Anita Crane
Pope Francis, we need you now: Please correct the mixed message on Kim Davis
By Anita Crane
WASHINGTON – Pope Francis came to the United States of America at a very dramatic time in our nation's history. If we ever needed the Vicar of Christ, it is now.
Speech after speech during his Apostolic Journey to the United States of America and the World Meeting of Families, Papa Francisco urged Americans to defend the fundamental human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In saying this, he quoted the primary concept in our beautiful Declaration of Independence, which is in-keeping with Catholic doctrine.
However, there is a messaging problem about Papa Francisco's meeting with Kim Davis and we need truth because all civilizations and tyrannies are based on narratives.
According to the Catholic Church, there are no excuses for participating in or condoning so-called same-sex marriage.
The Church says: "In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection."
This is spelled out in the Vatican's 2003 statement Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons issued by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger during the reign of Pope Saint John Paul II. Note the key phrase: "clear and emphatic opposition is a duty."
It is our duty to oppose the fallacy of same-sex marriage and Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky, a non-Catholic, did her duty by refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Thus, on September 24, the Holy Father met with Davis in Washington and reportedly told her to "stay strong." After Robert Moynihan of "Inside the Vatican" broke the story, numerous media outlets followed-up with interviews. Now Davis's attorney Mat Staver names the Vatican official who invited her to meet the pope. He is Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.
On September 30, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi verified that the Holy Father met Kim Davis by saying: "I do not deny that the meeting took place, but I have no comments to add."
Now Lombardi has issued a so-called clarification that does not clarify and it is splashed everywhere in mainstream media.
Nicole Winfield of Associated Press has written a report which looks like Papa Francisco approves of same-sex unions, but doesn't approve of Kim Davis's righteous actions. Here are the key lines from Winfield's story:
The Vatican is confirming that the only "audience" the pope had while he was in Washington was with a former student and his family: Yayo Grassi, an openly gay Argentine who visited Francis with his longtime partner and some friends.
The revelation Friday turned the table on the narrative of Francis' meeting with Kim Davis, the Kentucky law clerk who went to jail after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. ...
Lombardi said such meetings are normal on any Vatican trip and are due to the pope's "kindness and availability." He said Francis really had only one "audience" in Washington: with one of his former students and his family.
"The pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects," Lombardi said.
Winfield has a record of inaccuracy. In May, she caused an uproar by incorrectly claiming Papa Francisco called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "an angel of peace." I suspected this was wrong and researched other sources. I then called AP about this grave error, gave them other sources and asked various friends in media to withdraw their scorn. LaStampa quoted the Holy Father as saying "May you be an angel of peace" and Zenit reports that the pope said: "I was thinking of you so that you may be an angel of peace." However, Lombardi refused to tell the world precisely what the Holy Father said in this public meeting.
According to Agence-France Presse, the Holy Father has publicly "blasted" Rome's Mayor Ignazio Marino as someone who "pretends to be Catholic." AFP says: "The pope's cutting comments on the politician – who observers say rubbed the pontiff up the wrong way with his vocal support of gay marriage and euthanasia – came as Francis returned from a barnstorming visit to the United States and Cuba."
Why, then, did the Holy Father not decry or at least correct the pretend Catholic officials in America?
English isn't the Holy Father's forte, but his officials are duty bound to properly inform him.
For example, Vatican officials should inform him that the persecution of Kim Davis and all professionals (such as photographers, cake makers and florists) who refuse to participate in same-sex marriages is now illicitly written into human law by three powerful Catholic judges. The Holy Father says he wants to protect matrimony and families, he tells us to defend human rights, but two out of six Catholics on the U.S. Supreme Court destroyed civil order by overruling valid marriage laws of 37 states. Those justices are Anthony Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor. Then, U.S. District Judge David Bunning of Kentucky, another Catholic, ordered Kim Davis to be jailed and fined.
The message in AP's report is that the Holy Father is calling Kim Davis a liar and disputing her right to exercise what the Catholic Church defines as duty.
In his speech to the United Nations, Papa called on all nations to respect the "natural difference" between men and women and warned against the imposition of "alien" lifestyles.
"We recognize a moral law written into human nature itself, one which includes the natural difference between man and woman and absolute respect for life in all its stages and dimensions."
He also warned against an "ideological colonization by the imposition of anomalous models and lifestyles which are alien to people's identity and, in the end, irresponsible."
If ever Catholics needed the Vicar of Christ to lead us in securing human rights, it is now. There are no contradictions in the beautiful immutable truth of Catholic doctrine and if this isn't made explicitly clear, tyranny will prevail in America.
Therefore, I humbly request that the Holy Father corrects the mixed message propagated today because it is a grave injustice to truth, all people of goodwill and Truth Himself.
© Anita Crane
October 3, 2015
WASHINGTON – Pope Francis came to the United States of America at a very dramatic time in our nation's history. If we ever needed the Vicar of Christ, it is now.
