Soft porn. Popping up in a publication regularly featuring in our Catholic parish newsletter, 'Cathnews'.
Yes, you read that correctly. And yes, I know, it's hard to believe.
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| RAYMOND ALIKPALA |
"I'm gay and why I still go to Church" was the headline I clicked on in Cathnews' online newsletter for July 9.
"At 35 years old (so the story ran) and after becoming a lawyer, I entered the Jesuit Novitiate to become a priest.
Well, we already knew how popular LGTBQ is with modern Jesuits, e.g. the Vatican-approved Fr James Martin."I was there for over a year before I was kicked out for having sex with another man."
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| Father 'Jimmy' Martin chumming up with Pope Francis |
Quite right. Stating the obvious. But God did not want him to be 'gay', as in practising homosexual.
"That was when I finally came around to accepting the truth about myself. I realised that God wanted me to be who he (sic) created me to be."
"I think the Catholic Church is misguided in its teachings on sexuality ... I often find myself bursting into tears during Mass because I would get overwhelmed by a feeling of God’s personal love for me. It’s a connection I still look for, especially during a pandemic that has me locked up in a room."(Observe, Ms Ardern, just how healthy and 'safe' it is to lock healthy people - or sick people - up.)
No, God wouldn't create evil, but what He created can become evil."My nun friend helped me realise that God has been misrepresented as a taskmaster, someone with a list of Ten Commandments that one has to follow — you have to go to church, you have to dress this way, you have to behave like this, you have to avoid offending people. But the bottom line is that God is love. And a loving God would not create something evil."
Readers of this blog know I've vented before about Cathnews, and so far, this issue is pretty much par for the course for the Marists these days. But then you get to 'continue reading'. And you click. And where do you get to?
To a website called 'Vice' advertising 'Stream Vice Shows now on Neon'. It was as though I'd fallen through a manhole into a sewer, a cesspool.
'Vice' offers you a choice:
- Slutever now streaming on Neon;
- F***, That's Delicious;
- Dark Side of the Ring;
- Weediquette;
- Nuts and Bolts;
- Needles and Pins;
- Gaycation ('gays' go on holiday).
Articles (all with edifying illustrations) include:
- The 'Itch', and Other ways History Explained Lesbianism;
- How Queer Households Are Celebrating Pride During Lockdown, in Photos;
- Church Services During Coronavirus Are Just a Modern Form of Snake-Handling;
- LGBTQ People Share the Pop Culture Moment that Awakened Their Sexuality;
- Gay Life Drawing Melbourne.
As if that weren't enough, Cathnews suggests some 'Related Posts':
- What my strict Catholic dad said I came out as a lesbian (sic);
- "Louise Milligan's George Pell story her most difficult" (determined, it seems, to re-try the saintly Cardinal, Cathnews recycles Milligan's risible inventions);
- Fr Hartman: Divorcee, father of two and priest";
- Sob stories of lesbians which are "emblematic of how much promise many young adults hold for the church and how senselessly the institution harms them and squanders their gifts in its entrenched need to protect homophobic doctrines that have little basis in lived reality". This post is labelled "The church's (sic) treatment of LGBTQ people is killing its future".
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, entry 2357 clearly presents Church teaching on homosexuality and transgenderism, stating: Homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.
In charity we must assume no one at Cathnews realised that what I'd call soft porn lurked beneath the surface of this sad story. Someone should have. And publishing in a supposedly Catholic journal such would-be affirming stories of disordered sex serves to illustrate the dangers of dancing with the devil, as Cathnews has done now for some time. And why does Cathnews emphasise sex, especially homosexuality and clerical sex abuse, and a failed marriage as a springboard to the priesthood? Does presenting a barrage of misinformation contrary to Church teaching on sexuality and celibacy not suggest that Cathnews is hoping for change in that teaching?
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| Archbishop Charles Chaput |
What Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has said in regard to Jesuit Fr James Martin's promotion of homosexuality could be said of Cathnews' apparent ideology:
"What is implied or omitted often speaks as loudly as what is actually stated, and in the current climate, incomplete truths do, in fact, present a challenge to faithful Catholic belief. When people hear that ‘the Church welcomes gay people’ or needs to be more ‘inclusive and welcoming’ without also hearing the conditions of an authentically Christian life set for all persons by Jesus Christ and his Church — namely, living a life of chastity — they can easily misunderstand the nature of Christian conversion and discipleship.”
"For this reason, Catholic teaching always requires more than polite affirmation or pro forma agreement, particularly from those who comment publicly on matters of doctrine.
"Faithful Catholics who are same-sex attracted need support and encouragement in the virtue of chastity. They deserve to hear – as all people do – the truth about human sexuality spoken clearly and confidently. Anything less lacks both mercy and justice.
”It’s worth recalling here that the Catechism also describes lust, extra-marital relations, and contracepted sex (2351), masturbation (2352), and even non-sexual sins such as lying and calumny (1753), as intrinsically ‘disordered.’ " https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/09/19/chaput-fr-james-martins-message-causes-confusion-about-church-doctrine/In other words, the Catechism doesn't single out sexual immorality; it treats of other sins in a similar way.
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/09/19/chaput-fr-james-martins-message-causes-confusion-about-church-doctrine/
CathNews reckons its publication "should be seen as an expression of the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, paragraph one:
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of human beings. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every person. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with humanity and its history by the deepest of bonds.”
