Pro-gay lobbyists seem unstoppable: Church Official
Published on: Saturday, September 26, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: While the world is bracing for the powerful gay-agenda lobbyists who seem unstoppable in imposing their brand of moral values onto weaker nations around the world, that problem does not seem to be of any concern for Malaysians, for now.In an interview with a Roman Catholic Church prelate Archbishop Savio Hon recently, the secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican said this problem should be the furthest from the people's minds as he did not see the stance of the majority in the country, strengthened by their conservative religious faith, will be swayed by any lobbyists anytime soon."What is more important though is for the people here, Catholics especially, to be grounded and rooted in the teachings of their religion. Granted, this evil power is growing stronger every day and it compelled you to ask, should we worry that it would one day come to our shore?ADVERTISEMENT "For Malaysia, at the moment, this is not a problem. But we must be compassionate also to those who suffer from same-sex attraction that they will not live in accordance to their desire but put God first," he said.In terms of same-sex marriage, Hon said while some European countries and some parts of the United States have legalised it, there is no reason why other countries must follow suit just to be 'one of the big boys'.Immorality, including high divorce rate, he said would only lead to the destruction of the families, which in turn would destroy the whole society and lead to chaos.In the upcoming Synod on the Family to be held in the Vatican in October, Hon admitted there are groups that are pushing for a drastic reform to the Church's long-held doctrine and teachings on marriage including softening her stance on gay marriage.ADVERTISEMENT "I must be careful when I make statements because as the Holy Father Pope Francis said, you say Do-Re-Mi-Fa, and the media will write Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do. So, all I am going to say is, there is no such thing as too much compassion when it comes to dealing with the human person."However, truth must prevail. Too many people are suffering because of their marital status, they divorced and remarried, and because of this, they could not participate fully in the life of the Church. As a result they become bitter. I think the Synod will address these issues.
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"But do not speculate too much or too early. Trust that whatever happens, it would be because God had allowed it," he said.Hon said that some of the more liberal cardinals actually tried to change some of the Church's teaching on sexuality 'to keep it updated in line with the time' during a similar synod last year, but their attempt failed."I will not be surprised if they tried again this year," he said.The Catholic blogosphere had been buzzing for quite a while now that a group of powerful cardinals, will be trying to impose their personal agenda such as allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion as well as softening the tone of the Church on same-sex unions.A fortnight ago however, 11 cardinals decided to counter the earlier group by forming an alliance, vowing to uphold the Church's tradition and doctrines with many other cardinals and bishops, particularly from Africa and Asia, are expected to side with the conservatives.Meanwhile, being a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Hon said in ecumenical dialogue between the Church and the Protestant groups, he would usually prefer to think of it as a meeting of minds and hearts towards the same goal which is God."We start from our respective viewpoints and from there, we move closer towards our end goal which is unity. Of course, not to compromise on truth and doctrines but we dialogue like brothers should and try to understand each other's point of view.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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"I have been very heavily involved in ecumenism especially here in Asia. As Catholics, I think we need to be firm in our doctrines but willing to listen because we learn from each other," he said.Archbishop Hon was consecrated in Rome on Jan 5, 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI. He has been tirelessly pursuing the release from prison of two imprisoned bishops in China, although little has been achieved so far.