WOW! ~ even with "no decisions ... announced", this is enormous movement in the steely mindset of the church ~ Sooz

Catholic Bishops Say Gays Have 'Gifts' To Offer Church
By NICOLE WINFIELD Published October 13, 2014, 11:35 AM EDT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic bishops showed unprecedented openness Monday to accepting the real lives of many Catholics today, saying gays had gifts to offer the church and should be accepted and that there were "positive" aspects to a couple living together without being married.

A two-week meeting of bishops on family issues arrived at its halfway point with a document summarizing the closed-door debate so far. No decisions were announced, but the tone of the report was one of almost-revolutionary acceptance, rather than condemnation, with the aim of guiding Catholics toward the ideal of a lasting marriage.

Bishops clearly took into account the views of Pope Francis, whose "Who am I to judge?" comment about gays signaled a new tone of welcome for the church. Their report also reflected the views of ordinary Catholics who, in responses to Vatican questionnaires in the run-up to the synod, rejected church teaching on birth control and homosexuality as outdated and irrelevant.

The bishops said gays had "gifts and qualities" to offer and asked rhetorically if the church was ready to provide them a welcoming place, "accepting and valuing their sexual orientation without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony."

For a 2,000-year-old institution that teaches that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered," even posing the question is significant.

"This is a stunning change in the way the Catholic church speaks of gay people," said the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit author. "The Synod is clearly listening to the complex, real-life experiences of Catholics around the world, and seeking to address them with mercy, as Jesus did."

The bishops repeated that gay marriage was off the table. But it acknowledged that gay partnerships had merit.

"Without denying the moral problems connected to homosexual unions, it has to be noted that there are cases in which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners," they said.

Conservative groups rejected the report as a "betrayal" and even heresy.

"What will Catholics parents now have to tell their children about contraception, cohabiting with partners or living homosexual lifestyles?" asked Maria Madise, coordinator of the Voice of the Family, which counts pro-life and conservative groups as members.

"Will those parents now have to tell their children that the Vatican teaches that there are positive and constructive aspects to these mortal sins? This approach destroys grace in souls."

For heterosexuals, the bishops said the church must grasp the "positive reality of civil weddings" and even cohabitation, with the aim of helping the couple commit eventually to a church wedding.

The bishops also called for a re-reading of the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae that outlined the church's opposition to artificial birth control. The bishops said couples should be unconditionally open to having children, but that the message of Humanae Vitae "underlines the need to respect the dignity of the person in the moral evaluation of the methods of birth control."

There has been much talk inside the synod about applying the theological concept of the "law of gradualness" in difficult family situations, including contraception. The concept encourages the faithful to take one step at a time in the search for holiness.

Applying the concept to matters of birth control would be an acknowledgement that most Catholics already use artificial contraception in violation of church teaching. But it would encourage pastors to meet them where they are, and then help them come to understand the full reasoning behind the ban and then adopt it themselves.

Bishops also called for "courageous" new ways to minister to families, especially those "damaged" by divorce. The document didn't take sides in the most divisive issue at the synod, whether Catholics who divorce and remarry without an annulment can receive Communion.

Church teaching holds that without an annulment, these Catholics are living in sin and thus ineligible to receive the sacraments.

The document said these Catholics deserve respect and should not be discriminated against, and then laid out the positions of both sides: those who want to maintain the status quo barring them from the sacraments, and those who favor a case-by-case approach, in which the couple undertake a path of penance.

Pope Francis has called for a more merciful approach to these couples, but conservatives have insisted there is no getting around Jesus' words that marriage is indissoluble.

There have been suggestions that the conservatives were being sidelined, if not silenced, behind the synod walls given Francis' known position on the matter.

Significantly, Francis decided at the end of last week to add six perceived progressives to the synod leadership to help prepare the final document after some conservatives were elected to leadership positions.

Filippino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said there had been "ample space" for people to speak their minds.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/catholic-bishops-gays-have-gifts

Rubber stamp time.

NOT a "done deal" ~ ~ I'm disappointed, but not surprised ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

Vatican Keeps Pro-Gay Language In Italian Report, Removes It From English Translation
by Jack Jenkins Posted on October 16, 2014 at 5:14 pm

Just days after a group of Catholic leaders made waves for publishing a report that used unusually inclusive language to refer to homosexuality, the Vatican is attempting to walk back the statements by altering an English translation of the document and editing out affirming comments about LGBT people.

