Family congress in Verona shows tensions between Vatican and populist Catholics
ROME - A northern Italian town became a battlefield in the culture wars this weekend during a three-day international congress on traditional family values. While populist leaders and conservative Catholics defended the event from the inside, progressive and liberal factions tagged the meeting as “medieval.”
The Vatican took a step back, with high-ranking officials deciding not to formally attend the event.
“We agree on the substance but not on the methodology,” said the Vatican Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, after an event marking the 150th anniversary of the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu children’s hospital last week.
The Catholic Church agrees with the traditional family values based on the marriage between a man and woman and founded on the respect for human life from conception to natural death on display at the World Congress of Families that took place in Verona, Italy, March 29-31.
What the Vatican doesn’t agree with is the rhetoric and approach that the congress promoted. Religious sisters could be seen on local television calling homosexuality an “abomination” and a “sin against God.” Bishops condemned abortion with strong language, and life-sized puppets of fetuses were handed out to attendees.
The bishop of Verona Giuseppe Zenti attended the event along with many other Catholic bishops from other parts of the world, including Archbishop-Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco.and papal critics Cardinal Raymond Burke and Cardinal Walter Brandmüller.
Organizers included pro-life and conservative factions not only from Italy, but also Russia and the United States. Brian Brown, president of the International Organization for the Family and close friend of U.S. President Donald Trump, attended the event.
“We are in favor of a positive vision of the family,” he told local media, “understood as the union between a man and a woman in marriage.”
“Let’s get up, let’s fight for the family, we are here to tell you that you are not alone!” Brown added.
Individual bishops and clergy were present at the event, but the Vatican kept its distance.
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2 comments:
I'm sure things will get better once the heiarchy stops trying to teach, or correct anything (i.e. proselytizing) and just concentrates on being more 'attractive' to the culture.
This speaks volumes about the state of the Church, especially at the top.
• We cannot agree on the "methodology" of speaking clearly and directly?
• We cannot call sin "sin".
• In spite of the number of saints and Bible verses that call homosexuality an abomination (and worse) we cannot
• The Vatican "keeps its distance"
Of course. This is the same Vatican whose papal collaborator, Cardinal Coccopalmiero, has a secretary (a monsignor) who was arrested at a drug-fueled orgy in an apartment building owned by the CDF. Coccopalmiero, it should be noted, is far more careful and clear with his language, since he has publicly stated that "positive realities" can be found in homosexual relationships. Oh, and the cardinal WAS AT THE PARTY.
This is the same Vatican that appointed Cupich to Chicago. This is the same Vatican that is ready to appoint Gregory--the archbishop who transformed Atlanta into one of the Church's most LGBT-friendly dioceses as archbishop of one of our most prominent archdiocese that is reeling from homosexual scandals.
The wolves dress in their fleeces. The pious are mocked. The faithful are held in contempt. THAT is the passion of today's Catholic Church. And honors are fed to the most perverse and cunning in the hierarchy.
We should all think hard on these words, delivered to Sister Agnes Sasagawa in Akita Japan by the Blessed Mother in 1973 (a CHURCH APPROVED apparition):
"The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, bishops against bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scorned and opposed by their confreres...churches and altars sacked; the Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord.
"The demon will be especially implacable against souls consecrated to God. The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sadness. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them"
And let us not forget that Pope Benedict said, "These two messages, Akita and Fatima, are essentially the same."
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