So much for Pope Francis I‘s “Who am I to judge?” perspective on gay people. If the 30 Catholic Archbishops in the United States were ranked by degree of anti-gay activism and homophobia, Minnesota’s John Nienstedt, Archbishop of Minneapolis-St. Paul, would certainly be near the top.
In 2010, you’ll remember, while the poor were busy being poor, the sick were busy being sick, and the needy were busy being needy — all in the middle of one of our country’s worst economic crises ever — Archbishop John Nienstedt was busy using Church funds to spam 400,000 of Minnesota’s Catholics with anti-gay DVD’s, in the hope that he could sway them to hate the gays as much as he does.
They did not. (But they did make a nice art project.)
What an incredible waste on money, time, and energy, that could have gone to feeding the poor, healing the sick, and comforting the needy — the way God intended.
Alas, Nienstedt wasted a private donor’s funds that could have gone to better use (see above,) because the good citizens of Minnesota, including the majority of Minnesota’s Catholics, voted not only to remove their ban on same-sex marriage, but they turned around a few months later and extended the institution of marriage to same-sex couples, just as God intended.
LOOK: Nienstedt: Mom Of Gay Son May Go To Hell If She Doesn’t Embrace Church Anti-Gay Teachings
Nienstedt, unrepentant, has now come out with a whopper: Satan is the source of same-sex marriage.
“Today, many evil forces have set their sights on the dissolution of marriage and the debasing of family life. Sodomy, abortion, contraception, pornography, the redefinition of marriage, and the denial of objective truth are just some of the forces threatening the stability of our civilization. The source of these machinations is none other than the Father of Lies. Satan knows all too well the value that the family contributes to the fabric of a good solid society, as well as the future of God’s work on earth.”
Those are Nienstedt’s own words in an article published last week in Legatus Magazine, titled, Family as the foundation of culture.” In it, he uses the word “marriage” 62 times. “Same-sex” four times. And “Satan,” twice.
And he offers little “gems,” like this one:
The fact remains that family structure works better for children because fathers and mothers do parent differently, in ways that complement one another and boost a child’s well-being and gender identity.  This understanding of the family structure gets to the heart of the same-sex “marriage†debate that many of us have engaged in recent years.
And, for some startling reason that seems to border on either pedophilia, statutory rape, or underage sex, Nienstedt laments:
Nearly one of every three Americans over the age of 15 has never been married, the highest level in a decade.
How is that a problem?
The article is extensive, and the perfect example of a backwards theorem: come up with arguments to support your overarching belief, rather than look at reality and deduce what is right from there.
Bob Shine and Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry had a few thoughts on Archbishop Nienstedt and his ugly anti-gay attack.
Nienstedt’s “shrill rhetoric on marriage has not only been largely ineffective in preventing marriage equality laws, but it is also seen to be pastorally harmful. What bishops don’t seem to realize is that many of their church members sincerely and conscientiously support marriage equality. They also know, love, and respect gay and lesbian couples in committed relationships, so the bishops’ message of how marriage equality will ruin society rings hollow at best, and is heard as hateful at worst.”
Amen.
You can visit The Most Reverend John C. Nienstedt’s archdiocese online.