What about women priests?

His statement, I think, also sheds some light on his opinion of "papal infallibility". Jesuits are known to be disobedient to the Pope, so I imagine the conservative wing is very upset.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pope says it's ok to be gay as long as you don't have have gay sex.

That's a sin.

So not such a good deal.

Where did he say this? Can you give us a link?

A recent link, since what he said yesterday which seems to be a break from the church line.

Anonymous wrote:Pope says it's ok to be gay as long as you don't have have gay sex.

That's a sin.

So not such a good deal.

Where did he say this? Can you give us a link?

Pope says it's ok to be gay as long as you don't have have gay sex.

That's a sin.

So not such a good deal.

Anonymous wrote:In a radical departure from tradition, the Catholic Church has elected a Christian as Supreme Pontiff. We'll see how this works out.

+1

In a radical departure from tradition, the Catholic Church has elected a Christian as Supreme Pontiff. We'll see how this works out.

See, to me, there are only a few concrete things God has said about sin that appear in the gospels alongside commandments like "love your enemy" and "turn the other cheek." In fact, the commandment to not throw stones at the person you think is guilty (in that particular case, a prostitute) is very clear. Since Jesus never weighed in on things like homosexuality or leaking state secrets or whatever, for me that falls in the category of "God will judge". I'm no theologian, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just don't understand how this is a step forward. Hasn't "hate the sin, not the sinner", "love your neighbor", "do unto others" always been the thing to do? He still calls homosexuality a sin. That's not going to change. I can't grasp why this announcement is that big a deal.

He said, "who am I to judge?" That's a Chrustian position going back to the NT that unfortunately doesn't get followed enough by Christians, but essentially it means that God is the only one who can say what's right and wrong. To me, he's opening the door to saying homosexuality is not a sin, although I can see how you could interpret it differently.

I see what you are saying, but yes, I'm interpreting differently. Sadly we humans do judge too often, but I was brought up believing that's wrong. We are supposed to allow God to be the only judge. That doesn't stop us from knowing whether something is a sin or not though, just that we are not supposed to judge it.

Just had a thought as I was typing that. Maybe that's the difference! to me, not "judging" means that even though God says something is a sin, I don't think negatively of you for doing it. But I guess I am wrong about my definition of judging. Thank you for making me think!!

Anonymous wrote:I am Catholic and I think this is a huge step forward. I agree with the previous poster in that he is stating the only God can judge and homosexuality is not a sin.

I'm the PP and that's very close to what I meant to say, but not quite. He's not saying "homosexuality is not a sin." He's saying that only God can judge whether homosexuality, or any other human action for that matter, is or irks not a sin. Maybe you are referring to sins in the eyes of the Catholic Church, on the order of lying or adultery or 10 commandments?

I am Catholic and I think this is a huge step forward. I agree with the previous poster in that he is stating the only God can judge and homosexuality is not a sin.

Anonymous wrote:I just don't understand how this is a step forward. Hasn't "hate the sin, not the sinner", "love your neighbor", "do unto others" always been the thing to do? He still calls homosexuality a sin. That's not going to change. I can't grasp why this announcement is that big a deal.

He said, "who am I to judge?" That's a Chrustian position going back to the NT that unfortunately doesn't get followed enough by Christians, but essentially it means that God is the only one who can say what's right and wrong. To me, he's opening the door to saying homosexuality is not a sin, although I can see how you could interpret it differently.

I just don't understand how this is a step forward. Hasn't "hate the sin, not the sinner", "love your neighbor", "do unto others" always been the thing to do? He still calls homosexuality a sin. That's not going to change. I can't grasp why this announcement is that big a deal.

Same here - not Catholic or gay (but am mom of lesbian) - and I was really heartened to hear about what he said. But I agree - true equality is a long way off.

I'm not Catholic or gay, but I am interested in both, and in others' reactions. I think it's a great and surprising move forward, even if we're still a long way from marriage and gay priests.