Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Holy Crap! Mexican Bishop Raul Vera Lopez: “We want to erase homophobia from peoples’ hearts.”



“Jesus Christ welcomed sinners and cast out the Pharisees, which shows that excluding others is not Christian, we want to erase homophobia from peoples’ hearts.” - Bishop Raul
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With all due respect to his office, I think the Bishop is mistaken.  A little homophobia never hurt anyone - it's especially good for those Catholics who just might be thinking it is an acceptable=equal lifestyle.  I'm talking about this in the sense of a healthy 'fear of sin'.  The Church clearly teaches that homosexual behavior, homosexual acts, is sinful.  The Christian should fear falling into sin, the Christian should fear the contagion of sin, therefore if 'they' call that 'homophobia' - so be it.  One has to get the 'politics' out of Church teaching.
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What I find so astonishing is the double-speak coming from this Bishop's diocese - he claims he is supporting 'gay rights' for humanitarian reasons.  While insisting he is supporting Church teaching, he also supports the position of the American priest whose apostolate to gay people appears to be more liberal in the pastoral care of the homosexual person.  As Fr. Coogan, the founder of the San Eledro gay-community tells it, “you need to go beyond the Catechism.”  Really?  Strikes me as a little 'holier than the Church'.
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I expect this is going to be the trend going forward - unless as the American Bishop Tobin tells it, "We need our people to understand that this is a serious issue.  Our greatest danger as a Catholic community is apathy."  That said, Catholic groups in the Mexican Diocese of Saltillo have mobilized to urge Bishop Lopez to end the ministry as it exists. 
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From Catholic News Agency:
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Saltillo, Mexico, Apr 5, 2011 / 02:49 am (CNA).- Catholic family groups in the Mexican Diocese of Saltillo are urging Bishop Raul Vera Lopez to withdraw his support for a group that they say undermines Church teaching on homosexuality.
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“A pastoral commitment to homosexual persons is necessary and welcomed, but not at the expense of the family and a solid pastoral plan for marriage and family, which is unfortunately being neglected in the diocese,” said Natalia Niño, president of Familias Mundi, which is based in the diocese in northeastern Mexico.
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Niño criticized the diocese’s support for the San Elredo Community, which she said “publicly promotes an openly homosexual lifestyle, gay ‘marriage’ and gay adoptions.”
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Bishop Vera Lopez, in the audio interview on his website, called the criticism of the event “agenda-driven.”
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"Jesus Christ welcomed sinners and cast out the Pharisees, which shows that excluding others is not Christian,” he said. “We want to erase homophobia from peoples’ hearts.”
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But Familias Mundi leader Niño denied allegations of “homophobia.”
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“Our criticism has nothing to do with individual persons, their dignity and their rights. This is about doctrines that are opposed to the Church’s teachings and that have grave negative effects in our society,” she told CNA.
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In his interview on the diocesan website, Bishop Vera Lopez also stressed the need to defend homosexual rights.

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He affirmed his support for state recognition of civil unions among homosexuals. At the same time, the bishop said this does not mean he supports homosexual marriage, because marriage “is only between a man and a woman.”
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Fr. Coogan, who worked as a publicist and a volunteer at rehabilitation centers in New York before being ordained a priest in Saltillo, said that God makes men and women to be homosexual.
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“What God creates is a blessing for the world. Homosexuals are a blessing for the world. The world could not exist without homosexuals, it could not exist. God in his wisdom created diversity,” he told CNA.
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San Elredo believes homosexuality is “a permanent orientation,” he added.
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“It begins at a very young age and is permanent, like being right-handed or left-handed. It is something innate in people,” he said.
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He raised questions about the Church’s teachings that homosexual acts are sinful and that persons with a homosexual orientation must live chaste lives.
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“Moral culpability, in the oldest tradition of the Church, is affected by the freedom of the person … if there is no freedom, there is no culpability. The child who fires a gun is not guilty. And so if there are people who are subject to the wrath of society, how much freedom do they have? If they are afraid to tell their parents about their orientation, how much freedom do they have in their lives?”
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He added: “How can a person with same-sex attraction have a fulfilling life? And the only answer the Catechism gives is to tell them to be celibate, and that is not enough.” - CNA
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This thinking by Bishop Lopez, shared by a few other churchmen in Latin America and the Philippines, is probably shared by not a few other ecclesiastics in a chancery closet near you.
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Art:  "Dead Bishops" - Fernando Botero

21 comments:

  1. Like I have been saying: we did not get to where we are without the help of the Bishops. You know, Fr. Hardon said that no heresy in the history of the Church ever succeeded without the the approval of Bishops. So, there you have it. Ay yi yi yi yi!

