Vatican: Irish Marriage Referendum a "Defeat for Humanity"

[gsa]

The Vatican secretary of state denounced the results of the Irish referendum that gave gay couples equal constitutional standing enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts:


A senior Vatican official has attacked the legalisation of gay marriage in Ireland. The referendum that overwhelmingly backed marriage equality last weekend was a “defeat for humanity”, he claimed.

“I was deeply saddened by the result,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said at a conference in Rome on Tuesday night. “The church must take account of this reality, but in the sense that it must strengthen its commitment to evangelisation. I think that you cannot just talk of a defeat for Christian principles, but of a defeat for humanity.”

The remarks by the Vatican’s top diplomat, who is seen as second only to the pope in the church’s hierarchy, represent the most damning assessment of the Irish vote by a senior church official to date.

Although many liberal and progressive Catholics have welcomed less incendiary rhetoric from Pope Francis, the most recent comments suggest that the Vatican is not prepared to change its stance on civil equality for gay men and lesbians, much less doctrine concerning same-sex relationships, which it considers unnatural and "intrinsically disordered." While the significant majority of the overwhelmingly Catholic Republic of Ireland appears to disagree, the sharp and hostile language from the papal state's secretary of state is notable because it is not remotely conciliatory.

 

[Aquitaine]

Shielding child molestors and getting away with it is a defeat for humanity.

 

[jeager106]

Shielding child molestors and getting away with it is a defeat for humanity.

Yes^^^^^^. One wonders what happens to babies when a priest gets a woman pregnant?

 

[gsa]

Shielding child molestors and getting away with it is a defeat for humanity.

This is of course one of the major reasons that the RCC has lost its clout in Ireland.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

The RCC has zero room to be talking of sexual immorality and a "defeat for humanity."

 

[LuisDantas]

Very disappointing. But at least he is speaking his mind, wrong-headed as it is.

 

[dgirl1986]

I knew there would be a backlash.

 

[Bunyip]

Great to see the Vatican make itself less relevant to modern society.

 

[columbus]

Very disappointing. But at least he is speaking his mind, wrong-headed as it is.

I'm not sure that he is. He is saying what conservative members want to hear. The Vatican is nothing if not political. Francis has upset a good many with his pantywaist liberalism.
And the Vatican is seeing a much larger "defeat for humanity" in the next few weeks. SCOTUS is likely to deal another blow to medieval morality. By saying this now, there will be less need for hypocritical hyperbole then.
Tom

 

[Revoltingest]

Woe unto a group who believe that liberty is a "defeat for humanity".
Its doctrine's days are numbered.

 

[gsa]

I'm not sure that he is. He is saying what conservative members want to hear. The Vatican is nothing if not political. Francis has upset a good many with his pantywaist liberalism.
And the Vatican is seeing a much larger "defeat for humanity" in the next few weeks. SCOTUS is likely to deal another blow to medieval morality. By saying this now, there will be less need for hypocritical hyperbole then.
Tom

The loss of the US will be substantial, given that it is the fourth largest country in terms of absolute number of Catholics. Of course, the states with Catholic pluralities or large minorities were also among the earliest to recognize same-sex marriage. There is de facto recognition throughout all of Mexico, licenses are issued in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, which taken together is over 60% of South America. Once the US goes that will be the vast majority of North America and virtually all of Western Europe. The holdouts will be Central and Eastern Europe (but not for long), Asia and Africa. So this is tracking the decline of RCC influence specifically, and Christian influence generally.

 

[gsa]

Woe unto a group who believe that liberty is a "defeat for humanity".
Its doctrine's days are numbered.

Maybe now. In the past, the Abrahamic religions have proven fairly resilient, and they've rarely been friends of liberty.

 

[Nietzsche]

The RCC really should spend more time on being Christ-like. You know, encouraging love amongst all mankind, accepting people for who they are, and spreading the love of Christ. And I don't mean all over a choir boy's back.

 

[Awoon]

The Vatican secretary of state denounced the results of the Irish referendum that gave gay couples equal constitutional standing enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts:


A senior Vatican official has attacked the legalisation of gay marriage in Ireland. The referendum that overwhelmingly backed marriage equality last weekend was a “defeat for humanity”, he claimed.

“I was deeply saddened by the result,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said at a conference in Rome on Tuesday night. “The church must take account of this reality, but in the sense that it must strengthen its commitment to evangelisation. I think that you cannot just talk of a defeat for Christian principles, but of a defeat for humanity.”

The remarks by the Vatican’s top diplomat, who is seen as second only to the pope in the church’s hierarchy, represent the most damning assessment of the Irish vote by a senior church official to date.

Although many liberal and progressive Catholics have welcomed less incendiary rhetoric from Pope Francis, the most recent comments suggest that the Vatican is not prepared to change its stance on civil equality for gay men and lesbians, much less doctrine concerning same-sex relationships, which it considers unnatural and "intrinsically disordered." While the significant majority of the overwhelmingly Catholic Republic of Ireland appears to disagree, the sharp and hostile language from the papal state's secretary of state is notable because it is not remotely conciliatory.

Would a Real Christian say that?

 

[gsa]

Would a Real Christian say that?

Say what? I am not sure if you mean the comments by the cardinal or my own observation.

 

[columbus]

And I don't mean all over a choir boy's back.

Pulling out is for porn.
Tom

 

[WirePaladin]

Would a Real Christian say that?

Can and did. If you are surprised I'm surprised. This hateful myth has been around for 2K years. It isn't going to disappear any time soon. It is what is, hasn't changed in any material respect, and won't.

 

[Awoon]

Say what? I am not sure if you mean the comments by the cardinal or my own observation.

The Card.

 

[gsa]

The Card.

Oh, in that case yes, I can believe that a Christian would say that. I am not generally in the business of defining what constitutes a "real Christian" but any definition that is workable for my purposes incudes the Catholic Church and its upper leadership.

 

[Antics34]

I think what straight religious people like myself have a tough time with is not so much homosexuality but the identity that comes with it. If gay people were just straight people that liked the same gender then I think religious people would have an easier time with it. Please don't reply with anecdotal evidence that you know someone who is gay but acts normal; I'm sure they exist somewhere but in general there is an entire, "queer identity," that comes with it as evidenced by the gay mantra, "I was born homosexual but chose to be gay."

All in all I believe in gay marriage and in everyone having equal rights; I just don't want to hang out with them and I'm sure they don't want to hang out with me either. Do they get into Heaven? I'm not sure, maybe the ones who act normal do.