can only do this if the timeless truths of the Catholic faith are firmly defined and defended. The dogmas, doctrines and disciplines of the Catholic faith are the tools of my trade. They provide the rules for engagement, the playbook for the game, the map for the journey and the content for the mercy and compassion I wish to display. The historic teachings of the Catholic faith, founded on the teachings of Christ the Lord, revealed by divine inspiration and developed through the magisterium of the Catholic Church provide the method for my mercy, the content for my compassion and the only saving truths I have to share.

This is teamwork Holy Father. I can only do the job you want me to do if you do the job you have been called to do. With the greatest respect and love, please don’t feel that it is your job to tinker with the timeless truths. If my job is to be the compassionate pastor for those in the pew and beyond, then your job is to be the primary definer and defender of the faith. I can’t do my job if you don’t do yours.  (Full article here).

Good words, Fr. Longenecker!  Thank you.

Scott<<<