Presbyterian Church Approves Ordination of Homosexuals

From Catholic World News

Following ratification by the majority of the nation’s 173 regional presbyteries, the Presbyterian Church USA has officially approved the ordination of active homosexuals to its clergy. In doing so, the denomination, which has 2.8 million members, abolished a policy that had required candidates for ordination to live “in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.”

The Episcopal Church (2.1 million members), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (4.6 million members), and United Church of Christ (1.1 million members) have also voted to permit homosexual ordination.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Presbyterian Church votes to allow gay ordination (Los Angeles Times)  

Fallout Continues from ELCA’s Gay Clergy Decision as Lutheran Churches Leave

From LifeSiteNews
By Peter J. Smith

The departure of several more congregations in central Illinois from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has once again highlighted how the denomination’s decision to approve active homosexual clergy has triggered a slow, steady bleeding of congregations.

One year ago this month at its national convention, the ELCA voted "to open the ministry of the church to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in committed relationships."

The policy change was decided by more than 100 votes – 559 in favor to 451 against; but since the vote the ELCA has both dropped in members and congregations.

According to Illinois’s News-Gazette, at least three more churches have initiated the process to leave the ELCA, which claims a membership of 10,400 congregations and 4.6 million baptized members. Under the ELCA’s rules congregations that wish to disaffiliate themselves must take two votes passing by a two-thirds majority to leave, with a 90 day consultation period with the local bishop scheduled between the votes. The congregation officially cuts off ties with the denomination upon passage of the second vote.

The journal reports that by the end of June, 462 congregations had cast their first votes to leave the ELCA, with 312 adopting the resolution. Of these, 196 congregations have taken their second vote, with only 11 congregations opting not to leave the ELCA.

The pastors of three Lutheran churches in Illinois told the News-Gazette that they were leaving the ELCA over concerns that the denomination was no longer faithful to the biblical basis of the Church’s teaching, especially when it comes to teachings on sin and salvation.

Rev. Jeffray Greene, pastor of American Lutheran Church in Rantoul, where 94 percent of his congregation voted to leave, told the News-Gazette that he knew from his seminary days that proponents of a homosexualist theology were determined at the beginning of the ECLA’s history to change the church’s teaching.

"Twenty-seven years ago, when I was in the seminary, (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif.), there were two mutually exclusive theologies going on in the ELCA,” said Greene. He added, “The ELCA was formed to be what it is. Three gay guys I went to school with had this as their agenda.”

Pastor James Lehmann of Immanuel Lutheran in Flatville, where 94 percent also voted to leave, told the Illinois newspaper that the ELCA is sending the message that there are multiple ways of salvation rather than through Jesus Christ, and that posed an insurmountable problem.

"I think it's unfortunate that we had to take the vote,” said Lehmann, “but to be true to our faith, we need to do that."

Some of the Lutheran congregations revealed they were considering affiliating with the North American Lutheran Church (NALC), which was formed in response to the ELCA’s homosexual clergy decision. There are a number of conservative Lutheran denominations in the United States, such as the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, American Association of Lutheran Churches, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, and others.

Delegates of the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod in July voted to approve a resolution commending two study documents that stated the ELCA’s decision on homosexual clergy both contravened Sacred Scripture and strained relationships between the two churches, by creating the impression that all U.S. Lutherans were in agreement with ELCA’s position.

The LCMS also voted to strengthen efforts to promote fidelity to confessional Lutheranism worldwide as a positive response to the ELCA decision.

Pro-Homosexuality Anglicans Seek U.S. Government Help

Defrocked Ugandan Bishop Christopher Senyonjo was brought
to the US to push the Episcopal Church's Gay Agenda

From the Institute on Religion and Democracy

Decrying as "missionaries of hate" U.S. Christians who preach in Africa against homosexual practice, a former bishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda has called upon western countries to use their influence to promote acceptance of homosexuality in Africa.

During his appearance in Washington, Christopher Senyonjo was hosted by Bishop Gene Robinson of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, the first openly homosexual bishop in the Anglican Communion. The two spoke at the liberal Center for American Progress about anti-homosexuality legislation in Uganda, which they blamed on U.S. evangelicals. They also called for a broader effort to decriminalize homosexual practices in Africa. Senyonjo's appearance at CAP was part of a six-week speaking tour of the United States, sponsored by Integrity USA, an unofficial homosexual caucus in the Episcopal Church.

While Senyonjo has been removed from the Episcopate by the Church of Uganda, he continues to portray himself as an Anglican bishop. During his visit, Senyonjo was scheduled to meet at the White House with foreign policy officials of President Obama's administration.

A talk on June 8 between Robinson and Senyonjo began with opening remarks from Michael Posner, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Posner said he was there to "lend the support of the U.S. government to this very important subject."

"LGBT rights are human rights and we are working on a daily basis to promote them as we would any other human rights," Posner said.

"Where I hope we are headed is to discover the enormous diversity in human sexuality," Robinson said. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were as many sexualities as there are human beings?"

