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Cardinal seeks Vatican correction of bishops to change homosexuality doctrine

Cardinal George Pell

A once-leading cardinal has called on the Vatican to correct two fellow prelates who have expressed support for changing church doctrines about homosexuality.

Cardinal George Pell, a former top adviser to Pope Francis and former head of the Sydney Archdiocese of Australia, told a Catholic media outlet that the church must reject society’s “changing dictates”.sic) “Then he called on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to punish two European bishops. Crux reported:

Mr Pell commented on the recent comments on the sexuality of Luxembourg’s Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, President of the European Union’s Bishops’ Conference Commission, and [Limburg’s Bishop Georg Bätzing,] the head of the German bishops’ conference, which arose as part of the German church’s synodal way of debate and dialogue with lay people. . .

Pell, who was the Vatican’s top finance minister before leaving in 2017 to stand trial in Australia. [for alleged sexual abuse, for which he was acquitted], called on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to intervene and pronounce judgment on the “wholesale and explicit rejection” of the Church’s doctrine of homosexuality and monogamous marriage, in an unusual disguise of a fellow cardinal and bishop. . .

“The Catholic Church is not a loose federation where various national synods or assemblies and prominent leaders are able to reject essential elements of the apostolic tradition and remain undisturbed,” said a statement summarizing Pell’s points. “This must not be a normal and tolerated situation.”

Bondings 2.0 reported earlier on the two bishops’ comments.

Cardinal Hollerich said his openness to change the doctrine of homosexuality “because I believe that the sociological-scientific foundation of this doctrine is no longer correct.” He therefore called for a “fundamental revision of the doctrine”.

Bishop Bätzing said he favored “changing a part of catechism” because “sexuality is a gift from God, not a sin”, and the church must recognize that LGBTQ couples “live in trust and responsibility” in a good position were. Bätzing was a vocal defender of the German Synodal Way who presented increasingly LGBTQ-positive proposals.

In connection with Pell’s comments, the Nordic Bishops’ Conference, representing about a dozen Catholic bishops in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, wrote an open letter to the German bishop with their own concerns about the synodal path.

According to them National Catholic Reportersaid the letter that the process must not “touch on immutable parts of the church doctrine” and the church must not be “transformed into a project, into an object of our actions, through process-oriented thinking and structural change.”

There was no response from the Vatican, Hollerich or Bätzing to Pell’s criticism. Batzing responded to the Nordic bishops saying “open letters irritate me”, and that would be an answer “in an objective way.”

Prior to his trial for sexual abuse, Cardinal Pell was a strong voice against LGBTQ equality. He remained quiet about such things until this interview, making it clear that he still wished the Church of Francis’ immediate two predecessors. Fortunately, the church disappears. The cardinal must be aware that in the years between his exit from the Vatican and today, much has changed. From Pope Francis onwards, there is a new openness to open discussions about gender and sexuality, as well as more recognition that the doctrine is evolving. Instead of condemning, he should now try to listen and learn.

Robert Shine (he), New Ways Ministry, March 22, 2022

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