<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><h1><font size="4">Pope Francis says ‘circumstances’ may ‘eliminate fault’ of sodomy in letter to Fr. James Martin</font></h1><font size="4">
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</div><div><font size="6"><b>St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, contrary to <font size="4">what Pope Francis claimed, </font>that
circumstances can never wholly remove the guilt of grave sin for an
action that is known to be gravely sinful and is yet chosen anyway. <br></b></font></div><div><font size="6"><b>
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<span>Mon Jan 30, 2023 - 12:05 pm EST</span></div><div><span><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/pope-francis-stresses-circumstances-in-new-letter-to-fr-james-martin-about-homosexuality/?utm_source=daily-catholic-2023-01-31&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/pope-francis-stresses-circumstances-in-new-letter-to-fr-james-martin-about-homosexuality/?utm_source=daily-catholic-2023-01-31&utm_medium=email</a></span> </div>
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<p>VATICAN CITY (<a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/" target="_blank"><span>LifeSiteNews</span></a><span>)
— In his most recent remarks on homosexuality, Pope Francis appears to
teach situational ethics, positing that circumstances may remove
altogether the guilt of grave sin for homosexual acts.</span><span> </span></p>
<p>The <a href="https://outreach.faith/2023/01/pope-francis-clarifies-comments-on-homosexuality-one-must-consider-the-circumstances/?_thumbnail_id=4545" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><span>comments</span></a><span>
came in response to questions sent to the Pope by fellow Jesuit Fr.
James Martin, notorious for his heretical push for acceptance of
homosexual unions and lifestyles within the Church. Following an </span><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-francis-says-homosexuality-is-not-a-crime-in-interview-with-the-associated-press/" target="_blank"><span>interview</span></a><span> the Pope gave to the </span>Associated Press<span>,
which was published in several articles last week, in which the pontiff
called for the decriminalization of sodomy throughout the world and
branded faithful Catholic bishops defending such laws as being in need
of “</span><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/pope-francis-says-bishops-who-encourage-anti-sodomy-laws-need-conversion-says-church-must-fight-such-laws/" target="_blank"><span>conversion</span></a><span>,” Fr. Martin asked the Pope to “clarify” his comment that “Being gay is a sin.”</span><span> </span></p>
<div><ins id="m_-6578437964941413220gmail-revive-0-1" style="text-decoration:none"><div id="m_-6578437964941413220gmail-beacon_bb324cfc73"><img src="https://ads.lifesitenews.com/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=0&campaignid=0&zoneid=1&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lifesitenews.com%2Fanalysis%2Fpope-francis-stresses-circumstances-in-new-letter-to-fr-james-martin-about-homosexuality%2F%3Futm_source%3Ddaily-catholic-2023-01-31%26utm_medium%3Demail&cb=bb324cfc73" alt="" style="width:0px;height:0px" width="0" height="0"></div></ins></div><p>“There
seems to have been some confusion about your comment, ‘Being gay is a
sin,’ which, of course, is not part of church teaching.” Martin wrote.
