UK Bishops 'Nuanced' concerning Gay Catholics and Civil Unions?
Civil unions are a subterfuge, intended to force marriage equivalency for homosexual unions
The head of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales told a BBC reporter that the United Kingdom Bishops never opposed homosexual civil unions. Archbishop Vincent Nichols said of the Catholic Church in England, "We were very nuanced. We did not oppose gay civil partnerships. We recognized that in English law there might be a case for those."
PrintWASHINGTON DC (Catholic Online) - The head of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales told a BBC reporter that the United Kingdom bishops never opposed homosexuals entering into civil unions. Archbishop Vincent Nichols said of the Catholic Church in England, "We were very nuanced. We did not oppose gay civil partnerships. We recognized that in English law there might be a case for those. What we persistently said, is that these are not the same as marriage."
This position of the Catholics Bishops of England and Wales (CBEW) is rooted in a 2005 policy referred to as the Diversity and Equality guidelines, which was rejected by the Vatican for its lack of conformity with Catholic teaching. The CBEW has continued with this policy anyway.
The lack of the CBEW conformity with Vatican directives has brought the bishops' praise from some in the "gay" (homosexual equivalency) lobby. Diarmaid MacCulloch, a homosexual Anglican and Oxford professor, said that the English Catholic Church "has rather taken its own line on this [legitimizing homosexuality], not the Vatican's line."
MacCulloch has identified the problem, though he sees it as a virtue of the CBEW. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith never accepted the Diversity and Equalities guidelines. Perhaps the guidelines have not been accepted because they violate the Catholic Catechism, which is even in reference on the Catholic Church in England and Wales website.
Under the heading of "Civil Partnerships" the website displays paragraph 2357 of the Catholic Catechism: "Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved."
Just a few lines down from the civil partnerships section of the very same page, under the heading "Children and Parents," paragraph 2223 is cited: "Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues."
Aside from the fact that "under no circumstance" can homosexuality be approved, how does Archbishop Nichols (and other English Bishops supporting the Diversity and Equality policy proposal) expect English households to bear witness to marriage, fidelity, and virtue, when the same-sex couple is living a life of grave moral depravity that is contrary to the natural law and is intrinsically disordered?
The contradiction between the teaching of the Magisterium, to which the CBEW pledge loyalty and fidelity, and the opinion of some Bishops and Archbishops in the United Kingdom should be explained; preferably by the Catholic hierarchy responsible.
Regarding the issue of civil unions, whether or not civil institutions should adopt civil unions between gay people dismisses the central issue that drives some to want the policy. The best place for the raising of children and the only institution that offers a stable foundation for society is the family in which the children are parented by one man and one woman.
Civil unions are not the real goal of the pro-gay lobby. The pro-gay lobby does not want mere legal recognition of the contractual binding nature of their partnership with another person of the same gender-if they wanted that, they would co-sign on a vehicle or enter into a mortgage for a home together.
Their real aim is to make the positive law call their union synonymous with heterosexual monogamous marriages. Their goal is homosexual equivalency. Civil unions are presented with two intended goals: to get Christians to let their guard down and to establish and build up a separate institution that will one day be forced to be called a marriage. After all, when marriage and civil unions offer the same opportunities and legal rights, why not put them under one banner, right? With Christians no longer fighting an assault on "marriage," the gay lobby will have free reign to prop up a false version of it.
This undercurrent of supporting civil unions, or domestic partnerships, is active in the United States in Vermont, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oregon, District of Columbia, Washington, and Nevada. Six other states currently offer domestic partnerships with some of the rights included in marriage.
While the CBEW are trying to be "nuanced," they perhaps naively understand the intent of those who seek to establish civil unions or so-called gay "marriage." If the fight was only about legal contracts, then the states within the United States that currently offer civil unions would not be pushing for "marriage equality" as well.
Plainly put: the gay lobby does not want civil unions-they want marriage equivalency. The Catholic Church is the largest unified force to fight against this. To ignore the inevitable goals of those who want things contrary to marriage and the family will spell out certain defeat in both the United States and the United Kingdom in our efforts to protect marriage and the family and society founded upon it.
-----
Billy Atwell contributes to Catholic Online, and blogs for The Point and the Manhattan Declaration. As a young lay Catholic and two-time cancer survivor he offers commentary on faith, culture, and politics. You can find all of his writings at For the Greater Glory.