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  2. He raised questions about the Church’s teachings that homosexual acts are sinful and that persons with a homosexual orientation must live chaste lives.
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    “Moral culpability, in the oldest tradition of the Church, is affected by the freedom of the person … if there is no freedom, there is no culpability.

    “How can a person with same-sex attraction have a fulfilling life? And the only answer the Catechism gives is to tell them to be celibate, and that is not enough.”


    That's comforting to know - I have some single friends who will be glad to hear that celibacy is optional, and that there is no culpability because they have no freedom.

    Nice.

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  3. LOL, Larry. Reassuring, isn't it. How would sin ever proceed without encouragement from our priests and Bishops? Kyrie Eleison...

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  4. The up-side is that the average pew potato will never read what the good Bishop said. Something to be said for "heads in the sand."

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  5. While it's true that no one chooses to possess a homosexual orientation, that doesn't mean it's innate or in-born. When I finally realized that it wasn't innate, THEN I felt truly liberated. With the help of prayer and the Sacraments, one can carry the cross of homosexuality. Like anyone else dealing with their particular issue, persons with SSA can (and do) live chaste lives and are happy and fulfilled. His Grace is mistaken and I'd encourage him to attend a Courage conference.

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  6. Adrienne while the average pew potato may not read what the good Bishop said, some one or two will and will share around the kitchen table, corporate water cooler, tv-talking head, and like the Catholic Press, other presses will pick it up and explain it to their liking. It all makes my head spin.

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  7. Why does everyone who wants to rewrite Church teaching and the bible always forget that Jesus told sinners many times - go and SIN NO MORE.

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  8. Doughboy: You are a shining light for all.

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  9. How does one say fail in Spanish

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  10. A Random Friar5:21 PM

    I have met and spoken with Bishop Vera (heck, I once drove him to a speaking engagement). He was saying no such thing at the time, but that was long ago. He is a man who, through the lens of Liberation Theology, has been a strong advocate for the poor and indigenous, with obvious concern. However, I see this as part of the problem, because Liberation Theology is more a political course of action with theological proof-texts and sound bytes. It is usually more "Liberation" than "Theology." If you see someone needing to be politically "liberated," then that will often take precedence over true pastoral care.

    @Badger: "Fallar" is the verb. "Falta" is the noun. (There are other words, but these come closest to the intended meaning).

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  11. Thanks DB for your comment. God bless you!

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  12. Thank you, Doughboy, for your courage. What the "but Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors" crowd forgets is that He admonished them to abandon their life of sin. He didn't eat with them and say "Carry on as you were".

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  13. These men are in communion with Rome.

    "Rome will lose the Faith and become the seat of the anti-Christ"

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  14. Pablo, so the obvious answer is to break communion with Rome? You think the SSPX are immune from heresy?

    Do you think this is the first time that heretics have been in communion with Rome, or that faithless fools have existed at te highest ranks?

    But breaking communion with the Holy Father is NEVER the answer, EVER.

    Perhaps if the schismatics had stayed within the Church, they'd have been able to help her stand against all this. But they ran off and formed their own "churches", which actually discredited them. Believe me, they have a fair share of culpability in all this. As for fake bishops, they are still fake bishops, no matter how "traditional" they are, and they have ZERO authority and are not pleasing to God when they pretend they do, any more than I would I'd I pretended I was a bishop.

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  15. “What God creates is a blessing for the world. Homosexuals are a blessing for the world. The world could not exist without homosexuals, it could not exist. God in his wisdom created diversity,” he told CNA.

    Immediate ex-communication is needed.

    Why did God blow to Hell the Sodomites and their supporters?

    God did not create darkness, or sin, or cold.

