![]() ![]() Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich- who is closing parishes by the dozens- offered the self-confirming prediction that the “understandable reaction among many will be disappointment.” Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, too, said it would “hurt many people.”īut these prelates, while giving every indication of sympathy for the homosexual critics of the CDF, stopped short of expressing outright disagreement with the Vatican statement. Bishop Georg Bätzing, the president of the German episcopal conference- that is, the leading voice of the hierarchy in a country that is losing over 250,000 Catholics a year- announced that he was “not happy,” with the Vatican statement. ![]() There were negative comments from the hierarchy, too. The celebrity priest James Martin, SJ, then passed along a petition from New Ways Ministry, inviting people to sign a statement: “We Will Bless Same-Gender Couples.” Of course the clever Father Martin did not explicitly endorse that rebellious statement he simply cited a passage from Lumen Gentium on the right of the faithful to express their opinions. New Ways Ministry, continuing the heedless gay advocacy that drew the Vatican’s censure, responded to last week’s statement by offering the text of a ceremony for the blessing of same-sex couples, thereby doing precisely what the Vatican had said that Catholic Church cannot do. Yet there are some Catholics who claim to be surprised by the Vatican statement, and others- such as the The National Network of Catholic LGBT Groups in Brazil- announcing their “outrage.” New Ways Ministry, a group that has been rebuked by the Vatican for distorting Church teaching regarding homosexuality, predictably denounced the CDF statement, citing the contrary thoughts of such heavyweight theologians as Elton John and the White House press secretary.
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