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| A modern Bishop John Fisher |
How encouraging to the flock to find a pastor who cares enough about the souls in his care to warn them of the danger to their souls from their "manifest grave sin."
Yes, we are all sinners, but there's a big difference between the one who says, "Have mercy on me, Lord, for I'm a sinner" and works hard to amend his life vs. the one who says, "Love me, love my sin." and stands proudly affirming immoral behavior. The first is a struggling sinner. The second reflects arrogant scandal to all who know him.
Bishop Paprocki has shown himself to be made of the same stuff as St. John Fisher who stood up to the attack on marriage by Henry VIII. The bishop isn't likely to suffer a bloody martyrdom for his stand, but he will certainly be viciously attacked by, not only the LGBT crowd, but by the dissenters within the ranks like Fr. James Martin and other ear-ticklers.
I'm offering my rosary today for Bishop Paprocki. May the Lord bless him and and use his courageous example to bolster the courage of the weak sisters in roman collars. They seem to be legion.
Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy, intercede for him.
Thanks for posting this. It gives one hope.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. It is starting to seem like "bloody martyrdom" is a real possibility.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteThe good bishop is only a couple of dioceses away from me.
I hope he rubs off. Our diocesan see is currently vacant.
The great divide within the Church is amazing. God, please forgive us. I clicked on your link to the article which, whenever not quoting the Bishop, uses "same gender" vs. "same sex..." It is published in New Ways Ministry and all comments that I read were against Bishop Paprocki. Yes, he needs are prayers, and anyone who can, should send him a card or email of encouragement.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you and your family!
Canonist Ed Peters absolutely demolished Robert Shine's criticism of Bishop Paprock who is a great defender of the faith against all the "nice guys" out there who would rather let their flocks go to hell than face their wrath for telling the truth.
ReplyDeleteHere's Peters' article with Fr. Z's comments. http://wdtprs.com/blog/2017/06/canonist-ed-peters-destroys-a-clueless-critic-of-bp-paprocki/
From California,
ReplyDeleteThey let it go too far when they gave Ted Kennedy a grand funeral after the man voted for abortion and same-sex marriage. Some people seem to think that they can do anything they want, and God does not care. That is not Biblical nor is it part of the Catholic Catechism. Let's face it sodomy is a dangerous, risky, unhealthy form of behavior, and no one should be encouraging it by advocating for so-called same-sex marriage. It is not healthy among heterosexuals either. The good bishop, Paprocki, is right on this.
Hmmm. And yet my twice-divorced father-in-law was just ushered out with a full church funeral (with his crying live-in girlfriend and their son in attendance) in this very diocese. Hypocritical.
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily -- at least on the bishop's part. Did he know? The bishop can only tell his priests what the Church teaching is and make it clear he expects it to be followed in his diocese. He isn't a policeman. And if your father-in-law repented on his death bed, well, he would be reconciled with the Church. The same could be true of a homosexual as well.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, Oscar Wilde converted on his deathbed. No one is beyond God's grace. Bishop Paprocki's warning is an act of charity. Hell is forever.
The bishops rules raise a concrete problem.
ReplyDelete[1]Gay marriage catholic dies unrepentant =no catholic funeral
[2]Gay marriage catholic dies repentant=catholic funeral.
[3]Gay marriage catholic found dead with no external forum evidence to support repentance =situation at point of death unknown.= ?
Can the [3] person get a catholic funeral?
Would it be fair to deny the catholic relatives of that person the solace and consolation of a catholic burial for their relative?
With the shortage of priests it is not going to be easy to determine whether gay married people repented of their sinful lifestyle at death.
In addition the same rule could also be applied to remarried catholics living in adulterous relationships.
If unrepentant married homosexuals are to be denied catholic funerals it seems to neon that basis of reasoning that suicides and remarried catholic divorced person could also be denied same .
What about catholic women who have had abortions which unlike sodomy is an excommunicable offence?
I can certainly sympathise with the bishops point of view but in targeting sins of homosexuality alone for this funeral ban I have to ask these awkward questions.
We are living in challenging times, that's for sure. I think Ted Kennedy's funeral was a terrible scandal. They practically canonized him. I doubt if it would have happened in Bishop Paprocki's diocese. Here's what Ed Peters (canon lawyer) said about Paprocki's decision after also stating his qualifications which are impressive.
ReplyDelete"...the law is not directed at those who, from time to time, commit sin, even a public sin; it is concerned about those who make an objectively sinful state their way of life. Fumble that distinction...and one’s chances of correctly reading Canon 1184 drop to, well, zero."
Bishop Paprocki has not singled out LGBT public sinners alone. He also addresses the correct moral action of denying Communion to the divorced and remarried. http://angelqueen.org/2016/07/18/bishop-paprocki-abp-chaput-is-right-to-deny-communion-to-remarried-catholics/
The gender-confused would like to make this personal, but Bishop Paprocki is correctly pointing out the problem of grievous PUBLIC sin. One other consideration. A man and woman living in an adulterous or fornicating relationship may never be known. Consider the couple who register in a parish as a married couple. Who would know unless they share their disordered relationship. But a same-sex couple holding hands, kissing at the sign of peace, out and proud in their relationship. They are an advertisement for deviance and an obvious public scandal.
Bishop Paprocki did the right thing, both as a charitable unpleasant medicine for the sinning couple and as a vaccine to the flock. Sin has consequences. Public lifestyle sins need public consequences. Thank you to Bishop Paprocki!