Priests Bless Guini Pigs and Motorcycles. What Not Marriages of Gay People




Some decades ago I was invited as the Mayor of Fargo, ND, by the Catholic War Veterans to the opening ceremony of their new bar. The Bishop and several priests were there. The Bishop walked around the bar sprinkling holy water. Coming from a childhood of temperance I was quite astounded this "sin" of alcohol would receive the Bishop's blessing. Over the years before the Catholic War Vets closed the place I enjoyed a few beers. It later became a gay bar.

All of which brings me to the question of whether there is anything Catholic clergy will not bless. They bless pets and vehicles. They are not allowed to bless gay marriages. A German elected official, a Catholic, laments his church's isolating gay people as bigger sinners than any other group and refusing to grant gay marriages. He is gay and many clergy in the German branch of the Catholic Church bless such marriages. The church hierarchy is completely bonkers about homosexuality. 

There is a business reason the Catholic Church cannot bless gay marriages. It has painted itself into a corner. With homosexuality in the news constantly, it raises eye brows when a group of single men or single women live together. In a past time people would have not noticed.

So, if the Catholic Church were to endorse homosexuality some pundits would say it was because there is so much homosexuality among the clergy. There are good reasons to admit homosexual people and homosexuality is not "sinful" but does the institution really have the option of welcoming gay people as equals? The safest route is to treat them as second class citizens, as lessors. 

In today's New York Times is an article that has tremendous potential for harm to the Catholic Church. The article quotes a tech company who collects personal data from smart phones. The company claims it has data showing a large number of priests have a phone app for a gay dating service. It mentions phones in the Vatican and in the Arch Dioceses of Newark, NJ. This is a story with juices and I expect some follow up. 

The old pattern of churches, Catholic and Protestant, has been to soak up all of every families time and money. The clergy was present in people's lives, birth, death, social life, education and everything in between. In the future it may want to step out of this total domination of family life. People drive longer distances to larger churches. Maybe its time for the church to just be there for Sunday and a few parts of life--an enterprise run by professionals who perform on Sundays and keep private their private lives. People would have no information about clergy, gay or straight.

Comments

  1. Matt NoahAugust 21, 2021 at 6:38 AM

    For the sake of this discussion let's define terms properly. A sacramental marriage (SM) is one within the Catholic Church. All other marriages (M) are unions without the blessing of the Catholic Church. I may have oversimplified this discussion but there us a salient point to be made which Jon misses entirely, either intentionally or unintentionally.

    Homosexual unions are not blessed because the Church does not bless sin. There is no such thing as a homosexual union which is a SM.

    Likewise, the vast majority of heterosexual unions are not blessed because they are not SMs.

    A couple cannot walk into a Catholic Church and demand marriage. The Church only performs SM and not all couples qualify.

    Blessings on animals and structures are licit. Blessings of people are licit.

    A home is blessed for various reasons, e.g. that it be a place where God is welcome, that it protect the inhabitants, etc. Animals are blessed such that they enjoy their lives, that they bring joy to all around them, that they have string, healthy lives.

    Even people in sin can be blessed.

    If you need more clarification I suggest you review a good Catholic website ir book. You can consult a good priest.

    In the sphere of all unions not blessed by the Catholic Church, the vast majority are heterosexual.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jon LindgrenAugust 21, 2021 at 8:35 AM

    Matt-- "If you need more clarification ....review a good Catholic website or book."

    When I'm driving sometimes I entertain myself by listening to Catholic radio. It has hosts that sound just like you, "The ruling on that is...." I know it is impossible for you to absorb the fact that the Bible was written by human beings. Humans alter it a little with each new addition. The official version used by the Catholic hierarchy was chosen by humans and contemporary interpretations by clergy side just a bit all the time. All rules made by humans can and are altered by humans. That is why what is happening in Germany is what will happen eventually world wide. Catholic clergy there are finding ways to approve of gay marriages and the Vatican is mostly silent. It's all about money. When people opinion world wide turns against the teaching you espouse above the teaching will evaporate and be replaced with something else. If you think Catholic clergy will stay with the old time religion when it threatens their existence you are in for a surprise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jon LindgrenAugust 21, 2021 at 8:57 AM

      Matt, PS --That the trend of folks in Catholic pews is away from traditional Catholic teaching was written about today by one of the most ardent defenders of Pope Benedict and the conservative branch. For folks like him and you, the ride ahead is rocky:

      https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/08/a-church-in-mission-or-a-church-in-meetings

      Delete
    2. tsmAugust 21, 2021 at 9:02 AM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. Matt NoahAugust 21, 2021 at 10:06 AM

      Do you have anything new?

      You can't seem to stay contained in the same bogus argument you started out with.

      Delete
    4. Jon LindgrenAugust 21, 2021 at 12:55 PM

      tsm -- "and not in any sense trying to understand the subject."

      You have discovered your own problem with me. I understand Catholic teaching and its origins too well.

      Delete
  3. tsmAugust 21, 2021 at 3:56 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jon LindgrenAugust 21, 2021 at 4:15 PM

    tsm "if you really knew anything at all about Catholic teaching you wouldn't have tried to conflate blessing of objects and animals with blessing of same sex marriage."

    In fact I do know something about "Catholic teaching." I know it teaches homosexuality is a sin and that is why gay marriages are a sin. I know this comes, not from the Bible, but from an arbitrary decision made by male clergy in the institution. Yes, there are those who make the claim the Bible says homosexuality is a sin but equally qualified people say this is incorrect. A similar decision was made about marriage. It was decided a "sacred marriage" is between a man and a woman. This is another arbitrary decision. There are Christian pastors blessing gay marriages every week. So, when you discuss Catholic teaching you should always make a disclaimer some ideas in the church came from arbitrary decisions made long ago by men in authority at that time. Further, you should discuss what was going on at the time and events back then influenced the beliefs of the men in power back then.

    When you get yourself into a tizzy fit here you display your lack of background in history and the social sciences.

    ReplyDelete
  5. tsmAugust 21, 2021 at 5:48 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jon LindgrenAugust 21, 2021 at 7:04 PM

      tsm "keep it up fella....that there are males and females is another arbitrary decision."

      Please read my post again. You will see I referred to Catholic notion that homosexuality is a SIN. The SIN part is what is arbitrary. Some male Catholic clergy back in the day made that up. Jerry Falwell admitted he made money by basing gay people and the Catholic church probably did so also.

      Delete
    2. Matt NoahAugust 21, 2021 at 7:29 PM

      Sin is not arbitrary. God defined good and evil. Men are free only when the live by God's standards of good and evil. Everything else is arbitrary.

      Delete
    3. Jon LindgrenAugust 21, 2021 at 7:58 PM

      Matt-- "Sin is not arbitrary. God defined good and evil."

      Religion tells you that. I wish you would write a disclaimer before making such a statement, "My version of religion tells me sin is not arbitrary...." Actual evidence says it is not true. There is not agreement among people in this society or between our society and others as to the list of behaviors that are sin. In some religions there simply is no sin. There is no way to avoid the truth, sin is arbitrary. Naming homosexual sex as sin is arbitrary.

      I could help you win this argument. Try going outside religion and find a way to label homosexual sex as a sin.

      Delete

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