'All is not well with Nigeria' Catholic Bishops say as they meet with GEJ

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, a body of Nigerian priest,

paid a visit to Pres. Jonathan yesterday at the State House to express

concern over increasing attacks by Boko Haram members in the North

East.

The groups president and Archbishop of Jos diocese, Bishop Ignatius

Kaigama, who spoke with newsmen after their closed door meeting with

President Jonathan, said they were at the state house to talk about

lack of security in Nigeria and find out what the government is doing

about it...

"We feel that things are not right. Territorially, our land is being

taken away; the people we look after are displaced, their homes,

their villages and towns are captured and they are internally

displaced, being refugees in their own land.

We thought this is not right. We have families that are just

stranded. We thought that the President should know. As

Catholics, we have laid a good structure for relief and taking care

of such situation, we want the government to collaborate with

us. We just wanted to remind him of things he already knows,

there was nothing we said that was new, we just wanted to lay

emphasis and we wanted him to know we are concerned. The

President is already doing his bit; he has assured us that he is on

top of the situation"

Bishop Kaigama argued that although muslims have also been killed

during the various attacks, the primary aim of Boko Haram is to wipe

out Christianity and islamiatize Nigeria

"When we admit that some Muslims are also targeted, we want to

believe that the principal aim and concern of Boko Haram is to

eliminate Christianity and pave the way for total Islamization of

the country" he saidHow

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Shoking! Catholic Church set to welcome Homos*xuals

From what We observed, modernization and civilization are
really taking a toll on decent way of life. And it is becoming
increasingly difficult to hold on to old beliefs in the world
today.

In a dramatic shift in tone, Catholic bishops released a
document Monday saying that homos*xuals had “gifts and
qualities to offer” and asked if Catholicism could accept gays
and recognise positive aspects of same-s*x couples.

Roman Catholic gay rights groups have hailed the paper as a
breakthrough, but church conservatives called it a betrayal of
traditional family values.
The document, prepared after a week of discussions at an
assembly of 200 bishops, said the Church should challenge
itself to find “a fraternal space” for homosexuals without
compromising Catholic doctrine on family and matrimony…

While the text did not signal any change in the Church’s
condemnation of homosexual acts or gay marriage, it used less
judgmental and more compassionate language than that seen
in Vatican statements prior to the 2013 election of Pope
Francis.

“Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer the Christian
community: are we capable of welcoming these people,
guaranteeing to them a further space in our communities?
Often they wish to encounter a Church that offers them a
welcoming home,” said the document, known by its Latin
name “relatio”.

“Are our communities capable of proving that, accepting and
valuing their s*xual orientation, without compromising
Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?” it asked.
New Ways Ministry, a leading US Catholic gay rights group,
called it a “major step forward”, praising it for being devoid of
the “major gloom and doom and apocalyptic horror” that
accompanied previous Vatican pronouncements on gay
people.

The London-based Catholic gay rights group QUEST called
parts of it “a breakthrough in that they acknowledge that such
unions have an intrinsic goodness and constitute a valuable
contribution to wider society and the common good.”

‘Betrayal’

But John Smeaton, co-founder of the conservative group Voice
of the Family, was less than happy with the Vatican’s apparent
change in direction.
“Those who are controlling the synod have betrayed Catholic
parents worldwide,” he said, calling it “one of the worst
official documents drafted in Church history”.

The Vatican document will be the basis for discussion for the
second and final week of the bishops’ assembly, also known as
a synod. It will also serve for further reflection among
Catholics around the world ahead of another, definitive synod
next year.

A number of participants at the closed-door gathering have
said the Church should tone down its condemnatory language
when referring to gay couples and avoid phrases such as
“intrinsically disordered” when speaking of homos*xuals.

That was the phrase used by former Pope Benedict in a
document written before his election, when he was still
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and head of the Vatican’s doctrinal
department.
The language and tone of Monday’s document, read to the
assembly in the presence of Pope Francis, appeared to show
that the advocates of a more inclusive tone towards gays and
Catholics in so-called “irregular situations”—such as
unmarried couples and those who have divorced—had
prevailed.

It said that the 1.2 billion-member Church should see the
development of its position on homos*xuals as “an important
educational challenge” for the global institution.
While the Church continued to affirm that same-s*x unions
“cannot be considered on the same footing as matrimony
between man and woman”, it should recognise that there
could be positive aspects to relationships in same-s*x couples.

“Without denying the moral problems connected to
homos*xual unions it has to be noted that there are cases in
which mutual aid to the point of sacrifice constitutes a
precious support in the life of the partners,” the document
said.

The paper also said there were “constructive elements” to
heteros*xual couples who were married only in civil services
or who were living together, but stressed that Church
marriages were “the ideal”.
Pope Francis has said the Church must be more compassionate
with homos*xuals, saying last year, “If a person is gay and
seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge.”

Catholic Church is coming to a conclusion that homos*xual
tendencies are not sinful, but the acts are.

Source: Gurusloaded

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