Judas leaves the Last Supper.
It is sad when one of our own betrays us. I found the quote for my headline in the comment thread of this article from LifeSiteNews and thought it appropriate.
From LifeSiteNews:
“I knew that I was gay when I was ordained,” Fr. Pierson stated, after saying that he was “offended to learn” from a 2005 Vatican document that the Church has declared that men with deep-seated homosexual tendencies cannot be priests.
In defending homosexual marriage, Fr. Pierson quoted Catechism paragraph 2358: “every evidence of unjust discrimination [against people with homosexual tendencies]… should be avoided.” However, Fr. Pierson omitted to read the immediately previous passage that declares homosexual acts to be “acts of grave depravity” and “under no circumstances can they be approved.”
To defend voting “no” on the amendment, Fr. Pierson also argued for “freedom of conscience.” He quoted the Catechism’s doctrine that “a Catholic person must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience.” However, Fr. Pierson omitted the rest of the quotation, which states that the conscience must be informed by a higher authority.
Sometimes your conscience is wrong. We can only hope that enough consciences are right that the amendment will pass. If too many consciences are wrong, the amendment will fail. If it fails, it is a bad thing. I know this to be true because it is opposed to the Faith.
I remember when I used to disagree with the Church on the death penalty. I did not publicly speak out against the teaching of the Church, though. Rather, I did what sheep do. I followed the Shepherd. I prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit to help me to understand the Church’s position. After some time, I came to understand it, and my spiritual life has improved as a result of that understanding. In other words, I am closer to Jesus because of it.
Sometimes we think we are doing “what God wants” when we really are not. Certainly, a Catholic priest should know at least as much as I do about the duties of Catholics. Certainly, he should know even more than I do about it. I’ve had not collegiate training at all but am mostly self-taught by studying authentic Church teaching.
Oh, well, let’s pray for him, and for all priests.
