Cardinal George and Pope Francis Say Exactly the Same Thing - Love Gays; Oppose Redefinition of Marriage

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all mysins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offendThee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmlyresolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the nearoccasions of sin. Act of Contrition

“We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time. " Pope Francis I

"Everybody is welcome,"but not everything we do can be acceptable. Not everything I do, and not everything anybody else does." Francis Cardinal George

I missed the part in the Pope Francis interview where he advocates homosexual marriage, a redefinition of marriage, a nod to abortion, or plea for free contraceptives.  However, deep thinkers like Pulitzer Prize winner Mary Schmich and the almost invisible Neil Steinberg are doing hand-stands and hugs over the latest cut and paste job by the social engineers.   

I oppose the idiotic and intellectually insulting Religious Freedom and Marriage Equality bully bill that has gone about as far as the Book of Mormon in making Illinois more like Lincoln and less like Joseph Smith, or Bishop Shiel, but wish all and sundry happiness.  The Civil Union bill was the advent of new dawn in civil and social living until Pat Quinn's ink dried on that legislation; at which point Stonewall became Selma and Illinois just could not wait. 

The Pope said nothing new in the article for the Jesuits run here in the States by America and nothing that Francis Cardinal George has not said at every turn in the twisted road to Illinois homosexual marriage and the necessary redefinition of marriage.  Sex outside of marriage is a sin- gay, straight, or solo.   Sex outside of marriage is not a crime, generally speaking.  The only persons that concern me with regard to sex are my kids and of course old Dad himself . . .as if.

Like I said above, Francis Cardinal George has never once uttered a calumny against any sinner.  Nor, has he ever issued a Catholic  Fatwah upon the heads of LGBTQs ever, or of any sort.  Pope Francis called the priesthood to task about their role as pastors ( read the damn article) and he especially mentioned homosexual sex and abortion within the context of the sacrament of Confession -

"We must always consider the person. Here we enter into the mystery of the human being. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing.“This is also the great benefit of confession as a sacrament: evaluating case by case and discerning what is the best thing to do for a person who seeks God and grace. The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better. I also consider the situation of a woman with a failed marriage in her past and who also had an abortion. Then this woman remarries, and she is now happy and has five children. That abortion in her past weighs heavily on her conscience and she sincerely regrets it. She would like to move forward in her Christian life. What is the confessor to do?

Cardinal George explained "I think it's a good examination of conscience," George said outside Holy Name Cathedral, where he had just celebrated a Mass honoring couples married for 50 years. "I also think that he's coming from the viewpoint of a pastor who is close to the Lord and close to the people."

Then we get a Medill treatement of the Cardinal Archbishop's remarks, But George, a vocal opponent of gay marriage, warned that some had gone too far in seeing Pope Francis' interview as a move away from long-held church teachings on homosexuality, abortion and contraception"

Yep, a vocal opponent of gay marriage, just like Pope Francis.

"Everybody is welcome," George said, "but not everything we do can be acceptable. Not everything I do, and not everything anybody else does."

 Hell, I am welcome, even though my thoughts words and deeds can be unacceptable. . .wildly unacceptable. My beliefs are unacceptable to people who demand that I accept the notion that marriage can and must be not restricted to one man and one woman.  Now, what would those Mormons ridiculed in that boffo play think about that?   One man . . .two wives . . . three?  Does Greg Harris' religious freedom bill include Mormon polygamists?  Or, would that cast the LGBTQ community in the role of hot-headed and hysterical bigot?  Must a wife be human?  Some folks worship chicks and ducks and geese what better scurry!  How about a Dutch Wife? Oh, who cares about wives and WHo cares a fig about the Dutch?

Why sailors and members of the news media.

My most desperately wild 'dirty' thoughts are of Matt Helm movie variety; yet, I am thoroughly ashamed of their distracting imposition upon my better angels.  'And I detest all my  sins' including all of the fun ones.

Read the comments in the article concerning this matter in today's Tribune and tell me again  which side spews the real hate.

Illinois Same Sex Marriage is More Important Than Poor Kids In Albany Park and Everything Else

In his column this morning Mark Brown concludes,

 " One day soon, the Illinois Legislature is going to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married in Illinois — despite the Catholic Church’s opposition.
But there will still be poor kids in Albany Park who need help fixing their bikes.": markbrown@suntimes.com Twitter: @MarkBrownCST

You see the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) cut its grants to the lllinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) because the ICIRR's board of directors was touched by Same Sex Marriage Illinois, a  much broader coalition of money, influence, ink and iconoclasts, to fully support same sex marriage in its fight for immigrant and refugee rights. The Chicago Tribune published a letter that excoriated Francis Cardinal George and CCHD for what it  regards as a heartless neglect of the poor. The letter’s signers were Chicago Aldermen Proco Joe Moreno, Danny Solis, Patrick O’Connor, and James Cappelman; Cook County Commissioners John Fritchey and Larry Suffredin; and Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza - huge Catholics, Huge.  Like the Castro Brothers (Cuba, not Ohio) the signers are all about the Church, poor and really helping folks - Salvation Army and such.

