The Catholic Leader - 12 November - Issue 5477

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The Catholic Leader, November 12, 2017
Conversations
Sacred Scripture clearly shows that God has
never changed His mind on same-sex unions. So,
Fr Brennan, please explain.
Heterosexuals are the only relationships that
produce children naturally.
Same-sex relationships cannot.
The word “natural” describes in a nutshell
what same-sex and heterosexual relationships are
and what they are not.
We must not lose the ability to think for
ourselves.
In doing so we are easily duped, deceived and
misled.
behind us?
One of our children once asked, when dis-
cussing relationships, “Dad, God made me like
I am, do you think He wants me to be lonely all
my life?”
How does one answer that?
Deceived and misled
I WAS saddened and
astounded by the comments
of Fr Frank Brennan in The
Catholic Leader of October
29.
His opinion that, like
himself, God would be
happy with a civil marriage
between people of the same gender.
Same-sex couples do not reflect what God in
His Word clearly states.
Responsible?
REGARDING the story
“We are all responsible”
in The Catholic Leader on
November 5.
No, we are not all respon-
sible.
“We” includes victims
and parents of victims,
many of whom were abused by Church authori-
ties when they reported instances of abuse.
My own father said that the reception he
received on reporting some evil behaviour, was
not what he would have expected from some-
body who referred to himself as being “very
reverend”.
“We” also includes parents whose spouse is a
convert, and who has to apologise to her when
her children are abused by a Church that he has
recommended to her, and people who simply
have trust in the Church.
To claim that these people are responsible for
the wicked and cowardly abuse that has been
inflicted on their defenceless children by the
thugs who were supposed to care for them and
lead them to God is obscene.
Even worse is the behaviour of their superiors
who protected them and moved them to other
places where they could continue to assault other
children.
The responsibility, all of it, belongs to these
people.
They have trashed their credibility, and it will
not be restored before they stop trying to blame
others for their own failures.
Catholic parents
WE have been a little de-
spondent of late at the tone
of some of the letters written
with regard to the plebiscite,
most of which, understand-
ably, support a No vote.
It was encouraging to read
the contributions, which
conveyed a measure of
empathy for those of the homosexual community
and their families.
As parents of homosexual children we had our
own struggles to contend with as we, and not
least their siblings, supported them in coming to
terms with their sexuality.
They have developed into fine young people,
gainfully employed, loved and respected without
exception by both family and friends.
Unless closely involved it may be difficult
from a distance for some people to appreciate
the problems encountered along the way by
these young adults.
Some will still say it is a lifestyle of choice
but I do not believe that to be the truth.
What will have been achieved if the plebiscite
fails?
The problem will not go away but the debate
will continue with, we fear, increased acrimony
on both sides.
Isn’t it time we moved on and put this matter
Have your Say
Post: GPO Box 282,
Brisbane, QLD 4001
FAX: 07 3236 4897 @
The views expressed in the Letters to the Editor are
not necessarily endorsed by and do not necessarily
represent the views of The Catholic Leader or the
Archdiocese of Brisbane. Letters are submitted on
the condition The Catholic Leader may edit them in
a manner which meets publication and style require-
ments.
Retweet At least 27 people including eight members of one family were shot dead
inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, when a
gunman carrying an assault rifle opened fire during a Sunday service. Prayer List
Abby Johnson
American pro-life activist
Hernan Espinosa
Lay Catholic
Sr Helena Burns
Member of the Daughters
of St Paul
Bishop Edward Burns
Bishop of Dallas, Texas
About to pray the Chaplet
of Divine Mercy for our world.
After the shooting in Texas, we
need peace. Anyone want to
join?
As a Catholic Christian
I feel the attack on
#SutherlandSprings Texas,
we are always on attack and
mocked. We must believe in
God.
We offer prayers as we
learn the details of the tragedy
at the First Baptist Church in
Sutherland Springs, TX... Our
hope is in the Lord!
My cop friend says: “People
like to talk about law enforce-
ment, perps & guns. The
victims often get forgotten.”
#TexasChurchMassacre #RIP
This month
pope’s intentions
Christians in Asia –
That Christians in Asia, bearing witness
to the Gospel in word and deed, may
promote dialogue, peace and mutual un-
derstanding, especially with those of other
religions.
This week
Germany – A year on from the Paris
Agreement, international leaders are
meeting in Bonn to discuss progress on
implementing agreements on addressing
climate change.
Afghanistan – About 9500 children died
of diarrhoea in the past year in Afghanistan.
Bangladesh – More than 3000 desper-
ate, tired and hungry Rohingya refugees
crossed into Bangladesh from Myanmar
over the past two days, and United Nations
agencies and their partners are working
around the clock to provide urgent life-
saving aid and shelter to this latest influx.
Yemen – War-torn Yemen is facing the
fastest-growing cholera epidemic ever
recorded, with about 895,000 suspected
cases as of November 1.
John
O’Rourke
Beechwood,
NSW
W Andrews
Wynnum
West, Qld
No-name letters
THE Catholic Leader reminds writers to Have
Your Say that letters should carry a name, ad-
dress and contact telephone number.
We receive many letters from anonymous
writers requesting publication. Without your
name and contact details this is not possible.
We will not usually publish a letter that has
already appeared in another newspaper, nei-
ther will we normally publish anything which is
more than 400 words.
We routinely edit contributions for defama-
tion, grammar, prolixity, coherence and style.
Name and
address
supplied
Commentator: Fr Frank Brennan.