This position of the Catholics Bishops of England and Wales (CBEW) is rooted in a 2005 policy referred to as the Diversity and Equality guidelines, which was rejected by the Vatican for its lack of conformity with Catholic teaching. The CBEW has continued with this policy anyway.
The lack of the CBEW conformity with Vatican directives has brought the bishops' praise from some in the "gay" (homosexual equivalency) lobby. Diarmaid MacCulloch, a homosexual Anglican and Oxford professor, said that the English Catholic Church "has rather taken its own line on this [legitimizing homosexuality], not the Vatican's line."
MacCulloch has identified the problem, though he sees it as a virtue of the CBEW. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith never accepted the Diversity and Equalities guidelines. Perhaps the guidelines have not been accepted because they violate the Catholic Catechism, which is even in reference on the Catholic Church in England and Wales website.
Under the heading of "Civil Partnerships" the website displays paragraph 2357 of the Catholic Catechism: "Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved."
Just a few lines down from the civil partnerships section of the very same page, under the heading "Children and Parents," paragraph 2223 is cited: "Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues."
Aside from the fact that "under no circumstance" can homosexuality be approved, how does Archbishop Nichols (and other English Bishops supporting the Diversity and Equality policy proposal) expect English households to bear witness to marriage, fidelity, and virtue, when the same-sex couple is living a life of grave moral depravity that is contrary to the natural law and is intrinsically disordered?
The contradiction between the teaching of the Magisterium, to which the CBEW pledge loyalty and fidelity, and the opinion of some Bishops and Archbishops in the United Kingdom should be explained; preferably by the Catholic hierarchy responsible.
Regarding the issue of civil unions, whether or not civil institutions should adopt civil unions between gay people dismisses the central issue that drives some to want the policy. The best place for the raising of children and the only institution that offers a stable foundation for society is the family in which the children are parented by one man and one woman.
Civil unions are not the real goal of the pro-gay lobby. The pro-gay lobby does not want mere legal recognition of the contractual binding nature of their partnership with another person of the same gender-if they wanted that, they would co-sign on a vehicle or enter into a mortgage for a home together.
Their real aim is to make the positive law call their union synonymous with heterosexual monogamous marriages. Their goal is homosexual equivalency. Civil unions are presented with two intended goals: to get Christians to let their guard down and to establish and build up a separate institution that will one day be forced to be called a marriage. After all, when marriage and civil unions offer the same opportunities and legal rights, why not put them under one banner, right? With Christians no longer fighting an assault on "marriage," the gay lobby will have free reign to prop up a false version of it.
This undercurrent of supporting civil unions, or domestic partnerships, is active in the United States in Vermont, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Oregon, District of Columbia, Washington, and Nevada. Six other states currently offer domestic partnerships with some of the rights included in marriage.
While the CBEW are trying to be "nuanced," they perhaps naively understand the intent of those who seek to establish civil unions or so-called gay "marriage." If the fight was only about legal contracts, then the states within the United States that currently offer civil unions would not be pushing for "marriage equality" as well.
Plainly put: the gay lobby does not want civil unions-they want marriage equivalency. The Catholic Church is the largest unified force to fight against this. To ignore the inevitable goals of those who want things contrary to marriage and the family will spell out certain defeat in both the United States and the United Kingdom in our efforts to protect marriage and the family and society founded upon it.
-----
Billy Atwell contributes to Catholic Online, and blogs for The Point and the Manhattan Declaration. As a young lay Catholic and two-time cancer survivor he offers commentary on faith, culture, and politics. You can find all of his writings at For the Greater Glory.
- - -
Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.
Keywords: marriage, gay, homosexual, bishops, united kingdom, civil unions
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I see this as rending the heart of our Saviour He of all must suffer to see his children squabbling.
