Here’s an interesting spin put on a story about the Catholic Church’s teachings on sexuality and the sacrament of marriage and suitability to receive Communion. Two Nova Scotian Catholic homosexuals had a civil same-sex marriage ceremony and then placed an advertisement in the local newspaper. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Halifax then informed the men’s parish priest that they were to be denied Communion, presumably under the provisions of Canon 915: “Those who are excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or declaration of the penalty and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to Holy Communion.”
This is how the Chronicle Herald newspaper chose to portray the situation:
A Roman Catholic couple say they’re being driven from the church over the archbishop’s opposition to their same-sex union. ... “For seven years, we’ve been accepted by the people of the community and the people that go to church,” he said. “There hasn’t been a problem.” The archbishop is denying them something that’s integral to their faith because renouncing their way of life is out of the question, Mr. Murphy said. “We were born this way,” he said. “God has created us this way and the way that we live is blessed by God.”
For such “devout” Catholics they seem awfully selective in the aspects of Catholicism they embrace. In fact, a “devout” Catholic acknowledges that the Holy Spirit guides the Church in her teachings and does not lead individuals to revelation that is in opposition to that which has been revealed through the Magisterium.
The newspaper’s biased version of the story
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