As widely reported in the Catholic media, the notorious Fr. James Martin SJ will be one of the main speakers at the upcoming 9th World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in Dublin, Ireland (August 21-24, 2018). His topic will be "Exploring how Parishes can support those families with members who identify as LGBTI+."Martin claims that he was invited to speak at this event by the Vatican and the Archdiocese of Dublin.
The event's official website points out that "Amoris Laetitia is the guiding theme of all three days of the Pastoral Congress and of all the topics chosen." The whole event will have around 200 speakers, however, Martin will be one of the keynote speakers. It is significant that the "Highlights from the Pastoral Programme" on the event website names only him, and Cardinal Tagle of Manila, among those making presentations.
On the same day that Fr. Martin's involvement in WMOF was announced, Irish media reported that according to Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, "LGBT couples" are considered "welcome" to volunteer at the event. (‘Of course’ LGBT couples welcome to volunteer says Archbishop: ‘It’s also a Catholic event’.)
The Irish Church continues its rapid journey to the bottom.
The Irish Church continues its rapid journey to the bottom.
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This news comes a few weeks after Archbishop Matteo Zuppi's public endorsement of Martin's "Building a Bridge" in a preface that he wrote for this book's Italian edition. Zuppi, 62, appointed Archbishop of Bologna in 2015 by Pope Francis to succeed the redoubtable Carlo Cardinal Caffarra, is sometimes called the "Bergoglio of Italy". When he was appointed Rorate expressed hope that he would be "a worthy successor of the faithful Cardinal Caffarra in the defense of Christian morality". Unfortunately, Zuppi and the other bishops of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy went on to release "guidelines" on Amoris Laetitia that open the doors for communion for those in adulterous "divorced-and-remarried" relationships. (The guidelines were publicly condemned by prominent Italian Traditionalist priest Don Alfredo Morselli.) With his endorsement of Martin's approach to homosexuals, Zuppi's has clearly betrayed the legacy of Cardinal Caffarra, who shortly before his death denounced the "ennoblement of homosexuality" as a clear sign of the confrontation between Christ and Satan.
