Pope Benedict XVI, who confused many followers recently by suggesting condoms might be acceptable for prostitutes, but not for HIV protection in general, last week said that gay marriage penalizes traditional couples and distorts the true nature of the family.
The Pope said, “forms of unions, which distort the essence and purpose of the family end up penalising those who, with much effort, commit themselves to living a life whose bonds are marked by stable intimacy, have juridical guarantees and are recognised publiclyâ€, according to The Record.
Of course, same-sex couples with much effort, commit themselves to living a life whose bonds are marked by stable intimacy, without the artificial and societal benefit of juridical guarantees or public recognition, making it that much more difficult to maintain those relationships, and the fact that we’re fighting for the right to marry should suggest we want marriage at least as much as those heterosexual married couples, fifty percent of whom cannot manage to stay married, or faithful, and are fighting not for marriage, but for divorce. But why should that matter?
In, “Facing intense scrutiny for covering up child rape cases, Pope takes another swipe at gays,” AmericaBlog’s Joe Sudbay writes,
“Yesterday, we learned that the Vatican, under soon-to-be Saint John Paul II, warned Irish Bishops not to report child rape cases to the police. The Catholic Church has been outright lying when it claimed otherwise. And, this appears to prove that the Vatican really was protecting child rapists and trying to cover up their crimes.
“Today, we learn that Pope Benedict is spewing more hate towards the gay. His latest claim is the same-sex marriage somehow penalizes marriage between men and women.”
Sudbay then offers this bit of ecclesiastical wisdom: “You know who needs to be penalized? Catholic Church officials who protected and enabled child rapists.”
Indeed.
Of course the Pope and all his other religious brethren believe that marriage is a gift from God. So, naturally it follows that if you are given a gift from God, say, a beautiful singing voice, and someone else also has a beautiful singing voice, they are penalizing you by virtue of their gift. Makes perfect sense, right?
It’s important to remember that this is the Pope who said in an end of year message to his Cardinals that “In the 1970s, paedophilia was theorised as something fully in conformity with man and even with children,†and added that paedophilia wasn’t even considered an “absolute evil.” Benedict XVI has declared that laws which legalize same-sex marriage “contribute to the weakening of the principles of natural law,†and to “confusion about society’s values,†and claimed that same-sex marriage “attacks†the “endangered species†that is mankind. Even before he was elected Pope, he knew of the pedophile priest sex abuse scandal, yet did not act.
This is also the same pope presiding over a Vatican that has said the Vatican was being treated like Holocaust victims, and blamed homosexuality and Jews on the Catholic Church’s international pedophilia scandal.