Conservative Catholic Group Details New Sexual Scandal at Vatican City

10 38
Avatar for MarielB22
2 years ago

Amid the continuing sex scandals that have plagued the Roman Catholic Church for decades, arises yet another scandal: priests and Vatican staff have been caught red-handed using the homosexual dating app, Grindr.

And it's not just at Vatican City, but elsewhere: "St. Peter's Basilica, inside Vatican City government and Holy See's administration buildings, including those used by the Vatican's diplomatic staff, in residential buildings, and in the Vatican Gardens, both during daytime hours and overnight" (Durden, 2021).

What happened to the vow of celibacy and being holy?

In a breaking story from the New York Times, Liam (2021) states: "Mr. Flynn and Mr. Condon (who are the editors of The Pillar) said their work was motivated by a desire to expose a secretive culture of wrongdoing within the church."

Unfair judgment?

Are the editors of The Pillar being unfairly judgmental?

Not in the Biblical sense. God desires all believers to be holy. "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do" (1 Peter 1:15, NIV). We are called to be set apart from the world and its ungodliness. Sadly, the modern church has shifted away from its early roots, primarily because those who profess to believe have not become disciples and followed Jesus with all their hearts.

Matthew writes: "If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector" (Matthew 18:15-17, NIV).

Whether or not Flynn and Gordon pointed out the fault of those who solicited people on the app is doubtful. Is this acceptable? Yes. Why? The short answer is mercy. Neither of the men named names. They exposed the acts rather than the actors. The brought the darkness, which is from Satan, into light.

Church discipline

The early church leaders spoke often about sexual immorality. There are multiple passages (verses) about the topic. They were unafraid to enact church discipline.

"But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning" (1 Timothy 5:20, NIV).

Unfortunately, the contemporary church rarely practices church discipline, even where there are glaring instances of blatant sin. The unfortunate consequence is that the ministry of the church is undermined and the legitimacy of its message, the entirety of the gospel and its tenets, are cast into doubt.

Unbelievers, that is, those who have rejected the good news of the gospel, simply fortify their denial of God because of such sinful behavior. They do err and, like Pharaoh, further harden their hearts.

Even Mahatma Gandhi made this fatal and eternal error when he stated: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Unhappy

Pope Francis is livid, and rightly so. The last thing the Catholic Church needed was another sex scandal. It is true that many homosexuals have entered into the church. These men need to be excommunicated for their sins, as they are not worthy to teach nor preach.

The evangelical church, too!

I am a mere messenger of the news, and so I am not picking on the Catholic Church. The evangelical church is also guilty of sexual immorality among its leaders.

Hillsong Church founder "Frank Houston died in 2004 aged 82. He had confessed to having a sexual interest in young boys prior to his death, including abusing a boy, seven, in 1969 and 1970" (Stevens & Piotrowski, 2021).

Now his son Frank faces 5 years in the slammer for concealing his father's abuses. This is the classic sins of the father's passage, 24 of which are found in God's word:

"The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations" (Numbers 14:18, NASB).

Numerous other sexual sins have recently been exposed among leaders of Hillsong Church as well. Such behaviors are antithetical to biblical teaching. This is also true of numerous leaders of many other evangelical churches.

Revelation

To the church in Pergamum (modern İzmir, Turkey) it is written: "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth" (Revelation 2:14-16, NIV).

Parting admonishments

As Christians, we dare not tolerant sexual immorality. Judgment and church discipline must take place among us. If we fail to repent and follow Jesus, we will face His judgment. Let us hope Pope Francis addresses the above issue in a stern manner and cast out idolaters and those who commit sexual immorality. In like manner, evangelical leaders should as well.

References

Durden, T. (2021). Catholic Church's Latest Scandal: Reports of Priests Using Grindr In US And In Vatican. Zero Hedge. Retrieved from https://www.zerohedge.com/political/catholic-churchs-latest-scandal-reports-priests-using-grindr-us-and-vatican

Location-based apps pose security risk for Holy See. (2021). The Pillar. Retrieved from https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/location-based-apps-pose-security

Stack, L. (2021). Catholic Officials on Edge After Reports of Priests Using Grindr. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/20/nyregion/pillar-grindr-catholic-church.html

Stevens, K & Piotrowski, . (2021). Hillsong founder Brian Houston says he's 'devastated' by allegations he concealed his dad's child sex abuse - as MP blasts 'ungrateful twat' for jetting to Mexico while a 12-year-old girl in his parish took her own life. Daily Mail Australia. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9874741/Hillsong-founder-Brian-Houston-responds-allegations-concealed-fathers-sexual-abuse-boy.html

Sponsors of MarielB22
empty
empty
empty

9
$ 22.41
$ 11.09 from @Scotty17
$ 10.54 from @TheRandomRewarder
$ 0.68 from @RazorFist
+ 3
Sponsors of MarielB22
empty
empty
empty
Avatar for MarielB22
2 years ago

Comments

din afyondur. kitleler din eliyle uyuşturulur ve yönetilir. dünyanın her yerinde değişmez bu kural.

$ 0.00
2 years ago

This is just sad, but Church leaders are human too.. That's why Christianity must be base on a relationship with Christ and not just about church membership.

$ 0.01
2 years ago

Yes, very true.

$ 0.00
2 years ago

The modern churches are lukewarm. They teach false gospels, easy believism, event Christianity and are soft on the very sins Jesus suffered and died for. It's a stain on the blood on Christians.

$ 0.01
2 years ago

Tell me about it. You can also tell that my fellow countrymen won't even acknowledge it based on the views I have.

$ 0.01
2 years ago

They say that being homosexual is a sin, but I think this type of mindset is applicable for those people that make their vows in front of God and churches. Sadly, priest are influence by their surrounding that leads them to become homosexual, I don't know what I believe, it is to feel pity for them because they are also humans or curse them because they promised to serve God and not commit any sins.😔

$ 0.01
2 years ago

the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin and is not partial to just leaders but to all people. We ask them to repent and turn from sin ourselves. When Jesus was tempted, He quoted Scripture. We should follow His example.

$ 0.00
2 years ago

They're making fun of being a priest. I'm not insulting catholic but are they really the way to God just like what they claimed?

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Wow. Though I live in New York I do not read the New York Times. I'll check the New York Post and other websites to follow up on this.

$ 0.01
2 years ago

I'm sure the word will spread around rather quickly.

$ 0.00
2 years ago