Speech after speech during his Apostolic Journey to the United States of America and the World Meeting of Families, Papa Francisco urged Americans to defend the fundamental human rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In saying this, he quoted the primary concept in our beautiful Declaration of Independence, which is in-keeping with Catholic doctrine.
However, there is a messaging problem about Papa Francisco's meeting with Kim Davis and we need truth because all civilizations and tyrannies are based on narratives.
According to the Catholic Church, there are no excuses for participating in or condoning so-called same-sex marriage.
The Church says: "In those situations where homosexual unions have been legally recognized or have been given the legal status and rights belonging to marriage, clear and emphatic opposition is a duty. One must refrain from any kind of formal cooperation in the enactment or application of such gravely unjust laws and, as far as possible, from material cooperation on the level of their application. In this area, everyone can exercise the right to conscientious objection."
This is spelled out in the Vatican's 2003 statement Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons issued by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger during the reign of Pope Saint John Paul II. Note the key phrase: "clear and emphatic opposition is a duty."
It is our duty to oppose the fallacy of same-sex marriage and Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis of Kentucky, a non-Catholic, did her duty by refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Thus, on September 24, the Holy Father met with Davis in Washington and reportedly told her to "stay strong." After Robert Moynihan of "Inside the Vatican" broke the story, numerous media outlets followed-up with interviews. Now Davis's attorney Mat Staver names the Vatican official who invited her to meet the pope. He is Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano.
On September 30, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi verified that the Holy Father met Kim Davis by saying: "I do not deny that the meeting took place, but I have no comments to add."
Now Lombardi has issued a so-called clarification that does not clarify and it is splashed everywhere in mainstream media.
Nicole Winfield of Associated Press has written a report which looks like Papa Francisco approves of same-sex unions, but doesn't approve of Kim Davis's righteous actions. Here are the key lines from Winfield's story:
The Vatican is confirming that the only "audience" the pope had while he was in Washington was with a former student and his family: Yayo Grassi, an openly gay Argentine who visited Francis with his longtime partner and some friends.
The revelation Friday turned the table on the narrative of Francis' meeting with Kim Davis, the Kentucky law clerk who went to jail after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. ...
Lombardi said such meetings are normal on any Vatican trip and are due to the pope's "kindness and availability." He said Francis really had only one "audience" in Washington: with one of his former students and his family.
"The pope did not enter into the details of the situation of Mrs. Davis and his meeting with her should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects," Lombardi said.
Winfield has a record of inaccuracy. In May, she caused an uproar by incorrectly claiming Papa Francisco called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "an angel of peace." I suspected this was wrong and researched other sources. I then called AP about this grave error, gave them other sources and asked various friends in media to withdraw their scorn. LaStampa quoted the Holy Father as saying "May you be an angel of peace" and Zenit reports that the pope said: "I was thinking of you so that you may be an angel of peace." However, Lombardi refused to tell the world precisely what the Holy Father said in this public meeting.
According to Agence-France Presse, the Holy Father has publicly "blasted" Rome's Mayor Ignazio Marino as someone who "pretends to be Catholic." AFP says: "The pope's cutting comments on the politician – who observers say rubbed the pontiff up the wrong way with his vocal support of gay marriage and euthanasia – came as Francis returned from a barnstorming visit to the United States and Cuba."
Why, then, did the Holy Father not decry or at least correct the pretend Catholic officials in America?
English isn't the Holy Father's forte, but his officials are duty bound to properly inform him.
For example, Vatican officials should inform him that the persecution of Kim Davis and all professionals (such as photographers, cake makers and florists) who refuse to participate in same-sex marriages is now illicitly written into human law by three powerful Catholic judges. The Holy Father says he wants to protect matrimony and families, he tells us to defend human rights, but two out of six Catholics on the U.S. Supreme Court destroyed civil order by overruling valid marriage laws of 37 states. Those justices are Anthony Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor. Then, U.S. District Judge David Bunning of Kentucky, another Catholic, ordered Kim Davis to be jailed and fined.
The message in AP's report is that the Holy Father is calling Kim Davis a liar and disputing her right to exercise what the Catholic Church defines as duty.
In his speech to the United Nations, Papa called on all nations to respect the "natural difference" between men and women and warned against the imposition of "alien" lifestyles.
"We recognize a moral law written into human nature itself, one which includes the natural difference between man and woman and absolute respect for life in all its stages and dimensions."
He also warned against an "ideological colonization by the imposition of anomalous models and lifestyles which are alien to people's identity and, in the end, irresponsible."
If ever Catholics needed the Vicar of Christ to lead us in securing human rights, it is now. There are no contradictions in the beautiful immutable truth of Catholic doctrine and if this isn't made explicitly clear, tyranny will prevail in America.
Therefore, I humbly request that the Holy Father corrects the mixed message propagated today because it is a grave injustice to truth, all people of goodwill and Truth Himself.
© Anita Crane
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