The Rev. Gerald Murray of the Archdiocese of New York told Newsmax on Monday that Pope Francis' new document that allows for church blessings of same-sex couples is "absurd" and "horrific."
"It's the groundwork for redefining the nature of sin because basically the church has always said that sex outside of marriage is sinful, so all homosexual activity is sinful," Murray told "The Chris Salcedo Show." "The document also talks about people who are in invalid second marriages, the church says, according to the words of Christ, that is adultery. So now the church is saying that your behavior is gravely sinful, offensive to God, but the church should bless you. And what does a blessing mean? It means that we ask God to favor you in that relationship. This is absurd. This is a horrific document. It is revolutionary.
"All kinds of distinctions were made [in the document] saying well, this isn't blessing it in view of it being recognized as a marriage. Fine, that's what the church says. But you know exactly what's going to happen. The document that says people seeking the blessings shouldn't get dressed up in wedding garments … and come the same day as they have their civil ceremony. Well, people are going to do what they want, and this is really very upsetting. This is not how the Catholic Church has ever conducted himself, and I'm very upset by what the pope has done."
Murray said the document claims it is an "innovation," or a "development of the church's teaching," but he contended "that is a specious claim."
"It's an innovation, meaning it's something new that was never there before," he said. "But it's not a development of the church's teaching; it's a contradiction and a corruption of that teaching.
"Here I am, I'm a parish priest, and I give a class on Catholic morality, and I say that homosexual activity is immoral and people shouldn't do it; well at the end of the class if two men come up to me and say, 'Well, you know, Father, I heard what you said, but I don't agree with that. Neither does my partner, and we're married civilly, and we'd like you to bless our relationship, and by the way, Pope Francis said you should bless our relationship,' this is the contradiction that we're living."
Murray was incredulous about how God would favor something that He has condemned.
"Quite clearly there's a revolutionary streak in Rome right now," Murray said. "The cardinal who's in charge of the department that wrote the document and got the pope to agree to it, he is a known revolutionary in terms of doctrine, and this is a further example of it. We had the transgender godparents document not too long ago, as if being transgender is no problem for the church. It is a problem if you pretend to be what you're not."
When asked if Francis has instituted fear among traditional clergy and the laity, Murray said some "might be afraid of him," but "others are just upset because he critically attacks the United States as being a reactionary backwardist church."
"That the Catholics here are not getting with the program and going along with this liberalizing in the church," he said. "Well, Holy Father, we're all subject to Christ, and we're subject to the teaching of the church and if you say things that contradict it, don't expect applause – expect to be challenged. It's funny because at different points in the pontificate, he said he doesn't mind being criticized because it helps him to reevaluate what he said. Well, believe me, there's going to be a lot of reevaluation that's called for right now."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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