However we must engage those in our Parishes who are so easily led by this and similar arguments with humility and Wisdom
It is said..that those of us who wish to uphold the teaching of the Magesterium:
are being Holier than thou,
that we are thinking we are god almighty
that the church is too male dominated...
where did Jesus condemn Homosexuality in the Gospel
that the church has a history of getting it wrong in her teaching eg: about usuary now no longer written in the catechism as a sin
I think we need some help here from priests theologians faithful to the magesterium to give us the support I find myself margalised even in my own Parsih
that
Will Deacon Keith Fournier give opinion on the Utterances of the English Bishops ? Can a bishop who teaches something opposed to the teaching of the Church in matters of sexual morality hold the opinion and continue to be a bishop ? It is hightime the Pope should dismiss Archbishop Vincent Nicholas. We ordinary practicing catholics are confused. Let not the scandal divide the CHURCH in England
John Paul II speaking to a conference of American Bishop's in Rome said, "the greatest threat to evangilization is superfical preaching." When Archbishop Vincent Nichols said of the Catholic Church in England, "We were very nuanced. We did not oppose gay civil partnerships. We recognized that in English law there might be a case for those. What we persistently said, is that these are not the same as marriage." This is what John Paul II was saying, water downed preaching and comments, not speaking the truth. The English Bishop's must be what are called "I am catholic, but the Church is not going to tell me----------etc.. I am anxious to hear from the Holy Father and what he is going to do.
Totally agree with the writer. Even more - and surely it's time we all bite the bullet on this one - until the Church takes up once again its historic two thousand year old mission as the Church Militant, we are going to continue to lose naively thought out strategies that stubbornly refuse to accept the reality of our Christian Faith: we are believers in a fallen and unbelieving world that has always been, and always will be, aggressively hostile to everything we hold dear, until Christ returns on the Last Day.
We are not here to appease, placate, fawn or grovel. We are here to defend the faith, if necessary, with our lives.
Many good insights have been given into the fallacy of "homosexual unions" being the equivalent of "marriage." Facts are facts; there's no way such "unions" can be "equivalent" in the order of human nature as understood and defined by the terms "marriage" and "nature." Also, the irreparable harm to children has been left, so far, mostly untold by modern science--at least in the press! Genuine studies, without a doubt, would prove those who say there is no harm hugely wrong. I say this simply because acts contrary to nature always harm the person--sooner or later this becomes manifest, one way or another and children are the most vulnerable.
If indeed, Archbishop Nichols said that, the Vatican should do something about that. We cannot afford to have leaders who contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church and mislead the faithful. There's a lot of confusion out there already brought by a lot of these so-called leaders who misrepresent the Church and the Magisterium. Sr. Grammick is one of them.
It is about time to tell these people that if they do not adhere to the Magisterium they should step down from their position, the door is always open and they are free to leave, but please stop calling themselves Catholics or Bishop so and so or Fr. So and so or Sr. so and so...its about time to tell them to bring their own personal agenda somewhere else. God bless all of you.
I guess this is another example of human law over-riding GOD's law. Read the BIBLE & see that Homosexual behaviour is a "SIN". What I'm most surprise is that the Catholic Church is now in self-denial & finding excuses to justify itself. - this is a sad state of affair.
It is high time to intensify our prayers of intersession for the elders of the church so that they will be filed with wisdom and courage to stand for the truth and core teaching of the Bible and the Catholic Church, I was ashamed and shocked to watch the debate with most Rev Archbishop Vincent Nichols, we had high regards for him but now he is loosing his wisdom and courage,
He should refer the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
CCC- 2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered."142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
CCC- 2396 Among the sins gravely contrary to chastity are masturbation, fornication, pornography, and homosexual practices.
Miss Marie, I'm confused on what Donahue's motives were for that comment, but if he means that no one should insult someone simply because they are homosexual, then I agree with him.
Dear Pete Brady, in response to your comment: "Morality throughout society declines into meaningless in a society that approves of homosexuality." I spent a lot of time praying on the issue of homosexuality, particularly since society seems to be teaching us in every media available that this lifestyle is appropriate and should be acceptable. I agree with your comment about morality declining by accepting this and prostitution and teen sexual activity, and so on. I love and pray for everyone and am compassionate. I'm troubled by statement on other sites that appear to be accepting this lifestyle. I found this on the Catholic League site, a response to a recent 30 Rock episode. "Here’s the response of Catholic League president Bill Donohue: The assault by Hollywood celebrities on homosexuals should be renounced by everyone. We all know that the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church—which largely ended a quarter century ago—was mostly the work of homosexuals. But that was yesterday. For Matt Damon to trot out homosexual priests one more time, slandering all of them in one swoop is despicable. He owes all Catholics, especially homosexual priests, an apology."