Sunday, March 17, 2013

Fr. Thomas Smolich, S.J., "We Are Called To Encounter Christ In The People We Meet."

Fr. Thomas Smolich, S.J.
Strict adherence to doctrine is not typically a focus of Jesuits, and Jesuit institutions are magnets for Catholics who disagree openly with church orthodoxy on issues such as celibacy or female priests. But neither do Jesuits tend to rally publicly against church teaching. Politically speaking, Francis is an atypical Jesuit. As a cardinal in Argentina, he led a public fight against same-sex marriage — reportedly after failing to broker a deal supporting civil unions — and has said that gay adoption is a form of discrimination against children. There are no data on whether the typical Jesuit disagrees with the new pope (and official church teaching) on matters such as gay marriage. But questioning a Jesuit on hot-button sexual topics usually elicits a nonjudgmental response. “We are called to encounter Christ in the people we meet. The typical Jesuit starting point is the experience of people,” Fr. Thomas Smolich, S.J. said. “Out of that, we might be more nuanced or more sensitive or more compassionate, in terms of how various church teachings are experienced by people in the pews.”
Link (here) to The Washington Post

2 comments:

N.D. said...

If you are not following The True God, The God that desires that we overcome our disordered inclinations, including our disordered sexual inclinations, so that we are not led into temptation, but rather sin no more, you are not following The God of our Salvation, The Ordered, Complementary Communion Of Perfect Love That Is The Blessed Trinity. God Is Love. Love exists in relationship. Our Call to Holiness is a call to witness to The Truth of Love and reflect Christ's Love to the people we meet. God desires that we develop healthy and Holy relationships and friendships that are grounded in authentic Love.

N.D. said...

Let us hope Pope Francis did not try to "broker a deal" and in essence, compromise The Word of God, The Truth of Love, or we would have a Pope who is not in communion with Christ's One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and thus an anti Pope. ( Catholic Canon 750)