CNN’s Carol Costello is practically speechless. The BBC actually sent me a news alert. The New York Times described the moment as “breathtaking.” So what did Pope Francis say that sent shockwaves through the left-wing media? Oh, just something that has been Catholic/Christian doctrine for a couple thousand years:
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
In order to be floored by this — the basic Christian idea of “Judge not, lest ye be judged”– you pretty much have to epitomize every joke ever told about the secular, left-wing media and the elite bubble they inhabit.
The Pope’s comment on gays is not only part of the basic philosophy of the Church; it is also something Christians and conservatives frequently go out of their way to reaffirm when publicly debating issues like gay marriage.
Moreover, it is no secret that the Church employs gay priests, who have always been welcome as long as the practice of sexual abstinence isn’t violated. These are the same rules heterosexual priests live under.
To make matters worse, he New York Times falsely insinuates that Pope Francis is somehow distancing himself from his predecessor by writing, “Benedict XVI, who retired in February, wrote a Vatican document that said that men with homosexual tendencies should not become priests.”
Other than the fact that Benedict did not ban gay priests, here is what was in that same document that the New York Times left out:
A long-awaited Vatican document said the church cannot allow priestly ordination of men who are active homosexuals, who have “deep-seated” homosexual tendencies or who support the “gay culture.”
Such people have serious problems relating properly to men and women and present a risk of “negative consequences” that should not be underestimated, the document said.
The Vatican published the nine-page instruction from the Congregation for Catholic Education Nov. 29 after more than eight years of internal discussion and debate.
The document did not define what it meant by “deep-seated” homosexual tendencies, but contrasted them with the “transitory” problems of adolescence.
Such transitory tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination as a deacon, it said. It did not explain what was meant by “overcome” or how that could be determined.
Benedict also answered a question about his position on homosexuals in 2005:The interviewer, German journalist Peter Seewald, asked the pope whether the church’s teaching that homosexuals deserve respect isn’t contradicted by its position that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
The pope answered: “No. It is one thing to say that they are human beings with their problems and their joys, that as human beings they deserve respect, even though they have this inclination, and must not be discriminated against because of it.”
While it is nice to see the media write positively about a Catholic Pope, their bubbled ignorance is showing. And those who know better are cynically using Francis’ comments as a way to validate false claims that the Church is or was anti-gay.
Pope Francis might have used smaller words, but what he said is only news if you know nothing about the basic fundamentals of the Christian faith and the Catholic Church.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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