Pope Francis has once again made headlines over his careless comments. The mainstream media and world in general is fawning over his latest remarks in which he advocates civil unions for gay people. Rather than defend and explain Catholic doctrine, which he should do since he's, you know, THE POPE, he just randomly goes on some tangent about giving legal rights to gay people, etc.
His exact words in new documentary titled Francesco, state:
“Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”
Why is the pope even commenting on this? Gay people do not have a "right" to a family. What does this even mean. People have the right to start a family, but gay people can't even procreate. So what does this mean? Does it mean a gay man has the right to live with another gay man and have a child or children live there as well? How is this a "right"?
Has Pope Francis forgotten that homosexual acts are sinful and condemned by the Church he leads? Affirming people living in sinful situations does not help them! I don't mind if he affirms their inherent dignity or says they have the right to respect, etc. That all makes sense. But to say a state has the obligation to create a special type of "marriage" for gay couples is absurd.
Again, it goes back to the basics. What is marriage? Is it any combination of consenting adults? Is procreation an aspect of marriage? Is a business partnership a marriage? I mean, marriage has a definition. If it doesn't have a definition, then it's meaningless. Why even have a word?
But if it does have a definition, what is it? Is it the union of 2 consenting adults? Okay, why not three consenting adults? Why are you limiting it? So if it can be any number of people, what else is in the definition? Does it have to be procreative? Well if it can involve gay people, then the answer is no. So now what is it? It's nothing. So what is there to want?
Some might say it's a legal arrangement. Well, you can have legal arrangements that aren't marriage. But marriage has always been something that is special and unique. It pre-exists Christianity. But it has certain key factors. It has been used around the world to create and sustain families. Gay marriage does none of this and it violates basic natural law.
This all boils down to a problem of non-specificity, a lack of clarity. St. Thomas Aquinas would define all of his terms and be very precise. He would use exact language. Fr. Ripperger points this out as well in many of his talks. He too will often define a word when using it so that everyone is on the same page.
On the other hand, look at Pope Francis. Specifics are his Kryptonite. As Patrick Coffin puts, he uses weaponized ambiguity. You can't just start with one premise and then throw the baby out with the bath water based on it. To put it concretely, just because gay people are human beings loved by God, it doesn't mean we throw out the definition of marriage that we have had for centuries. Just because we must respect everyone, it does not mean we must condone all activity. We need clarity on these things.
The pope has reneged on his duties. Is he waiting for someone else to preach sound doctrine? Has he forgotten that he is the pope, our spiritual father? It seems he has.
I feel as though Pope Francis has abandoned his spiritual children. He has gone off seeking the approval and affection of "others". In this case, the "others" are the media, the secular world, etc. He is doing everything he can to get in their good books. He doesn't realize they are just using him. Does he think his actions are attracting the enemies of the Church into the Church? If he thinks that, he is sorely mistaken.
Men who leave their families to be with another woman almost never end up marrying that woman in the end. Once the other woman was done with him, it was over. So it is with the evil secular world. They will try to attract you, but once you're in, they spit on you and leave you in the dirt.
I recently read a quote from Pope Benedict XVI concerning Pope John Paul II. To paraphrase, he said Pope John Paul II never sought popularity or to be liked. He was willing to present the unadulterated truth and to "take the blows" that came with it.
Sadly, it seems we now have the opposite of this in Pope Francis.
P.S. I hate to be so harsh. I just feel upset by all of this. I hope the pope realizes soon what he is doing. In the meantime, we must always pray for him.
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