Sex not sin outside Marriage for Pope?

Sex not sin outside Marriage for Pope?

james kottoor

                Pope Francis will preside over the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome from Oct.5 to 19. The object is to save marriages going to pieces the world over due to unheard of sexual orientations like cohabitation, lesbianism, homosexuality, temporary unions, sex outside marriage etc. declared sinful by ordinary people, especially by the Catholic Church.

                It was against this context that Pope Francis blessed the marriages of 20 couples irrespective of some being part of the above mentioned unapproved categories. What appears below is an opinion piece which appeared in the Deccan Chronicle of Sept.16. The question it raises is whether Francis Pappa is becoming a new Trendsetter for his Church and for the Family of man, what is more, whether he is giving an indirect indication to the Synod of Bishops, how they should think, reflect and decide to save the family of man in the 21^st century.

                Most of the bishops, reportedly are diametrically against the prevailing trend. In fact some 12 cardinals have already come out publicly in the form of interviews, articles and books jointly published, against the liberal views of the Pope. This is something quite new. Till now no bishop or cardinal had ever come out openly challenging the known  or suspected views of a Pope on a topic  proposed to be discussed, ahead of actual discussion. So the question is whether Francis is going to be a new TRENDSETTER  in the Catholic Church. The opinion piece follows:

Trendsetter at Vatican

(In Deccan Chronicle on Sept.16/14)

Pope Francis, center beneath a baldachin, weds twenty couples in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014. (Photo: Associated Press)

The Pope celebrated “forgiveness” by performing the marriages of 20 couples who were living outside the Catholic doctrine. It is an acceptance of modern reality but, perhaps, a gesture to be expected from the people’s Pope. Held as the ceremony was in St Peter’s Basilica, it carries a message far beyond the manuals and might of the Holy See. The world has changed since formal religion was founded, and never more than in the last 100 years or so of the Industrial Revolution.

Always the one to make the grand gesture likely to strike a chord most in the lay person, the Pope has once again blended the principles of religion with the practices of the modern age. Not that “living in sin” is not as old as the hills. In fact, there are places, like Haiti today, that have hardly known a formal relationship between man and woman called “marriage”. Likening families to “bricks that build society”, the Pope placed the primacy of a home and the relationships within above the pedantic rule book.

The gesture may not be hugely popular even within the flock of 1.2 billion Catholics led by Pope Francis. To undo the received wisdom of centuries that sex outside marriage is a sin, it must have taken more than a degree of boldness for the Shepherd to give his flock so much leeway while blessing his Church with a liberal outlook. May be, some day, the Church will be even more inclusive, which is important at a time when faith in general is not as strong as it was.