IRD Anglican Spokesman Jeff Walton commented:

"Not content to compel Americans to surrender to their agenda of constantly fluid notions of gender and sex, liberal Episcopalians who resent Africa's traditionalist beliefs now want the U.S. Government to compel poor African societies to bend to permissive, secular Western mores.

"These same liberal Episcopalians and other U.S. religionists are often indifferent to international religious persecution, even when churches around the world are under attack. For them, seemingly sexual freedom is more important than religious freedom."

Episcopal Church Consecrates First Openly Lesbian Bishop

From CNN

The Episcopal Church consecrated its first openly lesbian bishop Saturday in the face of objections from some conservative Anglicans.

The Rev. Mary Glasspool, 56, is a new bishop surrounded by controversy.

Conservative factions in the Anglican Communion, a 77 million-member denomination worldwide that includes the Episcopal Church, have opposed the ordination of gay bishops.

Glasspool is the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church since Gene Robinson took office in New Hampshire in 2004. Episcopalians instituted a temporary ban on gay bishops after Robinson's ordination but revoked that ban last summer.

The daughter of a priest, Glasspool was one of two openly gay candidates on the slate in the Los Angeles diocese. She has said that her sexual orientation is "not an issue."

Bishop Jon Bruno of Los Angeles called Glasspool, an ordained priest for 28 years, a "highly qualified and experienced" cleric.

"She's not afraid of conflict and is a reconciler," Bruno said, according to the Episcopal Church website.

He added that Glasspool and her partner of 19 years, Becki Sander, are an example of living service and ministry.

Glasspool is the second female bishop in the 114-year history of the Los Angeles diocese, consecrated just hours after the first, the Rev. Diane Bruce, was consecrated Saturday.

Glasspool's consecration drew opposition from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, who said Glasspool's ordination would deepen rifts in the Church.

It "raises very serious questions not just for the Episcopal Church and its place in the Anglican Communion, but for the Communion as a whole," said Rowan, according to the church's website.

The Church of Ireland also issued a strong condemnation. That church is part of the Anglican Communion in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

"We wish to express sorrow that Mary Glasspool, a person who is living in a same-sex relationship, is to be consecrated," the Church of Ireland said in a statement. "The elevation to senior church leadership of a person whose lifestyle is contrary to the will of God revealed in scripture is both wrong and disappointing."

Conservatives said the Episcopal Church was taking a provocative step that amounts to a deliberate snub to those in the church who believe homosexuality is a sin.

Expert Agrees that Pedophilia is Linked to Homosexuality

Our three year experience in the South Carolina blogosphere prompts two observations in regard to the following story:

1. Those who pillory the Church for its unconscionable problem with pedophilia, are the very sort who insist that homosexuals be admitted to ordained ministry.
   
   
2. "Aquilino Polaino, an expert in the field, previously pointed out that homosexuality should be considered a mental disease, and must be addressed with psychiatric treatment, ..." We are convinced daily of the truth in the good doctor's findings.
   

From the Catholic News Agency

The newspaper, El Diaro de Chile, published an article last week by Spanish psychologist Jose Maria Amenos Vidal titled, “Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and the scientific evidence that supports the relationship between homosexuality and pedophilia.” The author asserts that the cardinal was correct in affirming such a link during his visit to Chile.

Since 1984, Vidal has been a professor of Philosophy and Educational Science at the Central University of Barcelona, Spain, where he is also Director of Seminars in the Departments of General and Social Psychology.

In his article, Vidal recalls that the renowned Spanish doctor and psychiatrist, Aquilino Polaino, an expert in the field, previously pointed out that homosexuality should be considered a mental disease, and must be addressed with psychiatric treatment, under the guidance of the model set forth by Gerard J.M. van den Aardweg.

Aardweg is the Dutch professor and psychologist who years ago, “deciphered the keys to this illness and its treatment.” His model directly clashes with those of Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, Vidal said, “because orthodox and heterodox psychoanalysts have defended the unscientific position that homosexuality is the result of hereditary factors.” He noted that “this hypothesis … has been completely ruled out today because of its incongruence with the results of scientific research.”

He added that one can conclude that the “social environment is indeed (homosexuality's) main trigger.”

From this point of view, Vidal continued, “The recent statements by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, during his recent trip to Chile support the scientific evidence derived from statistical co-relational studies between homosexuality and pedophilia.”

Vidal said these studies show that homosexuality is not the result of genetic inheritance or of evolutionism in relation to pedophilia and that it is not disconnected from environmental influence.

Pope Benedict's Critics Don't Care About Kids

From The Washington Times
By George Neumayr

Since when have secularists and dissenting Catholics been experts on the protection of children?

These self-appointed reformers of the Catholic Church preside over a debased culture that abuses, aborts and corrupts children. That a reckless and depraved liberal elite would set itself up as moral tutor to Pope Benedict XVI is beyond satire.

Here we had on display during Holy Week the spectacle of the Vicar of Christ receiving moral instruction from Barabbas. Who turns orphans over to homosexual couples at adoption agencies? Who sends Planned Parenthood propagandists into schools? Who clears the streets of major cities for "gay-pride" parades with the North American Man/Boy Love Association in tow? It is the liberal elite who champion these child-corrupting practices. And wasn't it just last year that these enlightened protectors of children assembled at the golden coffin of Michael Jackson to pay their last respects? Where was the outrage about child corruption then?

