Cardinal Keith O’Brien said countries which legalise gay marriage are “shaming themselves” by going against the “natural law,” and should not consider their actions “progress”.
He claimed same sex unions were the “thin end of the wedge” and would lead to the “further degeneration of society into immorality.”
In a series of controversial comments, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that if same sex marriage were legalised, “further aberrations would take place and society would be degenerating even further than it already has into immorality.”
Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, a cardinal expected to take part in the conclave to choose the next pope, rejected allegations on Sunday that he had behaved in an “inappropriate” way with other priests.
Britain’s most senior Roman Catholic cleric, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, acknowledged Sunday that he had been guilty of sexual misconduct, a week after he announced his resignation and said he would not attend the conclave to choose the next pope. The moves followed revelations that three current and one former priest had accused him of inappropriate sexual contact dating back decades.
Granted, I realize this is UK not USA, but when someone representing a tax exempt organization pulls this kind of crap, the organization should loose its tax exemption.
Many of the same men, like O’Brien, who regularly contend that stopping the advancement of civil equality and civil marriage is somehow relevant to the Church’s mission, have been implicated in torrid gay prostitution scandals and covering up abuse. Supposedly the cardinals are looking at the dossier now and are committed to picking a true reformer to clean house. This is why O’Malley is being touted by some in the Italian press as a papabile candidate (though ask the closed parishes around here if he is truly a pastoral leader).
Hans Kung and others have very radical changes they want for the Church, I cannot endorse all of them, but I do think its high time we have: a) a clergy permitted to marry (as Anglican Use and Eastern Rite Catholics already do) b) have the Church clean out the skeletons in its closet before it tells governments and individuals what they can and cannot do, and c) women in leadership in clerical and lay positions (one papabili agrees ).
The biggest change, which Kung mentions, is that we have to open up the Vatican to the entire flock and let sunshine act as a true disinfectant. Get non-clerical bankers to review and audit the finances, get non-clerical media persons to act as spokespersons, get an outsider with credibility like Louis Freeh to investigate criminal behavior. If the Church shows that it has nothing to hide, that it knows how to seek forgiveness for its crimes and punish those that abuse its authority, place renewed emphasis on helping the poor and downtrodden and say that the Faith is a guidepost for imperfect humans to follow-it can truly act as a living witness to the faith. Otherwise it won’t go away, but so many of us will find somewhere else closer to home