The poor kids in Albany Park got $20,000 in grant money from CCHD.  $ 20,000 would help five poor kids from Englewood get a Leo High School Education.  Twenty thousand bucks is about half a payroll for Leo High Schooll employees every two weeks.  Nothing to sneeze at, $20,000, but the board of Directors of Illinois Coalition for  Immigrant and Refugees Rights (ICIRR) listened to Rick Garcia, Rep. Greg Harris, Personal PAC's and Governor Pat Quinn's Boss Terry Cosgrove appeal to evolved reason.  The Same Sex Marriage Heart trumps all other vessels.

Going from the heart of that meaty criticism, Mark Brown yanks on the heart strings with case-specific philippic aimed at Cardinal George, CCHD and unevolved Catholics in Illinois and it's a good one, worthy of two-hour WTTW special  narrated by the Ann Landers of homosexual journalism -Dan Savage. Here's the Sun Times' pilot



I wonder if Same Sex Marriage Illinois will fund those industrious kid in Albany Park? Maybe a grant from Henry Van Ameringen, Fred Eychaner, Personal PAC Illinois, or Northern trust Bank will ensure that poor kids in Albany Park kept them wheels rolling.

My bet is not.  Why would they apply money meant to secure the doctrine that Marriage is just a semantics exercise toward a non-systemic enterprise operated for the purpose of helping a few urchins?  That is what the Catholic Church is for, after all.

I remember my Mom telling me, Be careful of what you ask for.  No kidding.

Shortly after Same-Sex Marriage Illinois won the Civil Unions battle,  Catholic Charities ended almost two hundred years of care for Illinois orphans and support of childless married couples ( a guy and a gal).   Same Sex Marriage Illinois, a broad coalition of money, influence, ink and iconoclasts, makes the Vatican Bank seem like parish savings and loan during the Depression.  It is powerful and has purchased the legislature ( is that too cynical? Nah.) the Governor, the Illinois Supreme Court, The AG, the Media and people who equate conscience with watching Will and Grace/Glee/Bill Maher and of  course WTTW.

Francis Cardinal George Archbishop of Chicago has been treated with shamefully great disrespect by Same Sex Marriage Illinois, but maintains his dignity and good humor while defending the Church.

It is intellectually and morally dishonest to use the witness of the Church’s concern for the poor as an excuse to attack the Church’s teaching on the nature of marriage.  Four weeks ago, Pope Francis wrote: “…marriage should be a stable union of man and woman…this union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of God’s own love, and of the acknowledgement and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation, whereby spouses can become one flesh and are enabled to give birth to a new life.” In other words, when it comes to marriage and family life, men and women are not interchangeable. The whole civilized world knows that.
Those who signed the open letter in the Tribune proclaimed their adherence to the Catholic faith even as they cynically called upon others to reject the Church’s bishops. The Church is no one’s private club; she is the Body of Christ, who tells us he is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Because the signers of the letters are Catholic, they know that in a few years, like each of us, they will stand before this same Christ to give an account of their stewardship. Jesus is merciful, but he is not stupid; he knows the difference between right and wrong. Manipulating both immigrants and the Church for political advantage is wrong.

The big picture in the matter of Same Sex Marriage Illinois was artfully captured in this paragraph by Tina Korbe in 2011 concerning the Illinois Legislature's Civil Union codicil requiring all Illinois adoption services recognize the sanctity of homosexual couples:

The decision of the Illinois legislature to initiate the requirement in the first place — knowing it would hamstring Catholic Charities, which provides essential services — demonstrates an appalling willingness to allow an adult agenda — the mainstream acceptance of gay behavior — to supersede children’s interests. The spokesman for the state’s child welfare agency has said he thinks the child welfare system Catholic Charities helped to build is strong enough to withstand CC’s departure. But it’s hard to believe the shuttering of so many CC affiliates won’t make the burden of finding a home for children in need even greater.( emphasis my own)

I don't recall Mark Brown or other columnists bewailing the plight of the many hundreds of those young bairns.

" One day soon, the Illinois Legislature is going to make it legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married in Illinois — despite the Catholic Church’s opposition.
But there will still be poor kids in Albany Park who need help fixing their bikes.":

Yep. The Illinois  Same Sex Marriage Coaltion could care less.