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Showing posts with the label Eastern Catholic Churches

One of Pope’s 9 advisor Cardinals proposes ‘liturgical’ blessings of homosexual unions

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Cardinal Reinhard Marx , chairman of the German Episcopal Conference and close advisor of Pope Francis , has told the German media that “one must encourage priests” to give encouragement to homosexual unions, which could include public blessings that would take a “liturgical” form. THE BIBLE STATES HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN NOT TO BE BLESSED Marx was asked in a radio  interview  yesterday why the Catholic Church “does not always move forward when it comes to demands from some Catholics regarding, for example, the ordination of female deacons, the blessing of homosexual couples, or the abolition of compulsory celibacy [for priests].” Marx responded that “closer pastoral care ” must be given to homosexuals, adding that “one must also encourage priests and pastoral workers to give people in concrete situations [of homosexual unions] encouragement. I do not really see any problems there.” This “encouragement” might include some sort of “liturgical” recognition of their union,

African Pastors say NO - to homosexual marriage

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Choir in Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Brisbane, Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) One of those named, Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia , is the head of a small but historically significant minority branch of Catholicism , the head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church . Archbishop Souraphiel is the patriarch of the Ge’ez Rite of the Church, which represents Catholic Christians in some of the most embattled places in the world, including Eritrea, Jerusalem, and Somalia, where Christians are regularly targeted by Islamic extremist militias. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Ethiopia and punishable with one to fifteen years in prison. Archbishop Souraphiel was a signatory to a letter, also signed by the heads of the Ethiopian Orthodox and Anglican Churches, to ask for a constitutional prohibition on homosexual activity. At a conference in 2008, Catholic and Protestant churches formed a national task force called the Ethiopia