The National Catholic Reporter, the flagship publication of dissenting Catholicism, which has joined the secularist posse hunting down Benedict, calls for a stern and unsparing investigation of him. This is the same publication that publishes the homilies of Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, one of which stated in 2002, at the height of the abuse scandal in America, that the "zero-tolerance" policy shouldn't apply to priests attracted to children above the age of puberty. "I do not support the 'zero tolerance' approach in every instance," he sniffed.

Another NCR article from 2002 stated: "Zero tolerance is a blunt object of punishment. All abuse is an offense against human dignity, but just as the severity of sins differs in traditional Catholic teaching, and the severity of punishment in civil law varies according to many factors, not all abuses are the same. In our overheated atmosphere, this is difficult for many to admit. A priest who briefly exposed himself to a teenager has not committed the same act as a priest who raped a minor."

Let's cut through the nonsense: The assault on Benedict last week had nothing to do with the protection of children and everything to do with the liberal elite's hatred for his orthodoxy. The three stooges - Maureen Dowd, Christopher Hitchens and Andrew Sullivan - are casting lots for his robe, not because they toss and turn at night worrying about a permissive priesthood, but because they hate the conservative teachings of the Catholic Church that Benedict embodies. They are still upset that the church elected a Catholic to the papacy rather than a modern liberal. Miss Dowd is using the abuse scandal to push her feminism, Mr. Hitchens his atheism and Mr. Sullivan his homosexual activism.

The truth is that Pope Benedict has done more to address the abuse scandal in the church than his predecessor, whose tenure never excited anywhere near this level of calls for resignation. The Associated Press even acknowledged as much: "Benedict took a much harder stance on sex abuse than John Paul II when he assumed the papacy five years ago, disciplining a senior cleric [the Rev. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ] championed by the Polish pontiff and defrocking others under a new policy of zero tolerance."

According to Reuters news agency on March 28, "Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, in defense of the pope, told ORF Austrian television on Sunday that Benedict wanted a full probe when former Vienna Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer was removed in 1995 for claimed sexual abuse of a boy. But other Curia officials persuaded then Pope John Paul that the media had exaggerated the case and an inquiry would only create more bad publicity. 'He told me, "the other side won," ' Schoenborn said."

So why is Benedict held to a higher standard than John Paul II? Is it because he's seen as more conservative by the liberal elite? Perhaps. Their unstated and perversely ironic objection to Benedict in the wake of the abuse scandal is not that he has pursued too few reforms but too many. Recall that the New York Times and other liberal newspapers roundly denounced him for one of his first major reforms as pope: a directive issued to bishops that banned the ordination of homosexuals. That is not the liberal elite's idea of reform, even though most of the abuse cases involve homosexual pederasty. Hence, they blame Benedict for a lax and dysfunctional priesthood while at the same time hectoring him for not letting homosexuals into it. They blame "celibacy" for the scandal (which rests on, among other inane assumptions, the idea the abusers were celibate in the first place) rather than acknowledge the role in it of the very low and aberrant seminary admission standards that they clamored for the church to embrace in the relativistic 1960s.

For all the opportunistic laments about "leniency" in recent days, their real hope for the church is not that it returns to her morally rigorous traditions but that it abolishes them. And it is precisely because Benedict stands in the way of this goal that they now go in for the kill.

George Neumayr is editor of Catholic World Report.

Episcopal Church USA Approves Lesbian Bishop

The Episcopal Church has approved the election of a lesbian assistant bishop in the Diocese of Los Angeles, making her the second openly homosexual bishop in the global Anglican Communion.

Episcopal conservatives said the approval of the Rev. Mary Glasspool was "grieving the heart of God."

Read the rest of this entry >>

Episcopal Church to Affirm 'Gay' Clergy

From OneNewsNow

Episcopalians are moving toward affirming an open role for homosexual clergy in their church despite pressure from fellow Anglicans not to do so.

Episcopal bishops voted at a national meeting yesterday for a statement that says "God has called and may call" homosexual men and women to ministry. Delegates to the meeting already approved a nearly identical statement. This latest version is likely to be approved by Friday.

Episcopalians caused an uproar in 2003 by consecrating the first openly homosexual bishop, Vicki Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. That decision has nearly split the world Anglican Communion, which includes Episcopalians.

To calm tensions, Episcopal leaders three years ago had urged restraint by dioceses considering homosexual candidates for bishop. No openly homosexual bishops have been consecrated since then.

Liberal Episcopalians Want More Homosexual Clergy

From OneNewsNow

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has joined seven other dioceses in passing a resolution asking the church to let lesbians as well as homosexual men become bishops.

The vote at the diocesan convention rejected the Episcopal Church's de facto moratorium on electing homosexual bishops since its 2003 consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who lives with his same-sex partner. The resolution will be considered at the Episcopal Church's national convention next July.

The Los Angeles diocese also expressed support for homosexual "marriage" with the creation of the "Sacramental Blessing for a Life-long Covenant."