DUBLIN (ChurchMilitant.com) - The lineup at this fall's World Meeting of Families (WMOF) features some of the world's most revolutionary bishops pushing a leftist path for the Church.
Scheduled for August in Dublin, Ireland, the meeting — which will include a visit by Pope Francis — will feature the following prelates, among others:
- Cdl. Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, Illinois
- Cdl. Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey
- Cdl. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, England
- Cdl. Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, Austria
- Cdl. Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, D.C.
- Cdl. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay (Mumbai), India
- Cdl. Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Each one of these cardinals has promoted a more "progressive" future for Catholicism.
Chicago's Cdl. Blase Cupich has offered a radical new vision for the Church, proposing a paradigm where homosexuality and other types of unions are accepted, going so far as to suggest that active homosexuals should be able to receive Holy Communion based on their "conscience."
Among Cdl. Joseph Tobin's first acts after receiving the red hat was to welcome an LGBT pilgrimage and Mass at his cathedral, where the topic of chastity was ignored. Tobin has also criticized the Dubia cardinals for questioning Amoris Laetitia and the possibility of offering Holy Communion to the divorced and remarried, contrary to longstanding Church teaching and discipline. The cardinal endured embarrassment last year after a private tweet sent to a female individual simply saying "Nighty night, baby" was accidentally posted to his public Twitter account. Tobin later claimed it was a tweet meant for his sister.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, allowed a gay Mass to continue for six years in London, until it was moved to a Jesuit parish on Farm Street, where it continues to this day. He came under fire recently for siding with Alder Hey Hospital against the parents of Alfie Evans, the sick toddler allowed to die after the hospital refused to let him transfer to a Vatican hospital for further treatment.
Each one of these cardinals has promoted a more "progressive" future for Catholicism.Tweet
Vienna's Cdl. Christoph Schönborn has praised active gay unions, defending "stable unions" of homosexuals: "[T]hey share their joys and sufferings, they help one another. It must be recognized that this person took an important step for his own good and the good of others ... ." The cardinal also reinstated a homosexual on a parish council after the priest removed him for causing scandal.
Cardinal Donald Wuerl of D.C. has promoted the possibility of offering Holy Communion to the divorced and remarried, and even punished a priest for denying the Eucharist — per Canon 915 — to a Buddhist lesbian at Mass, ensuring the priest was kicked out of his archdiocese and unable to offer further public ministry there.
Bombay's Cdl. Oswald Gracias has said the Church "needs" homosexuals, telling dissident group New Ways Ministry in a 2015 interview that the Church "must be all-embracing, inclusive," and must get rid of language that calls same-sex attraction a "disorder" and intrinsically "evil," expressing hopes the Church would start using "gentler language, not judgmental language."
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, nicknamed the "Vice Pope" for his closeness to and level of influence over Pope Francis, is embroiled in a financial scandal, investigated by the Vatican for allegedly mishandling millions of dollars of parishioners' money in questionable foreign investments, as well as receiving large sums from the Honduran government through a Church-controlled agency.
At the center of the financial scandal was Auxiliary Bp. Juan Pineda, alleged to have used some of the money to fund a homosexual lifestyle. According to the widow of a Vatican diplomat, Maradiaga punished priests who accused Pineda of misconduct. Two seminarians have accused Pineda of sexual harassment, claiming they are not the only ones to have been propositioned by the bishop. According to the widow, Martha Alegría Reichmann, Maradiaga "has always covered and protected him." The cardinal has denied the charges.
Anthony Murphy, director of Lumen Fidei Institute in Ireland, issued a statement expressing grave concerns about the LGBT agenda on display at the WMOF, in particular the keynote address offered by Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin:
It must sicken the heart of every faithful Catholic to learn that a keynote address will be given by the controversial priest, Father James Martin, S.J. With this choice of speaker the Archbishop of Dublin once again signals his support for the homosexual agenda and he assists the promotion of confusion and dissent in the Church. Father Martins record is not a good one; rather than leading same-sex attracted people to Christ, he encourages them to live out their disordered attraction by telling them that the Church approves of their lifestyles. Martin tells sexually confused or compromised men and women that there is nothing wrong with what they do.
Murphy notes Martin's criticism of the Catechism, which teaches that same-sex acts are acts of "grave depravity" and "intrinsically disordered," and that "under no circumstances can they be approved."
"In short, he is a dissenter and he is leading vulnerable people into sin; there is no charity and no love in this approach," Murphy continues. "It is a great pity and neglect of pastoral care for WMOF to offer a platform to one who openly dissents from Church teaching while ignoring the work of the Courage Apostolate."
The WMOF has manifested a pro-LGBT slant from its inception, with an early promotional video conspicuously featuring gay-friendly voices.
The promo was yanked and edited after outcry over the words of featured bishop David Connelly, who mentioned same-sex families as a legitimate family configuration.
Abp. Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, whose archdiocese is hosting the WMOF, has traditionally shown himself weak towards, and in some cases accepting of, homosexuality. On the day same-sex marriage was legalized by national referendum in 2015, Martin stated, "I appreciate how gay and lesbian men and women feel on this day, that they feel this is something that is enriching the way they live. I think it is a social revolution."
Martin, who sits on the board of trustees of St. Patrick's Seminary in Maynooth (Ireland's national seminary), has done little in the wake of gay scandals that have wracked the school for years. When seminarians were caught using the gay dating app Grindr to hook up sexually with other men, Martin transferred one of the homosexual seminarians at the center of the scandal to Rome, where he currently continues his studies.
With at least 30,000 already registered for the Dublin event, this will be the largest World Meeting of Families since its 1994 launch in Rome.