Many Catholics worldwide were shocked to learn, via comments he made in a fawning documentary of his life, that Pope Francis supports civil unions for same sex couples. Catholic News Agency reports:

In a documentary that premiered Wednesday in Rome, Pope Francis called for the passage of civil union laws for same-sex couples, departing from the position of the Vatican’s doctrinal office and the pope’s predecessors on the issue.

The remarks came amid a portion of the documentary that reflected on pastoral care for those who identify as LGBT.

“Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it,” Pope Francis said in the film, of his approach to pastoral care.

The Deep Church Reaching Out to the Deep State?

Francis’ comments stand in stark contrast to previous, official Church teaching on this issue. Whistleblowing Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano responded to Francis’ statement.

One does not have to be a theologian or a moral expert to know that such statements are totally heterodox and constitute a very serious cause of scandal for the faithful.

But pay careful attention: these words simply constitute the umpteenth provocation by which the “ultra-progressive” part of the Hierarchy wants to artfully provoke a schism, as it has already tried to do with the Post-Synodal Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, the modification of doctrine on the death penalty, the Pan-Amazon Synod and the filthy Pachamama, and the Abu Dhabi Declaration which has now been reaffirmed and aggravated by the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti.

…

This deception draws on the support of the globalist élite, the mainstream media and the LGBT lobby, to which many clergy, bishops, and cardinals are no strangers. Furthermore, let us not forget that in many nations there are laws in force which criminally punish anyone who considers sodomy reprehensible and sinful or who does not approve of the legitimization of homosexual “matrimony” – even if they do so on the basis of their Creed. A pronouncement by the bishops against Bergoglio on a question like homosexuality could potentially lead civil authority to prosecute them criminally, with the approval of the Vatican.

Bergoglio would thus have on his side not only the “deep church” represented by rebels like Father James Martin, S.J., and those who promote the German “Synodal Path,” but also the “deep state.” It is not surprising that in the documentary there is also an endorsement of the Democratic candidate in the upcoming American presidential election, along with a disconcerting condemnation of the policy of the Trump Administration, which is accused of separating families that want to enter the United States illegally, while the reality is that the President is confronting human trafficking and the trafficking of minors.

Dumping St. John Paul II and the Moral Law?

What’s really at stake here? Does this change really matter, now that full-on same sex “marriage” is legal in much of the West? Is the Church just accepting a legal fait accompli? Or is Pope Francis gravely undermining the solemn teachings of his predecessors? Is he flouting the Bible and 2000 years of Christian preaching?

Perhaps Francis is dog-whistling to pastors around the world that they can neglect the “Theology of the Body” taught by St. John Paul II. That comprehensive teaching centered on moral absolutes. John Paul made it crystal clear that some acts are simply evil by their nature. No considerations of “relationship,” “faithfulness” or “inclusion” could justify actions which God Himself has condemned.

Asking a Victim of LGBT Priests

To learn more, The Stream decided to interview Joseph Sciambra. A courageous Catholic author, he escaped the homosexual lifestyle decades ago. His accounts of what that lifestyle entails are raw, honest, and painful (WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT). Sciambra believes that Catholics who suffer from same-sex attraction are being betrayed by the very clergy — and pope — which claim to minister to them.

 

John Zmirak: You’ve written that pro-gay priests were directly responsible for helping to lead you into that lifestyle. Can you elaborate a little on that, and the spiritual impact it had on you?

Joseph Sciambra: From a rather young age, in retrospect, I can see that I was being groomed by a certain priest. As is the case with many predators, they recognize and focus on the most vulnerable. I was a lost, lonely, and bullied boy. I had few male friends and was a chronically awkward and shy kid. When a priest took an interest in me, I was rather elated. At the age of 16, I confided in him about my sexual confusion. I didn’t know if I was gay or straight. He assured me and comforted me. According to him, “God made me this way.” I was gay. And there was nothing to be ashamed of. He said, one day, I could settle down with one man, just like a man settles down with a woman. I believed him.

Then he molested me.

