Gay ‘marriage’ compromisers are ‘answerable to the Supreme Judge’
The Archbishop of Agana, Guam, a US territory located in the
Western Pacific ocean, has sent out an appeal to the faithful, urging them to
hold fast to their Christian faith in light of recent rulings that redefined
marriage, both from the U.S. Supreme Court and from the Guam Legislature.
“I invite all the Faithful, including those in every branch of
our local government, not to deny your faith, but to have the courage to be a
witness to the truth: the truth about life, about man, about marriage and about
family,” urged Archbishop Anthony Sablan Apuron in an August 26
letter titled
“Guam Marriage Equality Act: A Defeat for Our Island and for Humanity.”
Archbishop Apuron warned the faithful that supporting gay
“marriage” while choosing not to defend real marriage is an action that they
will one day have to render an account of before God.
“As Shepherd of the local Church of Guam, I urge every person to
be mindful that each of us is answerable to the Supreme Judge for what we do,
and do not do,” he said. “Do not be afraid! Christ is the truth, and the truth
will set us free.”
"We are living in dangerous times, under the law of man,
where Catholics, and Christians alike, are commanded to forfeit our religious
beliefs."
The archbishop said that while secular laws might change, the
laws of God as upheld and taught by the Catholic Church do not.
“The Church stands firm on her teaching that marriage is between
one man, and one woman,” he said, adding that it is not discrimination for the
Church to “not agree with the decisions taken by the courts,” but rather, the
courts are discriminating against Christians.
“These recent laws force the People of Guam, and of the United
States, to either agree with a particular political position, or face ridicule
and sanction for discrimination. These types of laws not only undermine the
precepts of the United States Constitution to Freedom of Speech, but also
undermines and attempts to eradicate the Constitutional Right to Freedom of
Religion – we are living in dangerous times, under the law of man, where
Catholics, and Christians alike, are commanded to forfeit our religious
beliefs,” he said.
Archbishop Apuron said that the push for state-recognition of
same-sex unions as marriage is “deceivingly disguised” to be about “equality
and anti-discrimination” when it is really about advancing what he called the
“destruction of the family, and the imposition of a totalitarian system.”
“The approval of same-sex ‘marriage’ has now thrown open the
doors of Guam to implement in our community a very clever and systematic
theory, which has as its aim the destruction of marriage and family through the
annihilation of any sexual differences among persons, this theory is known as
the ‘Theory of Gender,’” he said.
“The next step will be to implement this theory in the
educational system of Guam. This means that our children, your children, will
be forced to assimilate to this pattern of non-gender; that there is
no-such-thing as ‘male’ or ‘female;’ they will be encouraged to explore their
sexuality earlier, and parents will have no voice in the education of their
children.”
"Our children, your children, will be forced to assimilate to
this pattern of non-gender; that there is no-such-thing as ‘male’ or ‘female;’
they will be encouraged to explore their sexuality earlier, and parents will
have no voice in the education of their children."
Speaking on the outcome of redefining marriage, the archbishop
continued: “The natural family will be seen as a threat for the ‘new age.’
These ideas are already part of an international agenda promoted especially by
the United Nations. The laws just passed on our beautiful island, which were
disguised to fight against discrimination, will now work to subvert our human
sexuality from the most tender age with the goal to abolish the natural family
and create new ‘models’ of a family.”
He said the new laws do not signify “human progress,” but are
what he called “dangerous steps toward annihilation of our fundamental
religious beliefs.”
Last May Archbishop Apuron made
headlines after stating that the
Church must publicly oppose homosexuality while teaching God’s order for
humanity, even if the Church is hated for it.
“[The] homosexual condition or tendency is a disorder,” he said
at that time. “Many hate the Church for saying that, but if the act is
intrinsically a moral evil, we cannot say the tendency is neutral or good.”
“When we take God away from the source of human identity, then
we are lost. As citizens and as a people of faith, we have the duty to be
informed about the very fundamental nature of marriage and we are called to
defend the very dignity of marriage as a loving and fruitful union of one man and
one woman,” he said.
