Below are excerpts. To read the full article go to The Washington Times.
Pope Francis has suggested blessing same-sex couples, though even supporters of such a significant change acknowledged it is likely to face intense opposition.
In a July 11 letter to five cardinals who had submitted questions, Francis affirmed the Catholic Church’s “very clear conception of marriage: an exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to begetting children.”
“Pastoral prudence must adequately discern whether there are forms of blessing, requested by one or several people, that do not transmit a wrong conception of marriage,” Francis wrote. “When you ask for a blessing, you are expressing a request for help from God, a prayer to be able to live better, a trust in a Father who can help us live better.”
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Frank Pavone, president of Priests for Life who was defrocked last year by Pope Francis, said the pontiff’s threading of the sacramental needle is troubling.
“It is not enough to make an argument that something can technically be done or that we ‘might be able to find a way’ to do it,” Mr. Pavone said via email. “When people come away from us, there should not be question marks in their minds and hearts about what the faith means, but rather exclamation points in their minds leading them to live and proclaim it.
“What Pope Francis and his theologians want to ‘study’ or say is not my responsibility,” he said. “However, I will fulfill my responsibility, just as so many parents fulfill their responsibilities as they pass on the faith to their children, to clearly uphold the Gospel of Christ without confusion.”
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