To my mind, Cathnews is more an expression of "The discord that exists in My House: discord that divides my shepherds and My people", as described in a message given to the mystic Luz de Maria de Bonilla on July 2. Luz de María was born in Costa Rica although at present she resides in Argentina. "Although the Catholic Church would hardly make any statement about private revelations while these continue to occur (and in many cases even several decades after its cessation), there is actually an Imprimatur from the Catholic Bishop Juan Abelardo Mata, of Nicaragua, who after reading all the content of the messages, from 2009 to September 2017 found nothing against the Faith or sound doctrine, recommending the reading of the revelations to all Christians.
"The persecution and smear campaign against Luz de María, which is appreciable with just conducting a search of her name on the web is unfortunate (in) that some of the websites where she is defamed have as goal to lead to Christian spirituality."
The message of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary reported by Luz de Maria on July 2 includes the following:
"My Son's Church is besieged by evil, which is bringing division everywhere, spreading the venom of the ancient serpent (cf. II Cor 11:3) within My Son's Church so that souls would be lost.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNone of the accusations in this blog bear scrutiny. I Respectfully suggest readers Disregard any bias and do fact checks. The article is the only one spreading disreputable links.
DeleteDream on, Monica. Our bishops have consistently declined to demand the removal of the word "Catholic" from heretical and/or dissenting organisations and organs.
DeleteThe closest they ever came was in 1982 when Cardinal Williams tried to get Catholics United For The Faith to take the word "Catholics" out of their title. Catholics United For The Faith politely told the Cardinal that the adjective "Catholic" and the noun "Catholics" should not be confused.
I would have thought the appropriate Catholic thing to do would have been to notify the Editor that the website had been attacked with a wormhole. Not used the attack to gain followers. Poor show Julia. You are spreading malicious scandal and by default giving coverage to these ghastly sites. Let alone that you are encouraging others to slander.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI have never found such awful things on Cathnews and question the facts of your article on many levels. Cathnews is not a Society of Mary publication but put out by Church Resources as an online news source that Catholic/Christian readers in NZ Pacific may find interesting. Opinion and news is not church teaching and does not purport to be. I suggest in charity that you fact check and practice prudence and charity before you share soft porn sites to your readers. Their inclusion in your blog should cast serious questions in the mind of your readers about just what you were searching for and why. Opinion and debate is crucial and solidly part of our Catholic tradition. What you have engaged in with this article does no service to the church or the Carmelite tradition. It is disinformation I share with you and your readers an article via Aleteia on ‘fake news’ and responsibility as Catholics which I respectfully recommend you read and reflect on.
ReplyDeletehttps://aleteia.org/2018/01/24/whats-the-pope-got-to-say-about-fake-news/
As Pope Benedict said in 2013:
‘[Digital Communication] spaces, when engaged in a wise and balanced way, help to foster forms of dialogue and debate which, if conducted respectfully and with concern for privacy, responsibility and truthfulness, can reinforce the bonds of unity between individuals and effectively promote the harmony of the human family.
... The social media thus need the commitment of all who are conscious of the value of dialogue, reasoned debate and logical argumentation; of people who strive to cultivate forms of discourse and expression which appeal to the noblest aspirations of those engaged in the communication process. Dialogue and debate can also flourish and grow when we converse with and take seriously people whose ideas are different from our own.’
St Maximilian Kolbe, patron saint of journalists - pray for Julia.
Thank you, Anne. I have apologised to the editor of Cathnews, more or less as follows:
ReplyDeleteA reader of my blog, Carmelite Canto Fermo, has suggested I should have notified Cathnews' editor before making a post on the subject of Cathnews being 'attacked with a wormhole'and making soft porn material available to readers.
There being no editor's name on the Cathnews masthead, I eventually found it online in a Cathnews article dated July 2019.
May I suggest that inclusion on the Cathnews web version of the editor's name would improve transparency.
I suggest also that Cathnews investigate the reason for and source of such offensive content with a view to ensuring your readers, especially young readers, are not exposed to such material in future.
I apologise for not notifying the editor, but much of Cathnews' content is either explicitly or implicitly opposed to Catholic teaching and I make no apology for expressing my views in regard to that content on Carmelite Canto Fermo
Teresa Coles says:
ReplyDeleteSure is a sewer Julia, just sickening...Who is the editor?
I say:
I had published his name but at the request of Father John Murphy SM I have deleted it.
Philippa O'Neill says:
Gross... how depraved. End times.
Monica Devine says:
Maybe we need to make a complaint to the Bishops' conference so that they can have the mandate to remove the 'Cath' from Cathnews?
Leo says:
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right about CathNews. I had correspondence with (the editor)some years ago, and dismissed CathNews completely from anything to do with Catholic truth.
“Anne” is living in some dream world.
Leo says:
ReplyDeleteMonica, complaining to the bishops is futile for two reasons.(1) They approve of CathNews as it is. (2) In the last four decades, they have not taken any steps to have ‘Catholic’ removed from any heretical and/or dissident organisation or organ, despite receiving requests to do so. The only attempt ever made came from Cardinal Williams in 1982 when he sought to have the word ‘Catholics’ removed from the title of the organisation, ‘Catholics United For The Faith’. C.U.F. pointed out to the Cardinal that it is an organisation of Catholics, not a Catholic organisation. The Cardinal’s huffing and puffing ceased. Needless to say, C.U.F. is an organisation of orthodox, faithful Catholics, hence the Cardinal’s hostility.”