Tag Archives: Amoris Laetitiae

Amoris Laetitiae: Panic on the Catholic Right

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LGBT and other progressive Catholics who expressed disappointment that Amoris Laetitiae did not change Church doctrines, should pay attention to the panic it has raised on the other side, among the orthotoxic, conservative rearguard. Rorate Caeli was quick off the block, describing it immediately and unequivocally as a “catastrophe”. Now Voice of the Family have issued a formal call for Pope Francis to withraw it.

There is huge irony in this. Previously, these same people would have attacked anyone who criticized Pope John Paul II or Benedict XVI on sexual matters as cafeteria Catholics, or worse as heretics – just for daring to disagree with papal authority. Now they are doing the same thing (just as their hero, Cardinal Raymond Burke, has tried to insist that the document is just a papal opinion, without magisterial authority).

Those who like to think of themselves as guardian of the faith, are panicking as they  discover that it is themselves, and not the rest of us, who are out of step with the Catholic Church.

Voice of the Family calls on Pope Francis to withdraw Amoris Laetitia

Over 100 pro-life and pro-family leaders from all over the world leapt to their feet in applause at a meeting in Rome on Saturday after hearing a call for Pope Francis to withdraw his controversial exhortationAmoris Laetitia.

John Smeaton, co-founder of Voice of the Family and the CEO of the UK Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, issued the request to the Pope in his keynote address at the annual Rome Life Forum.

Smeaton spoke following Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who in his speech decried growing confusion in the Church, and who has previously expressed grave concerns about the exhortation.

Smeaton highlighted several concerns with the exhortation, including:

  • the section about sex education, which speaks at length about sex education in schools, without reference to the rights of parents;
  • references to public adultery which fail to point out the intrinsic evil of adultery;
  • the suggestion that adulterous sexual acts may be justifiable; and,
  • the false message that marriage is not indissoluble.

Source: LifeSite

Can “Amoris Laetitia” Be a Starting Point for Progress on LGBT Issues? 

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“The apostolic exhortation is not just the last step of a long process. It is going to be another starting point.”

Amoris Laetitia

These words are from Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro, editor of the influential Civiltà Cattolica, commenting on Pope Francis’ exhortation about the family, Amoris Laetitia.

The exhortation has been a disappointment to many in terms of LGBT issues, with some commentators saying that it offers a stale, cursory, and at times condemnatory treatment of these topics. How then, can Amoris Laetitia, become a starting point for LGBT equality that leads to progress and not simply more of the same? I offer two thoughts.

First, the exhortation’s deficiencies must be admitted and addressed. Notably absent in the document, and the Synod deliberations preceding it, are the lives and experiences of LGBT people. Michael Bayly of The Wild Reed, citing the many testimonies which LGBT faithful have offered before, wrote:

“Do I expect the Vatican to share these types of testimonies, word-for-word, in official church documents? No. But I do expect those who claim to be leaders and teachers within our Catholic tradition to be open and responsive to the transforming presence of God within all people’s relational lives (including the lives of LGBTQ people) and to be committed to ensuring that our statements of collective wisdom (i.e., our church teachings) actually reflect the diverse nature of the beautiful gift of sexuality. . .Is that too much to ask?”

 

Source: Bondings 2.0