By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
The sad scandal and resulting confusion broke upon us immediately following the great joy of Gaudete Sunday and just before Christmas. Point, counterpoint. Fr. James Martin found a Santa Claus in Pope Francis and his lapdog Tucho Fernandez just in time for the gift-giving holiday: a social media photo op catching him in the act of blessing two men who have made it known that they commit unnatural sex acts with each other.
The New York Times exulted: “BREAKING NEWS — POPE FRANCIS IS LETTING PRIESTS BLESS SAME-SEX COUPLES, A MAJOR STEP IN HIS EFFORTS TO MAKE THE CHURCH MORE WELCOMING TO L.G.B.T.Q. CATHOLICS” on the morning of Monday, December 18. The short news flash elaborated: “The Vatican announced the new rule on Monday. A church official said the blessings amounted to ‘a real development’ that nevertheless did not amend ‘the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage’.”
The new document landed like a bomb on the ecclesial landscape already shellshocked by Amoris Laetitia, abusing those many already weak in faith with more of the same weaponized ambiguity. The innovation, as the document itself describes this pastoral practice of blessing sin, is once again couched in just enough anodyne language to allow the compliant comfort addicts among the episcopal college to wiggle their way out of possibly defenestration-begging opposition.
The letter speaks unctuously and at length of obvious matters about which we are already well aware, such as the fact that any person may approach any priest at any time to ask for a blessing without previous exhaustive moral examination. No-brainer. I have gladly responded to many such requests many times over the course of more than thirty years of priesthood. I would suspect that the experience of most priests mirrors my own. One of the great joys of ordained ministry is giving generously and consistently whatever graces are in our power to confer. The most difficult burden of the priesthood, on the other hand, are those rare occasions when we must respond in the negative and do so for the salvation of the soul concerned, above every other consideration.
Read the rest: https://thewandererpress.com/catholic/news/frontpage/roma-confusus-est-dont-bless-sin-bless-sin/
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