“My feeling was that you were simply repeating what others might say
hypothetically. So, do you think that simply being gay is a sin?” <span> </span></p>
<p>Pope Francis replied with a handwritten note. In the letter, he
insisted that the criminalization of homosexual acts “is neither good
nor just,” doubling down on what he had said in the AP interview, which
was the first time a pope has ever called for the decriminalization of
sodomy. <span>“I wanted to clarify that it is not a crime, in order to
stress that criminalization is neither good nor just… And I would tell
whoever wants to criminalize homosexuality that they are wrong,” the
Pope declared to Martin.</span><span> </span></p>
<p>Then the pontiff seemed to affirm Catholic teaching that homosexual acts are indeed a sin, just as “<span>every sexual act outside of marriage is a sin</span><i><span>.</span></i><span>”
However, the Pope then stated that “one must also consider the
circumstances, which may decrease or eliminate fault.” As the Pope
continued, he seemed to distance himself from affirming the universal
objective sinfulness of such acts, saying, “As you can see, I was
repeating something in general. I should have said ‘It is a sin, as is
any sexual act outside of marriage.’ This is to speak of ‘the matter’ of
sin, but we know well that Catholic morality not only takes into
consideration the matter, but also evaluates freedom and intention; and
this, for every kind of sin.”</span><span> </span></p>
<p>St. Thomas Aquinas teaches, contrary to what Pope Francis claimed, that circumstances can <i><span>never</span></i><span>
wholly remove the guilt of grave sin for an action that is known to be
gravely sinful and is yet chosen anyway. He also teaches that human
choice is always free because the will cannot be forced. </span></p>
<p>If someone is externally forced to commit a bodily act, as when a
woman is raped, that act is not chosen by the one who is forced. Human
law acknowledges as much. So, anything that is actually chosen is freely
chosen because the will is inherently free, which means that any
gravely sinful action that is chosen is <i><span>freely</span></i><span>
chosen. It is from this that the guilt of grave sin arises: from a
gravely sinful object that is known to be such and is yet chosen. </span><span> </span></p>
<div><ins id="m_-6578437964941413220gmail-revive-0-3" style="text-decoration:none"><div id="m_-6578437964941413220gmail-beacon_0584dc97e7"><img src="https://ads.lifesitenews.com/www/delivery/lg.php?bannerid=0&campaignid=0&zoneid=2&loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lifesitenews.com%2Fanalysis%2Fpope-francis-stresses-circumstances-in-new-letter-to-fr-james-martin-about-homosexuality%2F%3Futm_source%3Ddaily-catholic-2023-01-31%26utm_medium%3Demail&cb=0584dc97e7" alt="" style="width:0px;height:0px" width="0" height="0"></div></ins></div><p>This teaching was reiterated and elevated to the level of definitive papal magisterium by Pope John Paul II in <i><span>Veritatis Splendor</span></i><span>,
when he taught that there are certain actions which always and
everywhere are gravely sinful when chosen by man, prior to and
independent of any consideration of circumstances or intention. The
proposal that the sinfulness of human actions can never be judged based
simply upon the sinfulness of the object chosen and prior to a
consideration of circumstances was expressly condemned by John Paul II
as a heresy that undermines the universal prohibitions that God Himself
has revealed to man in the Ten Commandments.</span><span> </span></p>
<p>Since homosexual acts, together with <span>every sexual act outside
of marriage, are objectively gravely sinful, and are known to be such by
the Catholic who knows what the Church teaches, these acts cannot be
chosen without incurring the guilt of mortal sin. This judgment in no
way requires any consideration of circumstances or motive. As the Church
has definitively taught, these acts are gravely sinful always and
everywhere because of their object. When a person knowingly chooses such
an object, they necessarily incur the guilt of grave sin.</span><span> </span></p>
<p>Therefore, not all moral judgments rest upon an action’s
circumstances. The Church has definitively taught this, in spite of what
Fr. James Martin or Pope Francis might say to the contrary.<span> </span></p>
<p>The Pope’s comments come amid a clear
attempt within the Church’s hierarchy to regularize sodomy. Last week
saw Fr. James Martin <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/fr-james-martin-defends-pete-buttigiegs-same-sex-marriage-as-legal-legitimate/" target="_blank"><span>defend</span></a><span>
homosexual Pete Buttigieg’s same-sex union as a “marriage” — comments
that drew fire from Bishop Joseph Strickland, who called same-sex unions
“</span><a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-strickland-calls-attempts-to-redefine-marriage-an-unhealthy-pursuit/" target="_blank"><span>living a fiction</span></a><span>.” </span><span> </span></p>
San Diego’s Cardinal Robert McElroy then issued a lengthy <a href="https://www.lifesitenews.com/analysis/us-cardinal-demands-homosexuals-in-mortal-sin-be-given-communion-women-be-ordained-deacons/" target="_blank"><span>letter</span></a><span>
calling for Holy Communion to be given to those who engage in
homosexual acts, deriding the Church’s clear teaching on the grave
sinfulness of these acts. McElroy’s letter is but the latest explicit
endorsement of sodomy on the part of the cardinal, who in many ways
supports and aggressively pushes for acceptance of homosexual actions
and lifestyles within the Church.</span><span> </span>
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