Catholic Family Conference Hears LGBTQ Appeal

Catholic Family Conference Hears LGBTQ Appeal

Catholic Family Conference Hears LGBTQ Appeal
By mathiaswasik from New York City, USA (LGBT Solidarity Rally) [CC BY-SA 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons
American Priest said the Vatican breaks up God’s family when it excludes LGBT Catholics.

James Martin, an American Jesuit priest, told delegates of World Meeting of Families that any exclusion of LGBTQ Catholics were in direct violation of Christ's teachings.[/tweetit] The United States citizen told the assembled gathering in Dublin that gays were treated so badly that they felt like lepers. His oratory, directed towards a 1,000-person strong audience, exhorted them to stand with their LGBTQ brethren and be courageous about their stand. He also listed a few concrete steps which must be taken by priests for welcoming gay parishioners. The American came under fire from Vatican clerics when he authored a 2017 book touching on the subject. In his book Building a Bridge, the man of the church put forward the argument that it would be better for the church to engage itself with LGBT communities.

Catholic Family Conference Hears LGBTQ Appeal[/tweetthis]

Martin is not alone in this radical path. Pope Francis harbors the same opinion. In 2013, the pontiff said the Vatican should ask for forgiveness from gays for the despicable manner in which they treated them. Francis pointed out that it is nobody's duty to judge a person who is homosexual and has a goodwill and who wishes to seek God. The pope is scheduled to set foot on Irish soil on September 1. He will be in the predominantly Catholic nation for two days.

Martin was scathing in his criticism of the Catholic Church. He said the Vatican breaks up God's family when it excludes any LGBT Catholics. Most of it stems from the traditional doctrine that homosexual tendencies are not sinful, but any act of homosexuality should be treated as sin. The Catholic Church commands gays to be chaste.

The Dublin conference organizers were accused by LGBT rights supporters of willfully excluding all LGBT groups after "We are Church Ireland" and "Global Network of Rainbow Catholics" pointed out that they continue to wait for any response to multiple requests made to have a booth at the event. When questioned on the matter, the conference organizers said through a spokesperson that there was a finite amount of space and preference were for groups which satisfied certain criteria.

Gay rights activists were unimpressed with Martin's speech. They said his words were hollow and nice, but the words were not matched by actions on the ground. Gay rights champions said the Catholic Church must first change its intemperate language during its reference to homosexuality.

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