... but I thought Keith would go mad. Buckle up now for the reason why ....
The Pope would almost certainly support
equal legal rights for everyone, and although homosexuality is explicitly a sin in Christianity, it is not up to man to judge each other, and then to use that judgement to deny others of their legal rights.
Many followers of Christianity try to justify their prejudice by quoting scripture, but conveniently ignore John 8:7 "let him who is without sin cast the first stone". A more thorough interpretation of John 8 is that you
cannot selectively apply judgement and punishment according to your personal beliefs or prejudices - (in the story, only the woman was being punished for adultery and the legal process had not been followed (Deuteronomy 22:22)). In the same way, selective application of the scriptures (and of other holy texts in other religions) as justification for bigotry is one of the reasons why people are becoming so polarized in their views of religion. As Christians we should "always look to God’s glory and never cause unnecessary division or harm". (Matthew 18:15)
I believe that The Pope, being a little more enlightened, would more likely support gays' legal rights equality and "reach out with the gospel and the love of Christ, always remembering that we, too, are sinners in need of the Saviour" (Romans 3:23). Indeed we have seen many signs that this Pope has called for greater inclusion. Pope Francis’ recently said, “A gay person who is seeking God, who is of good will — well, who am I to judge him?”
Marriage in Christianity is a bond between a man and a woman. That cannot change. Homosexuality is a sin in Christianity, but so is adultery, jealousy etc., and homosexuality did not even get into Moses's Top Ten. ALL sins can be forgiven. Jesus had only one commandment "Love one another". He did not make it conditional.
But despite the position of the Church on Homosexuality, I believe the Pope WOULD support equal legal rights for everybody, irrespective of whether they are "sinners", because we are all sinners in one way or another. If society has special benefits for people who have entered into a LEGAL union, those benefits should be applied equally according to the law (again referring to the lesson of John 8/Deuteronomy 22:22). If only people could better understand that modern laws should not be based on ancient religious writings then we could remove this legal inequality from society.
PS. In the story relating to the Priest, he was fired from the Catholic University, not the Church in what Archbishop Meyers claims was a routine transfer of a priest under his charge. Seton Hall is the oldest Diocean University Campus in USA, so it obviously received financial support from various Christian churches.
A move to form a Gay and lesbian group in 1993 and 2003 was stopped by Administrators, including the Chairman of the Board, Archbishop Newark J Meyers. You might recognise him as the man at the centre of a scandal over his $1/2 mio renovation to his personal retirement house and last year's sex abuse scandal, protecting priest who were fondling boys
ARTICLE . How does that scripture go again? "let him who is without sin cast the first stone".
Interestingly Seton Hall have recently transferred Derrick Gordon, an openly gay college basketball star to their team. In the end it's all about the money.
This is the end of today's sermon.
