Pope Francis sends blessings to pro-LGBT+ conference led by Jesuit Fr. James Martin
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"Blessing two persons in an irregular situation should not be considered an error or infidelity to Catholic doctrine," a theologian associated with serial abuser Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik is contending in the Vatican's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.
Professor Michelina Tenace, a consultant at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), which is currently investigating Rupnik for accusations of sexual abuse, has penned a lengthy defense of Pope Francis' declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which permits priests to bless homosexual couples.
Published by the Vatican's official mouthpiece on July 30, Tenace's article argues that "the Christian tradition has recognized as an evangelical witness the gift of self out of love that can be found in all kinds of relationships."
"In same-sex couples, there is no shortage of elements to bless."
"In same-sex couples, there is no shortage of elements to bless," writes the female theologian, who is a member of the Aletti Center, co-founded by Rupnik. "Precisely because people are blessed, goodness is expressed in the life of relationships."
"How could we justify putting 'prior moral perfection' as a condition on those who ask for a blessing?" she asks. "No one could receive it," replies the consecrated lay theologian, who was appointed by Pope Francis in 2016 to the commission to study the female diaconate.
LIMBO AND THE DEATH PENALTY
Even though the DDF categorically stated in 2021 that "the Church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions," Fiducia Supplicans "wants to 'offer a specific and innovative contribution,'" Tenace notes, quoting extensively from the declaration that outraged faithful Catholics after it was published in 2023.
"The novelty the Declaration brings is to say that what is not possible in a sacramental liturgical context is possible in a pastoral practice, 'without changing the Church's perennial teaching on marriage,'" writes Tenace, who was appointed by Francis as a consultant to the DDF in 2018.
The theologian cites the change in the magisterium's teaching on limbo and the death penalty as the "two recent examples of novelties" accepted by the Church in her defense of blessing couples in "irregular" unions.
" ... what is not possible in a sacramental liturgical context is possible in a pastoral practice."
While "the doctrine on the sacrament of baptism has not changed," in the abolition of limbo, "it has expanded the understanding of God's mercy," Tenace observes. "In the case of the salvation of infants without baptism, it was a matter of rereading a 'doctrine.'"
"In the case of the death penalty, Pope Francis has invited us to look at the secular practice that justified it by rereading it in the light of Tradition," she explains.
"Here we see that in the Church's new response, there is a development of the understanding of the dignity of the person 'in the light of the Gospel,' while distancing itself from a human, civil tradition to which the Church's teaching has conformed for centuries," Tenace writes, failing to admit that the death penalty is intrinsic to both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
PAPAL BLESSING FOR LGBT EVENT
Meanwhile, on Thursday, pro-LGBT Jesuit Fr. James Martin announced that Pope Francis had sent his blessings to Outreach 2024, a conference held from August 2-4 at Georgetown University "that will bring together LGBTQ Catholics, their friends and families and those who minister to them."
The pontiff said he is "united in prayer" with those participating in the conference, adding: "May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin care for you."
"I am glad that Cardinal Gregory [Wilton] will celebrate the Mass; I will be spiritually with him and with all of you, united in prayer," Francis stressed in a handwritten note in Spanish.
This is the fourth time that Pope Francis has sent his regards to an "Outreach" event and the first time a cardinal will attend the annual gathering in the three years since Martin founded it in 2022.
"Blessing two persons in an irregular situation should not be considered an error or infidelity to Catholic doctrine."
Panels at the conference will include those focusing on LGBTQ ministry in parishes and universities, being the parent of LGBTQ children, transgender Catholics, the Bible and homosexuality, and living a life of chastity.
Keynote speakers this year are liberal Jewish biblical scholar Amy-Jill Levine; Mark Bosco, S.J., vice president of mission and ministry at Georgetown; and the Rev. William Hart McNichols, the renowned Catholic iconographer.
In an email interview with the National Catholic Reporter, Levine said that she will "seek to show how biblical interpretations that dehumanize not only LGBTQ people and Jews but also disabled people, people of color, immigrants, and others are contrary to the primary ethics of both love of God and love of neighbor."
JESUIT UNIVERSITY OFFERS TRANSGENDER ACCOMMODATION
Souls & Liberty reported in July that the Jesuit-run Georgetown University is set to offer gender-inclusive accommodation to students who identify as transgender, non-binary or gender non-conforming.
The university's accommodation services said that it "has added a question to its housing process to provide a gender-inclusive option."
"I will be spiritually with him and with all of you, united in prayer."
"New students can indicate they identify as a transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming individual seeking gender-inclusive housing, or they are welcoming and affirming of LGBTQ individuals and wish to be considered as a potential roommate for students seeking gender-inclusive housing," the university's website noted.
The Jesuit university even offers a "Lavender Graduation," which it describes as "a special ceremony during commencement season for LGBTQIA+ undergraduate and graduate students to acknowledge their achievements, contributions and unique experiences at Georgetown."
Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.
----"Precisely because people are blessed, goodness is expressed in the life of relationships."----
WTH does that even mean?
----"How could we justify putting 'prior moral perfection' as a condition on those who ask for a blessing?" she asks.----
Obvious Strawman. Also, suppose 'the couple' received their "blessing" with a 'Go now and sin no more.'? They'd lose their minds with outrage. No one would bless a notorious gang of chronic bank robbers, not because they didn't possess "moral perfection", but because they had no intention of quitting their sinful business.