Friday, August 10, 2018

More Roman Catholic Catechism Changes?

A week or so ago the Vatican announced a change in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which changed the teaching regarding the capital punishment.  It was now deemed inadmissible -- whatever that means -- or no longer moral (though Scripture clearly allows this).  Now another change, perhaps more devious and clandestine than the announced change on the death penalty.  This represents the removal of one sentence and replacing it with something that is completely different, one that fails to acknowledge homosexuality to be objectively disordered and instead sympathetically suggests that homosexual tendency is not at all a choice but a condition natural to their birth.  Perhaps this is how Pope Francis plans to change the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, a few words at a time.  If that is the case, who knows where this will lead and who is checking the catechism on a daily basis to see what changes have crept in.

This is another version of change that comes not openly or by consideration but through the back door -- an attempt to re-define the faith without telling anyone about it.  Lutherans may only be interested in this for curiosity' sake but we would do well to remember the principle.  The most dangerous change comes through the back door and not through open consideration of that change and its debate on the basis of Scripture and the fathers.  

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P85.HTM
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_P85.HTM
2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. They do not choose their homosexual condition; for most of them it is a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

It appears that They do not choose their homosexual condition was in the text until something about 2004 or so when the text was changed to This inclination, which is objectively disordered.  While it may, indeed, be true of at least some that they do not choose their homosexual condition, this is a point unrelated to the issue of objectively disordered.  Children are born with many conditions not of their choice but the result of a sinful world in which brokenness exists not only in material condition but in spiritual and in which desire is tainted by sin as much as act and choice.  Yet, the question remains why changes like this would not be transparent and why there would not be explanation for the change.  Coupled with Pope Francis' words that God made them gay, this represents a distinct softening of the previous stance and a shift away from the very idea that homosexuality is disordered.  If that is the case, then my premise still stands.  The most dangerous changes in the faith are the ones that enter through the back door without debate and not necessarily the ones on which discussion or even a vote is taken.  Too often, the discussion follows the acceptance of change and the vote merely affirms the change already embedded in the hearts and minds of the people.

5 comments:

Carl Vehse said...

Closer to home, in 2013 Missouri Synod leadership altered the Synod's position on the sin of homosexuality by signing the "Memorandum of Fabulous Understanding" with BSA until the Synod leadership repented of their sin and dissolved that Memorandum.

Anonymous said...

No one has ever accused Pope Francis of being a theologian.
He is a social activist from South America. He is trying to
make Roman Catholicism more acceptable to the general population.
He enjoys his time on center stage and encourages the press to
quote him as he shoots from the hip without any forethought.

Matt said...

However, the paragraph preceding this one retains the phrase "objectively disordered." Thus the phrase is not removed from the catechism or catholic doctrine but only from this paragraph. From a composition stand, speaking of homosexuality as "objectively disordered" fits better with the previous paragraph. It is rather out of place in the paragraph that is being reverted to the older language. So I am not sure the argumentation here is valid.

John Joseph Flanagan said...

How many churches will go the same way as the RCC? How many are already there? Are there any statistics? I wonder. Will there remain in America any Biblical churches after these social experiments have tainted the waters? I think it won't be long before all the gay Catholic priests will come out of the closet under Papal permission to practice their lifesttyle openly, and preach acceptance and full affirmation. Confession will no longer entail repenting of sexual sins. Gay marriage will likely become acceptable. Where does this lead? It leads to God's judgment.

Anonymous said...

Did someone just write that Francis is a social activist from South America? A "softer" approach toward the sin of homosexuality is exactly the opposite of what is urgently needed in the Church. Why does Rome tolerate sexual deviancy?

An overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of "flyover country" disapprove, but the coastal elites in the USA seem happy enough with Francis. Rome will never gain wider acceptance with the general population at this rate:


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-14/chile-catholic-episcopal-conference-raided-pedophile-priest-probe