Francis’ Call to Bless Homosexuals Triggers Backlash from Conservative Bishops

David Martin | The Daily Knight

Pope not backing down from decision to bless gay couples

As reported on December 18, Francis issued a new document allowing clergy to bless any homosexual couple, in contradiction to the unchangeable Catholic teaching that the Church cannot bless sinful relationships. The document Fiducia Supplicans allows and encourages “blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.”

Francis' historic endorsement of LGBT has set in motion a holy boomerang that is coming back to him with a holy vengeance. Backlash from bishops throughout the world is pouring into Rome and is flooding conservative media outlets. Some bishops have pledged holy defiance to Francis and are forbidding priests in their dioceses to impart blessings to homosexual couples. 

The Episcopal Conference of Malawi issued a directive on December 18 forbidding the blessing of same-sex unions in the wake of Francis' declaration.  

The Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan, along with Saint Mary’s Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider, have banned priests in the archdiocese from accepting or allowing any forms of “blessings” for “irregular” or homosexual couples. 

“We exhort and prohibit priests and the faithful of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana from accepting or performing any form of blessing whatsoever of couples in an irregular situation and same-sex couples,” they wrote in a statement released December 19.  

“Such a blessing, directly and seriously contradicts Divine Revelation and the uninterrupted, bi-millennial doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church,” they added. “With such blessings, the Catholic Church becomes, if not in theory, then in practice, a propagandist of the globalist and ungodly ‘gender ideology.’” 

The exemplary Bishop Joseph Strickland, former bishop of Tyler Texas, has likewise voiced his opposition to Francis’ declaration. In an exclusive video statement for LifeSiteNews, Strickland called on all Catholics, especially on bishops, to reject Pope Francis’ new ‘blessings’ for homosexual couples.

“We really simply need to be a united voice saying, ‘no,’ we will not respond to this,” Strickland stated. “We will not incorporate this into the life of the Church because we simply must say ‘no.’ And it needs to be a united voice.”

Canon lawyer Fr. Gerald Murray has publicly voiced his opposition to Rome’s blessing of gay couples, calling it “absurd.”  In an interview with The Vatican Thing, he said: “The message given is: what the Catholic Church has condemned in the past as being mortally sinful… now they’re encouraging priests to bless those relationships.” 

The list of objectors continues to grow, which is fortunate and urgently needed for the spiritual welfare of the Church. For Rome’s absurd declaration constitutes an official approval of the sin of homosexuality. To bless “couples of the same sex” is to bless their relationship. Francis is calling for the Church to bless “queer” relationships.

Naturally, this blessing of homosexual couples has no blessing to it. The old saying applies: God can bless anything, even dung, but he cannot and will not bless sin. 

Francis Insists that Laws be Passed to Protect LGBT Living

Even so, Fernandez and Francis have made it clear that they approve LGBT living. So much is this the case that Francis last January insisted that laws be enacted to protect homosexual living, which demonstrates the highest endorsement of homosexuality. Francis said, “Being homosexual isn’t a crime” and said that bishops who support laws against homosexuality stand in need of “conversion.”

Some argue that accusing Fiducia Supplicans of promoting homosexuality is a misinterpretation, but calling it a misinterpretation is like calling a pile of dung a pile of dung is a misinterpretation. Both Francis and Fernandez are avidly pro-LGBT and are very close with Fr. James Martin SJ, the infamous LGBT pusher who is spreading his sodomite cancer throughout the universal Church. That alone says it all.

Fr. James Martin SJ blessing homosexual couple in keeping with Francis’ declaration. This reflects perfectly what Fiducia Supplicans is all about.

In defense of sodomy, Cdl. Fernandez erroneously says that blessings are for ‘every’ person in ‘every situation’ and states in the document: “One should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing.” He’s saying that granting same-sex couples a priestly blessing while living in sodomy could likely inspire them to ask for help and grace for their ‘growth in perfection’ (whatever that means), which they otherwise would not do.

This is false. God’s blessing and mercy are only upon those who fear Him and keep His commandments. “His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.” (St. Luke 1:50) Attempting to bless the lifestyle of homosexuals will only augment their homosexual aspirations and enhance their journey to perdition, which is no “blessing” or "closeness" to the Church.  

True Pastoral Care

Under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1986, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued a document instructing bishops on the pastoral care of homosexual persons. The document stated that “homosexual activity is immoral” and said that authentic pastoral care is to “assist homosexual persons at all levels of the spiritual life: through the sacraments, and in particular through the frequent and sincere use of the sacrament of Reconciliation [confession].” 

The document goes on to say:

“Departure from the Church’s teaching, or silence about it, in an effort to provide pastoral care is neither caring nor pastoral” adding that it is “not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex.”

It is enough to say that the Catholic Church officially regards homosexuality as one of the four sins crying to Heaven for vengeance, a position that has been cemented for 2000 years. St. Paul describes homosexuals as “men with men working that which is filthy” (Romans 1:27) and goes on to say, “that they who do such things, are worthy of death; and not only they that do them, but they also that consent to them that do them.” (32) The apostle spoke of these treacherous times, saying, “In the last days, shall come dangerous times” (2 timothy 3:1), “For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” (2 Timothy 4:3)

These false teachers now hold the highest positions in the Vatican. Sr. Lucy of Fatima told Cardinal Carlo Caffara in 1984 that “a time will come when the decisive battle between the kingdom of Christ and Satan will be over marriage and the family.” This battle against family values is being spearheaded today by the homosexuals who now have the “blessing” of the Church. Yea, they now run the Church, though this is no reflection of the Church.  

We should note that in the mind of the Church LGBT is on par with murder, so any attempt to bless gay couples in their crime is no different than blessing a room of killers who are ready to go out and commit their crime. Any attempt to do so shows approval of the crime.

Fiducia Supplicans is About Blessing Sin, not People  

The ambiguous scribble in Fiducia Supplicans is nothing more than a masterpiece of slithering weaponry being used to dupe the faithful into accepting the sin of homosexuality, so Catholics should not fall prey to it or give it any credit.

Therein, Francis and Fernandez are not proposing to bless people but to bless their sin of sodomy under the pretext of blessing people, thereby cursing people. The trickster document clearly exposes its LGBT agenda by calling for blessings of "couples of the same sex." It's all about blessing their “couplehood” or “gayhood,” not about blessing their souls. It's about blessing their lifestyle. Francis and Fernandez know very well that the end result of these “blessings” will be the universal acceptance of LGBT throughout the Church. 

For obvious reasons the Church forbids any such blessings. To receive a priestly blessing, one must be worthy of this blessing before they can have it imparted to them. We don't "give to dogs what is holy." We indeed can and should pray for the worst sinners, if we want to call that a 'blessing,' no priestly blessings may be imparted to offenders unless they first show willingness to be delivered from their shame. They must give up their lifestyle and go to confession to receive the blessing of absolution, without which they may not receive any other blessing. If they refuse confession and a priest "blesses" them, a sacrilege is committed.

Hopefully, many more bishops will join the bandwagon in condemning Rome’s new Seducia document.