Catholic bishops make final decision on gays

[Jazzy]

VATICAN CITY -- Catholic bishops scrapped their landmark welcome to gays Saturday, showing deep divisions at the end of a two-week meeting sought by Pope Francis to chart a more merciful approach to ministering to Catholic families.

The bishops failed to approve even a watered-down section on ministering to homosexuals that stripped away the welcoming tone of acceptance contained in a draft document earlier in the week.

Rather than considering gays as individuals who had gifts to offer the church, the revised paragraph referred to homosexuality as one of the problems Catholic families have to confront. It said "people with homosexual tendencies must be welcomed with respect and delicacy," but repeated church teaching that marriage is only between man and woman. The paragraph failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League told CBS Radio News that while the church should be welcoming of gays, it should not go as far as allowing same-sex marriages.

"It's one thing to treat people fairly," Donohue said. "It's quite another to ask us now to reconfigure the institution of marriage."

Two other paragraphs concerning the other hot-button issue at the synod of bishops - whether divorced and civilly remarried Catholics can receive Communion - also failed to pass.

The outcome showed a deeply divided church on some of the most pressing issues facing Catholic families.

Full article

Thoughts?

 

[Evil Eye]

Final? That seems unlikely.

 

[DrLeftover]

I am not a Catholic, nor do I play one on TV.

BUT.

I have been watching the inner workings of the Vatican for several years. And have been paying attention to some of the rumblings therein.

So. Here goes. "From up here in the cheap seats...."


This was a trial balloon.

There is a 'underground' group of active homosexual priests and others inside the church who have been quietly advancing through the ranks for the last twenty years or so. Yes, there have been some sensational headlines, but those have been "the few and the stupid", the ones we're talking about don't 'stray' and end up in the public eye. They keep to themselves and know who to trust.

Now, they also know how many of the sitting cardinals will support their agenda, and how many won't.

If you've been watching, you may have seen that the Pope recently sacked a "conservative" cardinal.

Remember, things in the church usually don't happen in a year or two, it usually takes decades. And the ones we're talking about have been at it for decades.

Watch for, after some attrition in the College of Cardinals and perhaps a new Pope, this to come up again.