A nominally Catholic LGBT advocacy group is blasting Pope Francis for his ongoing criticisms of gender ideology, which he calls a “global war against the family.”
During his weekend trip to the Caucasus, the Pope twice decried the evils of indoctrinating children with the idea that gender is a fluid concept, disconnected from biological sexual differences.
While drawing a distinction between individuals who struggle with their sexual identity and those who push a radical agenda, Francis forcefully denounced the latter, saying that gender theory is “against the nature of things.”
The director of New Ways Ministry, Francis DeBernardo, published a statement attacking the Pope for his comments, accusing him of being out of touch with reality for his “reliance upon so-called ‘gender theory’ and ‘ideological colonization.’”
While praising the Francis’s pastoral sensitivity, DeBernardo said that the Pope’s remarks “reveal that he thinks children are being encouraged to choose their genders in a frivolous way. That simply is not the case.”
“Throwing about terms such as ‘gender theory’ and ‘ideological colonization’ is a red herring,” he said. “It deflects from examining the deeper causes of marital strife and deterioration.”
New Ways Ministry was founded in 1977 Sr. Jeannine Gramick and Father Robert Nugent, who were later reprimanded by the Vatican for promoting “ambiguous positions on homosexuality,” while also noting that their pastoral activities were “incompatible with the fullness of Christian morality.”
In the end, the Vatican “permanently prohibited” the pair from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons, citing their unwillingness to teach in accordance with Catholic doctrine and the confusion they were spreading among the faithful.
Later, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Francis George, further clarified that “New Ways Ministry has no approval or recognition from the Catholic Church and they cannot speak on behalf of the Catholic faithful in the United States.”
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