Homosexuality is incompatible with the priestly vocation. Otherwise, celibacy itself would lose its meaning as a renunciation.
Certainly, it is difficult to make the demands of the Gospel understandable to secularized people. But this pastoral difficulty must not lead to compromises with the truth.
For many people today, practical atheism is the normal rule of life...If this attitude becomes a general existential position, then freedom no longer has any standards, then everyting is possible and permissible.
Celibacy is always, shall we say, an affront to what man normally thinks. It is something that can be done, and is only credible, if there is a God and if celibacy is my doorway into the kingdom of God.
Assuredly, the word of truth can be painful and uncomfortable. But it is the way to holiness, to peace, and to inner freedom. A pastoral approach which truly wants to help the people concerned must always be grounded in the truth. In the end, only the truth can be pastoral.
"I am not a machine! I bleed red", SyrianGirl Maram Susli tells us after being accused of being a Russian bot by U.K. media.
They don't even try to put some thought into their lies anymore.
A man who has no regard for the words of Christ, or the decrees of His Holy Church, obviously will not take anything else seriously. It is in this way we must approach the news that Oscar Romero is going to be canonised.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar