What Pope Francis said about gay priests and what I should not say?

Josimar Salum

My opinion is my full right of expression.

According to Wall Street Journal Pope Francis "signals openness to Gay priests". 

It is authored by Stacy Meichtry - email: stacy.meichtry@wsj.com

Published on July 29, 2013 - 10:01 PM

Here I transcribe some of the reportage; then I comment:

“The pope's remarks on homosexuality were prompted by a reporter who asked the pontiff to comment on a report in an Italian magazine alleging Battista Ricca, a Vatican monsignor promoted by Pope Francis, engaged in gay sexual relationships years ago when he was posted overseas at a Vatican embassy in Latin America." 

The monsignor, who has never publicly commented, remains in good standing with the pope, said a senior Vatican official.”

"Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" the pontiff told a news conference in response to a question."

"Never before had a pope spoken out in defense of gay priests in the Catholic ministry, said Vatican analysts, and past popes have traditionally treated homosexuality as an obstacle to priestly celibacy. In 1986, the Vatican defined homosexuality as an "objective disorder," and in 2005 Pope Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, formally barred men deemed to have "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" from entering the priesthood."

"Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York echoed the pope on Monday, saying a priest's homosexuality "wouldn't matter to me as long as one is leading a virtuous and chaste life." But, he added, "My worry is that we're buying into the vocabulary that one's person is one's sexual identity and I don't buy that and neither does the church."

"A poll of Roman Catholic priests across the U.S. the Los Angeles Times conducted in 2002 found that 15% of priests described themselves as homosexual or leaning toward homosexuality.”

Protestants, Evangelicals and Pentecostals may not want to admit, but among them there is a very expressive percentage of gay ministers, practicing homosexual sins as well as many other sinful behaviors.

For a better understanding of what I mean I suggest you to read a Barna Report from December 17, 2001: “TheYear’s Most Intriguing Findings, from Barna Research Studies.”

Let me share just two of those findings in light of what God says:

  

Barna’s finding: “Among adults who have been married, born again Christians and non-Christians have essentially the same probability of divorce.”

“I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence”. (Malachi 2:16)

Divorces among thousands and thousands Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal ministers are as common as in Hollywood circles.

I am not judging anybody here nor I am condemning with the remarks "divorced pastors." 

Who am I? Why should I?

On the contrary my heart aches for them. The only reason Cristina and are not divorced and will celebrate our 30rd Anniversary next year is solemnly by God's Grace!

Barna’s finding: “A plurality of adults support the legalization of same-gender sexual relations, and even one-third of born again Christians support this aspect of gay rights.”

 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

And said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh? 

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” (Mathew 19:4-6)

Here Jesus declares that marriage is an exclusive union between a man and a woman.

But He also declares here that faithfulness in marriage is in the same level of importance and authority of a man marrying a woman and not of the same sex. 

“What God has joined together, let no one separate.”

There is a huge amount of hypocrisy around homosexual issues in the midst of Evangelical, Protestant and Pentecostal realms.

I find very distressed that even some of my minister friends want to demonize and “sinfulnize” homosexual sins above everything else while tolerating other sinful practices among them, or at least, not condemning with the same fervency.

The pontiff asked: "Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" 

Neither do I. 

Pope Francis was talking about not judging gays. I am too.

Please, read Romans 1:18-32:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness…

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles – an image of a mortal being like the statue of “Our Lady of Aparecida” that Pope Francis kissed.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 

In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error…

God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 

Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

But, please, do not stop on chapter 1, read it also Chapter 2:

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 

Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 

So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?”

Here is what I do think while asking God's mercy upon me as I comment on these Pope Francis remarks and about all the reactions that are going on around the Globe.

1 - Protestants, Evangelicals and Pentecostals should shut up and mind their own business. 

Let Pope Francis speaks whatever he wants to speak and do whatever he wants to do.

2 – Most of Protestants, Evangelicals and Pentecostals I know very close has no moral neither they flaunt collectively enough testimony and example to back up authoritatively what they are condemning and without honestly dealing with their own perversions.

3 - Among Baptists, Assemblies of God, Presbyterians, Pentecostals etc, etc, denominations we have enough of every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder- hate is murder - strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, arrogance and boastfulness… 

So let us humbly come before the Lord with a repentant heart and call on ourselves His Grace and Mercies.

4 – Sin is sin. 

You may call sexual orientation a man or a woman that goes after same gender for their sexual desires. 

God calls it sin.

You can also call supporting gay rights sympathy for minorities.

God calls it perversion. 

5 - Any sin is a sin.

You may call collecting offerings a pastor raising money while promising blessings for those who “plant a seed in their ministries."

God calls it a deceitful lie, because His son has blessed us already with all blessings when He offered Himself as a perfect offering at the Cross. 

God accepted that offering. 

There is nothing I may do to please Him in order He may accept me, because as a son of God I am already accepted in the Beloved.

6 - The practice of homosexual sins and the practice of spiritual distortion for God are sins. 

Neither is less or more evil that one another.

7 - “Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:14-15

8 - Both homosexual desire when it is practiced as well a lie when is practiced gives birth to death.

  

Hypothetically if Pope Francis wants to legalize gay marriage in the church he is the Pontiff I don’t really care. Should I?

Should I agree, support and applaud with my colleagues, who go on and on after this Gay agenda issues, in frenetically and fanaticallly fixation while they do nothing to reach gay people with Love and with the Gospel of the Kingdom?

If I give a cup of water to a gay person who is thirsty would I be giving it to Jesus?