Rhode Island Bishop to Celebrate Mass at Homosexual Gatherings: Is Faith Yielding to Ideology?

In the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the Diocese of Providence has announced four gatherings intended for "LGBTQ+ individuals, their families, and friends." Bishop Bruce Lewandowski will also participate, offering Holy Mass. However, the diocese avoids answering the essential question: will participants be invited to convert and will they be offered confession according to Catholic Church teaching?

Program of Gatherings and Ambiguities

As announced on the diocese's website, the gatherings are divided into three parts: small group discussions during which the bishop and his collaborators will listen to "life experiences," followed by Holy Mass, and finally a common dinner. The introduction quotes Pope Francis's words: "Everyone, everyone, everyone" — supposedly the Church is the Mother of all.

Nevertheless, the Lepanto Institute, which drew attention to these events, received a refusal from diocesan representatives to answer how such gatherings align with Church teaching on human nature and morality. Institute representatives posed two specific questions: why the diocese uses the ideological term "LGBTQ+", which is absent from the traditional Church lexicon, and whether participants in the gatherings will be offered Holy Confession and a call to repentance.

Diocese's Response and Cardinal Zeno's Remarks

The diocese's communications director, Michael F. Kieloch, justified these gatherings as part of "pastoral responsibility": supposedly the bishop must know the spiritual needs of the souls entrusted to him. However, such a response does not reveal whether Church teaching on homosexual acts, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls "a grave form of depravity" and "contrary to the natural law," will be upheld at the events.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Joseph Zenas, in his blog, spoke out strongly against what he called "LGBT sins," reminding that homosexual acts "totally violate the Creator's plan for humanity" and are called "an abomination to God" in Sacred Scripture. These words sound like a contrast to the diocese's chosen tone of "listening."

Sacred Scripture calls homosexual acts "an abomination to God," and Church tradition has always taught that they are "intrinsically disordered."

What Does This Situation Show?

This case raises a fundamental question: are the Church's shepherds, in seeking to "listen," losing the courage to proclaim the truth? Pastoral love does not require silence about sin, but on the contrary — it invites conversion and living according to God's law. We hope that Bishop Lewandowski will not forget this duty in his gatherings.

Source: Vigilare.info — https://vigilare.info