Is being gay a sin in the catholic church
Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ+ Issues: Roman Catholic Church
BACKGROUND
The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world, with approximately billion members across the globe. With its origins in the earliest days of Christianity, the Church traces its leadership––in the person of the Pope––to St. Peter, identified by Jesus as “the rock” on which the Church would be built.
The Catholic Church in the United States numbers over 70 million members, and is organized in 33 Provinces, each led by an archbishop. Each bishop answers directly to the Pope, not to an archbishop. Those Provinces are further divided into dioceses, each led by a bishop. At the base of the organizational structure are local parishes, headed by a pastor, appointed by the local bishop. The Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States meets semi-annually.
As part of a global organization with its institutional center at the Vatican, the Catholic Church in America is shaped by worldwide societal and cultural trends. It is further shaped by direction that is entirely male, with w
Homosexuality
Throughout history, Jewish and Christian scholars acquire recognized that one of the principal sins involved in God’s destruction of Sodom was its people’s homosexual conduct. But today, certain homosexual activists promote the idea that the sin of Sodom was merely a lack of hospitality. Although inhospitality is a sin, it is clearly the homosexual action of the Sodomites that is singled out for extraordinary criticism in the account of their city’s destruction. We must look to Scripture’s own perception of the sin of Sodom.
Jude 7 records that Sodom and Gomorrah “acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust.” Ezekiel says that Sodom committed “abominable things” (Ezek. ), which could mention to homosexual and heterosexual acts of sin. Lot even offered his two virgin daughters in place of his guests, but the men of Sodom rejected the present, preferring homosexual sex over heterosexual sex (Gen. –9). But the Sodom incident is not the only time the Old Testament deals with homosexuality. An explicit condemnation is found in the book of Leviticus: “You shall not lie with a m
Pope says Roman Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples
Pope Francis has allowed priests to consecrate same-sex couples, a significant advance for LGBT people in the Roman Catholic Church.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church said priests should be permitted to bless same-sex and "irregular" couples, under certain circumstances.
But the Vatican said blessings should not be part of regular Church rituals or related to civil unions or weddings.
It added that it continues to view marriage as between a man and a woman.
Pope Francis approved a document issued by the Vatican announcing the change on Monday. The Vatican said it should be a sign that "God welcomes all", but the document says priests must decide on a case-by-case basis.
Introducing the text, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Church, said that the new declaration remained "firm on the traditional doctrine of the Church about marriage".
But he added that in keeping with the Pope's "pastoral vision" of "broadening&
A few years before same-sex attracted marriage became the rule of the land, I was in a Baltimore pub having dinner with a Jesuit priest. We were talking about vocation, and I was telling him I wanted to go to graduate college so I could grasp how to offer theological arguments in favor of homosexuality.
“And you know”, I told him, “the story of Sodom and Gomorrah isn’t about homosexuality per se, but rape. Even Jesus interprets the cities’ downfall in terms of their inhospitality.”
“Sure”, he said, taking another drink.
“And the biblical laws prohibiting same-sex activity were intended to maximise the population”, I added.
He nodded.
“And Paul’s rhetoric about what goes against nature …”
He chop me off. “Why are you so obsessed with this? You want to focus all your graduate work on this?”
I didn’t understand the question. I had to focus all my attention on this. These were the so-called “clobber passages” that Catholics and Protestants alike possess used to marginalise queer people for centuries. I couldn’t just leave them be. I couldn’t just let them go unchallenged.
“Taking on these passa