Fr. Unterhalt: Cardinal Marx’s promotion of LGBT agenda ‘betrays both the Lord and humanity’

It was recently announced that Cardinal Marx intends to introduce the guidelines “Segen gibt der Liebe Kraft” (“Blessing Gives Love Strength”) in his diocese for couples who cannot enter into a sacramental marriage. The brochure from the so-called Synodal Path is thus intended to become the “foundation of pastoral care” and to apply equally to divorced and remarried couples, same-sex couples, and queer couples. The bishop’s directive was given additional weight by the stipulation that no couple should be turned away. However, the internal letter was apparently not intended to be made public, as no announcement appeared in the official gazette.

Against this backdrop, it becomes clear why Pope Benedict XVI contacted his successor as Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 2021 “to express his ‘great concern’ regarding the synodal process in Germany.” The pontiff was convinced that “this path would ‘cause harm and end badly if it is not stopped.’” Pope Benedict himself had emphasized in his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, in light of the situation of divorced and remarried persons, that “it must be avoided in every case to bless these unions, so that no confusion arises among the faithful regarding the value of marriage.” Here, genuine pastoral care is needed, one grounded in the truth.

Every human being is willed by the Most High and called into existence as a person. Therefore, one cannot determine or change one’s own gender. The order of creation blessed by God states: “Created as man and woman, he has called them in marriage to an intimate communion of life and mutual love.” For “the conjugal union of man and woman, founded by the Creator and endowed with its own laws, is by its very nature ordered toward the communion and well-being of the spouses, as well as toward the procreation and upbringing of children.”

Created in the image of the Triune God, who is eternal love, human beings are called to purity (cf. Mt 5:8). The Decalogue clearly points the way and safeguards this calling. It follows, therefore, that sexual relations outside of a marriage valid before God constitute a grave violation of the sixth commandment and deeply defile those involved. The warning against sexual immorality expressed in the New Testament (cf. 1 Cor 6:18–20) cannot be dismissed if one does not wish to deceive and mislead people in a synodal manner.

The Creator has given His commandments to save us and lead us to eternal life. Based on the clear biblical message, the constant Magisterium of the Catholic Church has therefore always declared that homosexual practices are among the grave sins that constitute a grave violation of chastity (cf. CCC 2396) and are vehemently rejected by Sacred Scripture (cf. Gen 19:1–29; Lev 18:22; Rom 1:24–27; 1 Cor 6:9–10; 1 Tim 1:10). The Catechism reminds us of the dimension of the guilt of the Sodomites “cries out to heaven” (cf. CCC 1867).

Because many officials of the so-called Synodal Path often claim to want to listen more closely to the voices of women, a recent feast day offered a special opportunity to do so. For we look to the holy Doctor of the Church, Catherine of Siena, who has been proclaimed the patroness of Europe. In her famous work “The Dialogue of Divine Providence,” she testifies to how strongly the Lord condemns homosexual acts: “The wretched commit even worse acts and commit the accursed sin against nature. And like blind fools whose reason is clouded, they do not perceive the corruption and misery in which they are mired. It is not only to Me, who am the highest eternal purity, that it is an abomination (so abhorrent, in fact, that for the sake of this one sin I destroyed five cities through My divine judgment, since My justice could no longer bear it), but even to the demons.”

True mercy, in following the Good Shepherd, therefore seeks out the lost sheep with genuine love (cf. Lk 15:4–7) before it is too late. It does not hypocritically affirm a person’s state of guilt but seeks to lead them to repentance for the sake of eternal salvation — from the death of sin to the life of grace. Doctrine and pastoral care cannot contradict one another. Genuine pastoral care looks to the will of the Lord and strives for the salvation of the person. In doing so, sin cannot be blessed. That would be a glaring abuse of the most holy name of God. A blatant blasphemy beyond Eden. Yet the Creator will not be mocked (cf. Gal 6:7).

The document “Blessing Gives Strength to Love” betrays both the Lord and humanity. What is a deeply wounded wife — who, after saying “I do” at the altar, was betrayed and abandoned by her husband — supposed to think of a synodal church that now blesses his union with a new flame? The woman left alone is humiliated once again, now even far worse. Adultery is effectively condoned, for a benediction, derived from benedicere, means nothing else. Any rational person can immediately recognize this decadent hypocrisy and will turn away from the scandalous dance around the golden calf.

In this time of the foretold apostasy (cf. 2 Thess 2:3), we are strengthened by the witness of the holy Apostle Paul, who, out of love for the Lord and for the salvation of souls, laid down his life for the truth of the Gospel and is a powerful intercessor for the Church:

“Brethren, join in imitating me, and take note of those who conduct themselves in accord with the model you have in us. As I have told you before, and now remind you with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their god is their stomach. Their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from there we await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be conformed to his glorified body by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself” (Phil 3:17–21).