“The three paragraphs in the final document dealing with the remarried …”
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Matt Vidal, a gay member of the church who participated in the film, said his commitment to Catholicism is important despite its rejection of homosexuality. “The Church has excluded them as lepers, as if humankind were able to choose its own sexual orientation: heterosexual or homosexual”.
A former priest who was stripped of his title after announcing publicly that he was gay has called out the “homophobic hate” of the Roman Catholic Church.
Before 1965, the Catholic Church considered the Jewish people responsible for the death of Jesus.
Indeed, many Catholics who have been divorced do not seem to view an annulment as necessary.
Progressive bishops pushed for language in the final report giving a clear path to communion for those who are divorced and civilly remarried.
While the document does not chart any specific path to receiving the sacraments as originally sought by liberal prelates, it opens the door to case-by-case exceptions by citing the role of discernment and individual conscience in spiritual direction.
“As the New York Times reported, “[The church doors] remained firmly shut to same-sex marriage, even as the document said gay people should be treated with respect”.
Conservatives argue the ambiguous language on both issues is a danger to the Church.
Pope Francis had previously expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and friends in a statement which was read out at the Lynch-Gilbert funeral.
He said the Church knows only how to persecute homosexuals. “Holy Father, enough is enough”.
The meeting, on the theme of “The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and the Modern World”, brought forth the image of a Church that “does not simply ‘rubber-stamp, ‘ but draws from the sources of her faith living waters to refresh parched hearts”, he said. “In fact, although no religion is immune from the risk of fundamentalist or extremist deviations in individuals or groups, we must look at the positive values that they live and that they propose, and that are sources of hope”, he added. “But he always said to them, go and sin no more”.
As the Synod of Bishops is a consultative body, Pope Francis is free to adopt or disregard portions of the final report as he sees fit in any post-synodal documents or decisions. He dismissed “conspiracy theories” about the synod, and implored bishops to move beyond formulas “encrusted in a language which is archaic or simply incomprehensible”.
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At the invitation of the Pope, Baselios Cleemis will also attend the Episcopal Synod of the Syrian Catholic Church in Beirut in Lebanon on October 28, representing the Indian Church.
