{"id":12212,"date":"2013-04-17T13:23:14","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T19:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/?p=12212"},"modified":"2014-12-29T17:08:14","modified_gmt":"2014-12-30T00:08:14","slug":"cardinal-wuerl-speaks-out-for-priest-who-is-under-fire-for-teaching-homosexuals-are-called-to-celibacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/2013\/04\/cardinal-wuerl-speaks-out-for-priest-who-is-under-fire-for-teaching-homosexuals-are-called-to-celibacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinal Wuerl Speaks Out for Priest Who is Under Fire for Teaching Homosexuals are Called to Celibacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\n<\/strong>\n

Cardinal Wuerl used his homily at George Washington University to make it clear that he stands behind the priest who is under fire on that campus, Father Greg Shaffer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two gay activists attacked<\/a> Father Shaffer recently because the priest teaches that chastity for homosexual people means that they are called to celibacy. The stated purpose of the attacks on the priest was to have him removed from campus ministry and to either force the Newman Center where he is assigned to stop teaching Catholic morality.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Wuerl\u2019s homily seems to indicate that Father Shaffer has the confidence of his Cardinal. This takes the possibility of him losing his assignment off the table.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s up to the university to decide if they are going to jump into this and try to close the Newman Center or if they will allow freedom of thought and speech on their campus as they have up to now.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Wuerl\u2019s homily, excerpted from CNA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI want to offer a word of support and encouragement to your chaplain, Father Greg Shaffer\u2026and to stand in solidarity with a good priest,\u201d the archbishop of Washington said April 14.<\/span>

His remarks come\u00a0<\/span>as two gay students said the Newman Center chaplain<\/a>\u00a0had told individuals who came to him for counseling that if they experience same-sex attraction, they should remain celibate.<\/span>

Asserting that this was anti-gay behavior, the two students have launched a campaign to force Fr. Shaffer off the campus of the private university.<\/span>

Cardinal Wuerl reflected on the duty of bishops and priests to \u201cfeed Jesus\u2019 flock,\u201d and considered to whom \u201cJesus\u2019 flock\u201d refers.<\/span><\/p>\n


Christ\u2019s flock are those who freely choose to follow Christ and be a part of his Church, the cardinal said, and that those who choose not to follow Christ are not forced to do so.<\/span>

\u201cWe propose the ways of the kingdom of God in terms that the world can understand and examine, in terms they may freely accept or reject.\u201d<\/span>

When Christ himself was faced with those who would not follow his teachings, he \u201cdid not respond by changing the teaching,\u201d Cardinal Wuerl noted.<\/span>

\u201cEven when they said to him you need to be current, you need to be contemporary, you need to be politically correct, you need to be with the times, Jesus did not say, \u2018Oh, then, I will change my teaching.\u2019\u201d<\/span>

Christ continues to offer unchanging truths today, which cannot be changed to \u201cconform with any particular cultural demand,\u201d he said.<\/span>

\u201cYet, there are those who claim that voices for the Gospel should be silenced, that we should be silenced. There are those who say there is no room for any other view but their own.\u201d<\/span>

Cardinal Wuerl said that this experience is not new to the Church, and she has always bore the brunt of \u201cnarrow-minded discrimination and blind bigotry.\u201d<\/span>

He urged a need to preserve and protect religious liberty in the face of attempts to silence priests lest they \u201cbe allowed to engage in dialogue with our culture.\u201d<\/span>

Just because there are forces in society wishing to change marriage and to deny the dignity of human life and natural law, that \u201cdoes not mean that the rest of us no longer have a place in this society,\u201d the archbishop stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cardinal Wuerl used his homily at George Washington University to make it clear that he stands behind the priest who is under fire on that campus, Father Greg Shaffer.\u00a0 Two gay activists attacked Father Shaffer recently because the priest teaches that chastity for homosexual people means that they are called to celibacy. The stated purpose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,10,40,726,549,1304,1],"tags":[2628,3395,3396,3394,3209,233,3173],"class_list":["post-12212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","category-catholic","category-christianity-2","category-following-christ","category-freedom-of-speech-2","category-religious-freedom-2","category-uncategorized","tag-cardinal-wuerl","tag-catholic-homosexuals","tag-father-greg-shaffer","tag-gay-people","tag-george-washington-university","tag-homosexual","tag-homosexuality"],"yoast_head":"\nCardinal Wuerl Speaks Out for Priest Who is Under Fire for Teaching Homosexuals are Called to Celibacy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cardinal Wuerl used his homily at George Washington University to make it clear that he stands behind the priest 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