On Monday, a relatio, or working paper, was released by the ongoing Extraordinary Synod on the Family — a convening of 190 prominent Catholic clergy called by Pope Francis to discuss “family” issues such as homosexuality, contraception, and unmarried couples who live together. Although the document, which is essentially a preliminary report on things being discussed at the meeting, did not affirm same-sex unions, it drew wide praise from progressives for using conciliatory language when speaking about same-sex relationships. Catholic thinkers and reporters heralded the document as a “new style of being church” and a “pastoral earthquake,” with many expressing hope that the report signaled a dramatic shift in how the church treats LGBT people.

But the Vatican reversed course at a press conference on Thursday, when officials announced the release of an edited English version of the report that alters passages that affirm gay people. For example, the new version changes the translation of the Italian phrase “Accogliere le persone omosessuali,” which was initially rendered in the English version as “to welcome homosexual persons,” a literal interpretation of the text. Although the original Italian document remains unchanged, Thursday’s revision edited the English version to read, “providing for homosexual persons,” a shift that Thomas Reese of the National Catholic Reporter said was “clearly … not an accurate translation.”

The new document includes other subtle alterations as well, although virtually all of the edits deal with the Catholic church’s position on homosexuality. Thursday’s version of the report, for instance, changed a phrase that previously referred to same-sex unions as “precious support in the life of the partners” to “valuable support in the life of these persons.”

The revisions appear to be an attempt by the Vatican — or at least English-speaking bishops — to control the media narrative surrounding the release of the original document. After various outlets and reporters heralded the inclusive stance of Monday’s document, conservative Catholics began publicly lambasting the report, with one South African Cardinal condemning some of its statements as “irredeemable.” Although there is speculation that Francis hinted at the release of the document during Mass on Monday morning, the Vatican quickly backtracked on Tuesday, explaining the report was a “working document” and saying that they did not want to give “the impression of a positive evaluation” of homosexuality, according to CNN.

Synod organizers have since offered bishops a chance to propose revisions to the document before presenting the final version of the report to Pope Francis on Sunday. According to the National Catholic Reporter, Thursday’s update occurred after attendees of the synod met in language-specific groups earlier this week to discuss potential revisions. English bishops are now calling for even broader changes to the document, insisting that the Synod offer a “fuller presentation of the church’s theology of marriage, more encouragement for those who are faithful to church teaching, and the elimination of … confusing passages in the report.”

The controversy comes as many religious progressives continue to hail the more inclusive tone on homosexuality struck by Pope Francis, who last year responded to a question about gay priests by saying, “Who am I to judge?”

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/10/16/3580908/vatican-walks-back-affirming-language-about-gays/

Apparently the Bishops rejected even the watered down version.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/o ... ay-welcome

Kudos to this activist pope! ~ ~ there are a few "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

‘God is not a magician’: Pope says Christians should believe in evolution and Big Bang
Travis Gettys | 28 Oct 2014 at 08:53 ET

The “Big Bang” and evolution are not only consistent with biblical teachings, Pope Francis told a Vatican gathering – they are essential to understanding God.

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything — but that is not so,” the pope told a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

“He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment,” Pope Francis said.

The earth’s origins were not chaotic, the pontiff said, but were created from a principle of love, reported Religion News Service.

“He gave autonomy to the beings of the universe at the same time at which he assured them of his continuous presence, giving being to every reality, and so creation continued for centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia, until it became which we know today, precisely because God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the creator who gives being to all things,” the pope said.

Pope Francis said the theory of evolution did not contradict the Bible or church teachings, as creationists claim.

“God is not a divine being or a magician, but the Creator who brought everything to life,” the pope said. “Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

Catholic teaching has not traditionally been opposed to evolution, unlike evangelical Christianity in the U.S., although a close associate of Pope Benedict XVI criticized the scientific theory in a 2005 opinion piece published in the New York Times.

Pope Francis made the speech while unveiling a bust of Benedict, his predecessor.

The pope said biblical teachings gave humans the responsibility to care for the earth and its inhabitants.

In the Book of Genesis, God commanded Adam “to name everything and to go ahead through history,” Pope Francis said. “This makes him responsible for creation, so that he might steward it in order to develop it until the end of time.”

He warned that it was a “grave sin against God the creator” to destroy the environment, and scientists held a special responsibility to protect God’ creation.

“Therefore the scientist, and above all the Christian scientist, must adopt the approach of posing questions regarding the future of humanity and of the earth, and, of being free and responsible, helping to prepare it and preserve it, to eliminate risks to the environment of both a natural and human nature,” Pope Francis said. “But, at the same time, the scientist must be motivated by the confidence that nature hides, in her evolutionary mechanisms, potentialities for intelligence and freedom to discover and realize, to achieve the development that is in the plan of the creator.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/god-is-not-a-magician-pope-says-christians-should-believe-in-evolution-and-big-bang/

His Popeness has rejected a few bishops already ... or maybe they were cardinals.