At the time, I didn’t regard the sexual encounter I had with this priest as a form of abuse. I considered it my first experience. It wasn’t how I wanted it to be. I’d always envisioned being with someone my age or someone a little older. In fact, it happened so fast, in my mind, I disregarded it and tried to move on and forget. But it also proved a pivotal moment. I no longer questioned myself. “I am gay.” I made my mind up, when I turned 18 and I graduated from high school, I was moving to San Francisco to live as a gay man with other gay men. That is where I belonged.

Priests Who Promote the LGBT Lifestyle

In the lifestyle, what was your experience of Catholic priests’ advice and spiritual direction on sexual morality? What were they preaching?

In San Francisco, I abandoned what little faith I had in the Catholic Church. It didn’t offer me anything. For the “born gay” theory, even the doctrine of “God made you gay” were already embedded into gay culture. I thought, “The Church got it from us.” I didn’t need them. Here, if I wanted to listen, the adherents of a queer theology were younger and much better looking.

When I was gay, I rarely encountered Catholic priests. Unless I went to a funeral for someone who died of AIDS, held at the local Catholic parish. Or else attended a back-yard same-sex wedding officiated by a rogue gay priest. I thought most of them to be rather kind, but hopelessly conflicted and muddled. “Why don’t they leave the Church?” I thought.

From friends who showed up for mass or social gatherings at gay-affirmative Catholic parishes around San Francisco, I heard that the Church would someday change and accept homosexuality. I paid little attention.

Years later, I decided to give Catholicism another chance. I found that most of these priests who promised a gay Church were still there. But those whom they’d made these promises to, the gay guys who listened? They were pretty much all dead from AIDS.

A priest told me that I was still gay. God loved me. God wanted me to find a permanent partner, and had someone in mind.

Pro-LGBT Clergy Ostracize the Chaste

As Pope Francis seems to be suggesting. In light of your faith journey, how do you respond to Pope Francis’ embrace of civil unions?

The Pope seems to lament that gay people do not have a family. In a sense, that is true. To leave the gay community, to embrace a life of chastity, to turn against everything you once believed — that decision sometimes causes an immense amount of loneliness. The gay community doesn’t want you. You feel unwelcomed in the Church. And not because anyone finds you loathsome due to their homophobia.

No, but because LGBT-affirmative priests and ministries control nearly every parish that is situated near a center of LGBT population. I have been literally told to leave a Catholic Church. According to them, I hate myself and I hate my own kind. I am a traitor.

At one point in my life, I decided to create a same-sex family. I met another same-sex attracted man, both of us wanted to be chaste. So we tried to make a relationship work. It didn’t. We both needed something from the other, and according to the Church, we couldn’t give it. We both needed affection and affirmation. In men, once those needs press their way into the realm of the physical, it’s difficult to pull back.

Consequently, now I do have a family — my friends. Most of them straight, but many of them are gay or formerly identify as gay. As in the monastic rule, I don’t cultivate particular friendships — except with heterosexual married men. And in those friendships I have found true healing. In their example as husbands and fathers, I have witnessed the true beauty of masculinity. I don’t need a civil union with another man. I don’t need another man — because I am a man.

Your Are on Your Own

What should Church leaders be saying instead?

For the most part, Church leaders, including almost every Western bishop, has handed the “ministry” to homosexual persons over to gay priests, gay-affirmative priests, and out and proud LGBT activists. They don’t care and they don’t want to be bothered. I often tell people who are seeking help within the Church on this issue: “You are on your own.” My advice? Stay away from parishes near the gay-ghettos that fly the rainbow flag, offer “pride” masses, and feature James Martin’s book in their book-club. Unfortunately, that leaves very few options.

In my experience, many of those with same-sex attraction who return to the Catholic Church, usually leave. They go back to the gay community, or join a gay-affirmative parish. I think they instinctively desire the truth, but will settle for a sense of solidarity. Right now, the Church is silent about the truth. It offers tea-time social hours, priests in rainbow stoles, and the promise of a same-sex wedding in the Church. The Church offers lies. The truth is simple and easy to declare, but often requires suffering. The bishops are weak and afraid. They won’t do it. Priests who dare to raise their voice above the eucharistic hymn of “Over the Rainbow” are quickly crushed.

 

Read Joseph Sciambra’s powerful spiritual testimony, Disordered, and follow him on Twitter.

John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream, and author or co-author of ten books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. He is co-author with Jason Jones of “God, Guns, & the Government.”