Fr. Flum's Column from the 30^th Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 25th, 2020

Dear Friends,
   A controversial headline this week said: “Pope calls for civil unions for same-sex couples in major departure from Vatican doctrine”. My immediate reaction was, “I doubt that he said that.” The ensuing public discussion revealed that what he said in Spanish was not “civil unions”. It appears that the producers of the documentary (and NBC) have intentionally mistranslated the Pope’s statement.
   What the media perhaps is unaware of is that their news headline in effect calls Pope Francis a heretic. If the Pope or anyone else were to teach something that departs from the constant teaching of the Church, it would be heretical. So, be assured that the doctrine of the Church, regarding the mortal sin of homosexual activity, cannot change.
   If anyone finds themself at odds with Church teaching, either you know better than God or you think that Church doctrine is no more secure than civil legislation. While public laws are subject to the whims of men, Church teaching is NOT.
   Why can it not change? The Lord has revealed to man what is true about God and man himself. As the Creator of man, it is God who is the authority without equal regarding who man is and what is moral for man to do.
   If the events of Sodom and Gomorrah are not convincing enough, nothing ever will be. The Lord rained down sulfuric fire to destroy the Sodomites as both a punishment for unnatural sexual activity and a lesson for all generations. Sexual sin is a temporal depravity of this world while the Truth revealed by God is eternal and unchangeable.
   You will soon find a page on our website as a resource for understanding the holy Catholic Church’s teaching about human sexuality especially as it pertains to the dignity of those who suffer from same-sex attraction and the depravity of homosexual activity. Our love for those who are same-sex attracted demands that we be knowledgeable enough about divine revelation that we can give them hope in Christ while the world tells them to go on to Hell by embracing grave sin.
   It is highly offensive to contradict the Lord. Those who are hoping for a change in Church doctrine are hoping that the Word of God will be silenced. Guess Who gets the last Word?
Let us love the Truth more and more!
Fr. Martin Flum
 

Fr. Rob Maro's Homily

Fr. Rob Maro is the pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Newtowne, MD. Click "Fr. Rob Maro's Homily" above to listen to his excellent homily, which followed the release of the new documentary "Francesco".

Bishop Athanasius Schneider is an auxiliary bishop of Kazahkstan. Click "Bishop Schneider's Comments" above to read the Bishop's truth ringing words following the release of "Francesco".

Pope not changing Church teaching on gay unions, Secretariat of State says
 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican Secretariat of State has sent an explanatory note to nuncios around the world insisting that when Pope Francis spoke about civil unions, he was not changing or challenging "the doctrine of the Church, which he has reaffirmed numerous times over the years.”

The note, which was not signed, explained that the pope's remarks about gay people in the recent film, "Francesco," come from his responses to two separate questions in a 2019 interview for Mexico's Televisa network.

The pope's comments were "edited and published as a single answer without the necessary contextualization," the note said.

As Catholic News Service reported Oct. 26, when Pope Francis said gay people have a right to be in a family and that gay couples needed some form of civil law to protect their rights, he was not advocating any form of "marriage" or marriage rights for gay couples.

Yet, in his documentary "Francesco," director Evgeny Afineevsky presented the statements as if Pope Francis had been talking about the right of gay couples to form a family, including with children.

Afineevsky, who a Vatican official said was never granted an on-camera interview with the pope, pulled the quotes about families and the quote about civil unions from the interview by Valentina Alazraki, correspondent Televisa, CNS had reported.

The clips used in Afineevsky's film put together quotes from three separate moments of the Televisa interview, so the pope appears to say: "They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.”

The note from the Secretariat of State also noted that Pope Francis repeatedly has insisted that gay unions cannot be equated to marriage, pointing to a 2014 interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

In the interview six years ago, Pope Francis was asked about moves across Europe to legalize gay marriage or adopt civil union laws.

"Marriage is between a man and a woman," he said. "Secular states want to validate civil unions to regulate different situations of cohabitation, driven by the need to regulate economic aspects between people, such as ensuring health care. These are cohabitation pacts of various kinds, of which I could not list the different forms.”

"It is necessary to see the different cases and evaluate them in their variety," he said, implying that some forms of civil unions would be acceptable.

From the unedited interview with Televisa, the pope's remarks to Corriere della Sera and similar distinctions he has made on other occasions, the Secretariat of State's note said, "It is clear that Pope Francis was referring to particular state regulations, certainly not the doctrine of the Church, which he has reaffirmed numerous times over the years.”