Pope Francis made the Philippines famous when he said: “The Philippines is one of the greatest Catholic nations in the world.” He continued saying: “Indeed, the noble church in the Philippines now stands among the great Catholic nations in the entire world. Hence, no wonder, he continuously sends missionaries to other regions.” Pope Francis apparently told this to Osaka Archbishop Thomas Manyo Cardinal Maeda asking him to be his envoy for the up and coming 60th anniversary of the post-war Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila.
Then he told Cardinal Maeda: “You are to act in our name, therefore, on the eighth day of December, more than four years since we have visited it, at the Cathedral in Manila, also called the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary giving thanks to God for the beauty of this temple, but most importantly for the lively faith of the pastors and of the Christian faithful.” In response to this report from the Vatican, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines announced that Cardinal Maeda will celebrate mass on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Concepcion on December 8. Cardinal Maeda is the current vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan.
After this wonderful news from Pope Francis, finally we also got a news report from Rome, obviously emanating from the Vatican which revealed that men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be admitted to the Catholic clergy, and it would be better for priests who are actively gay to leave rather than lead a double life. Apparently this statement was said by the Pope in a new book called “The Strength of Vocation” in which he discusses the challenges of being a priest or nun in modern times.
In that book, Pope Francis said very clearly that homosexuality in the Church “is something that worries me.” This book is due to be published this week in several languages. Pope Francis added: “The question of homosexuality is a very serious one,” adding that those entrusted with training men to be priests must be certain that candidates are “humanly and emotionally mature” before they can be ordained. The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual tendencies are not sinful in themselves, but homosexual acts are. There is no doubt in my mind that we do have members of the clergy who are homosexuals or who have homosexual tendencies. Now these members of the clergy are in a serious dilemma. They ought to stop their homosexuality or leave the Church.
Last August 26, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the Vatican’s former ambassador to the US, threw the Church into turmoil with a bombshell statement against the pope and Vatican officials when he said that a “homosexual network” existed in the Vatican and its members helped promote each other’s careers in the Church. Call this latest interview by Pope Francis a response to Archbishop Vigano’s revelation when the Pope said there was “no room for this” in the lives of priests and nuns, adding that the Church had to be “demanding” in choosing candidates for what is known as the consecrated life. “For this reason, the Church urges that persons with this rooted tendency not be accepted into (priestly) ministry or consecrated life,” he said. He urged homosexuals who are already priests or nuns to be celibate, responsible, and to avoid creating scandal.
As Pope Francis said: “It is better that they leave the priesthood or the consecrated life rather than live a double life.” Finally, I have gotten the right response to this ugly scandal that has affected many Catholic Church leaders and Pope Francis did wait for a long time to respond to this call, and finally he responded rightly for the sake of the Catholic Church.
Meanwhile, an official of the CBCP revealed that Pope Francis supported the government’s campaign against drugs but did not say it was okay to kill drug users.
“The Church has always emphasized that it is totally against drugs. We laud efforts to combat its proliferation but not the method because human rights are violated,” said CBCP Public Affairs Committee executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano.
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