    Light can be measured, darkness cannot. Sin came from the free will of Lucifer. Cold is an absence of heat; cold does not exist.

    Homosexuality is a diabolical invention.

    That is why so many young boys and girls are raped as a start of this behavior.

    God created marriage as the way for man to have sexual relations. The marriage at Cana was what God wills; homo ‘weddings’ in Sodom and Gomorrah were blown to Hell.

    “…San Elredo believes homosexuality is “a permanent orientation,” he added.
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    “It begins at a very young age and is permanent, like being right-handed or left-handed. It is something innate in people,” he said…’

    Left or right handed is not caused by generational curses or demons.

    Homosexuality is.

    Everybody needs to stop sniffing paint, doing drugs, or whatever else they are doing that prevents them from seeing this problem (homosexuality and heretical Religious) for what it is; an attack by Satan upon God and His Christ.

    I am not surprised at all one of these Priest went to an American Seminary.

    His mommy is probably a Eucharistic Minister/Lector/ Parish Manager.

    I’m going to do a little research into how these Priests become heretics.

    I believe it starts with a proud, disobedient mommy.

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  16. Fake Bishops are those that are Freemasons.

    A Freemason Bishop has the authority to consecrate Priests.Modernists and many converts never challenge them.

    These people only castigate the Defenders of the Faith.

    A legitimate Bishop, such as Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre is called a schismatic when he goes against the actions of Freemasons and their Cardinals, Bishops and Priests.

    Many modernists and converts do not know Catholicism, or what it is; the wedding dress of the Bride of Christ. Its teachings come from the Magisterium, those teachings Christ imparted to His Apostles.

    When the last Apostle died, that effectively closed the Magisterium.

    Here is what the Saints have to say about Archbishop Lefebvre's position in Holy Mother Church:

    «... “Divine Providence often permits even good men to be chased out of the Christian communion through the unruly activities of carnal men. If they bear this undeserved affront with great patience for the peace of the Church, if they do not foment any new heresy or schism, they teach the world with what true attachment and with what sincere love God must be served. Their desire is to re-enter the Church when the trouble has passed. If they are forbidden to do so, if the storm lasts, or if their return were to arouse a similar or even more violent storm, they continue to wish well even to those through whose machinations and intrigues they have been chased out. Without ever forming separate conventicles, they defend to the death and they confirm with their testimony the faith they know to be preached by the Catholic Church. Then the Father crowns them in secret, He who sees them in secret. Such men are rare, yet examples are not wanting: and they are even more numerous than might be thought.» (Saint Augustine, Liber de vera religione, 11)

    The very first Catholic Pope abandoned Jesus even before He got hung on the cross.

    The very last Jewish Pontiff spit in His face.

    The moral of the story:

    Abandon the Pope?

    No need to; he will abandon Christ and His Church faster than you can blink.

    Pray and do penance; try to get catechized properly.

    (Many of us Traditionalists as we are called are often thought to be SSPXers. We are not. The hierarchy of the SSPX considers
    us 'parasites'. We are not. We are the Holy Mother's children, we are in the fold of her mantle. If we help SSPX Priests, it is because I am a Cristero. Its in my blood to defend Priests at all costs).

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  17. So you think the magisterium has no authority to teach NOW and to interpret scripture and tradition?

    Lefevbre was and he died a valid archbishop. The ones he consecrated are fake, and no Catholic should listen to anything they say.

    I believe that Benedict XVI is the holy father and that we should treat him so.

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  18. Being properly catechized is a treasure.

    The way to simple Faith begins with a proper Roman Catholic Catechism.

    A simple catechism eliminates artificial intelligence.

    I had a friend once that converted and began to teach theology until a Priest sat her down with some sixth grade catechism students.

    She quit her teaching job, got married and had kids of her own; she sends her children to the Traditional Priest that taught her to catechism.

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  19. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  20. I'm think I'm going to convert to Sodomite-Transgendered-Cohabitating-CondomWearingOnMyHead-EucharisticMinistering-PolyesterWearing-Freemasonry.

    (My only local option is the First Freewill Sodomite Transgendered Cohabitating Condom Wearing On My Head Eucharist Ministering Polyester Wearing Freemasonic Assembly of God of Akron.

    Inc.

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