It it time to take “¡Hagan lío!” to another step.
From LifeSite:
Mexican bishop says he’ll evangelize in prison if he’s locked up for ‘homophobia’
September 16, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – The Catholic bishop of Cuernavaca, Mexico, is being investigated in response to his opposition to the gay agenda, according to national and local media sources, but he says if he goes to prison he’ll take advantage of the opportunity to bring the Gospel of Christ to the inmates there.
Bishop Ramón Castro has been informed that he’s being investigated in response to a complaint by the socialist governor of the state of Morelos, Graco Ramírez, for speaking out against the creation of homosexual “marriage,” which was recently passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Ramírez. He is accused of “homophobia,” according to Mexican news outlets.
The bishop is reportedly accused of “meddling in politics” for denouncing the gay agenda on numerous occasions, as well as for organizing a meeting at the Cathedral of Cuernavaca for the purpose of hearing the complaints of various civil organizations about the crisis of violence and criminality affecting the state. His accusers reportedly claim that he used the meeting to organize opposition to homosexual “marriage.” [These homosexualists are evil.]
“If I go to prison, no problem, I’ll do the work of evangelization there,” the bishop told his flock during a sermon at the cathedral in mid-August, and added that he wished to “thank the Bar Association of Cuernavaca, which has shown solidarity by coming to my defense.”
The bishop told worshippers that the kingdom of God is not established without opposition because it denounces injustice, corruption, and poverty, according to the local Sol de Cuaulta newspaper.
“Jesus said, ‘I have come to bring fire and divisions,’ referring to the consequences of living a firm and real commitment to the Gospel,” the newspaper quoted Castro as saying. “The presence of Jesus in our lives isn’t a matter of indifference to us, nor to those who surround us. If it were, we would have to doubt that it was anything but a superficial veneer.”
The Mexican constitution prohibits religious ministers from “entering in associations for political purposes,” supporting or opposing candidates for public office, or opposing government institutions or laws. The provisions are the remnants of the strongly anti-clerical provisions of Mexico’s 1917 constitution, which helped to incite civil war in the country in the 1920s and 30s.
Castro denies that he violated the law and says he merely agreed to hear the complaints of various civil organizations over problems suffered in the state, particularly problems related to violence and corruption, and that the meeting was not called to address the issue of homosexual “marriage.”
“The Church has a mission to carry out. I in no way have meddled in politics. I only received people in the cathedral to listen to them. I didn’t convoke anyone,” Castro said in a television interview. [It’s coming.]
Castro also had a complaint lodged against him by the homosexual Movement for Equality in Mexico (MOViiMX) to the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (CONAPRED) about HIS participation in a recent “March for Peace” in Morelos. The group quoted him as saying that state representatives “sold their consciences” in approving the state’s homosexual “marriage” constitutional amendment.
[NB] The accusations have not discouraged Bishop Castro from expressing his opposition to the gay agenda, however. He was notably present at the recent March for the Family in Cuernavaca organized to protest against a national homosexual “marriage” constitutional amendment proposed by the nation’s president.
It’s coming.
I can only pray that there will be more courageous priests and bishops who speak up regardless of ‘hate speech law’ persecution.
I agree, Prayerful. We will stand firm as followers of Christ; but we really could use the back up! We’ll get much further standing together than if left to be picked off individually by the powers that be on this earth.
The bishops in the rest of North America and Europe have actually accepted gay marriage now as a social phenomenon, not as a social evil. They are politically correct and don’t want to upset anyone so they just coast along comfortably, not condemn gay marriage, sodomy and sin. This is why the Catholic Church in the first world is a shell of itself.
Saint Peter Damian, Pray for Us….
If PF likes to appoint Cardinals from the peripheries, I suggest this courageous and faithful Bishop is an excellent candidate. Oh wait he is not crusading against global warming, the equality of all religions, accompaniment, discernment, and spirit VII wish list things, i.e. he doesn’t stand a chance, he is not Soopish enough
Make Holy Mother Church great again.
It seems rather easy to me.
The Church does not marry individuals of the same sex to each other because they are not considered free to marry in the same sense as those who have previous bonds, are siblings or first cousins, are in order and so forth.
The State is not encumbered by those requirements and marries those who are permitted to do so by law. The State does not impose its prerequisites for marriage on the Church, and the Church does not imposes its prerequisites for marriage on the State.
I really don’t see what all the fuss is about. The Church has always distinguished between “sacramental,” “valid-but-not-sacramental,” “natural,” and “civil” marriages.
So, I meant “orders,” and not “order.”
And, “¡Viva Cristo Rey!”? Really? I think it’s a little early to place this prelate in the same class with Father Miguel. The traditionalists I know are pretty rigid in their opinion that nobody is really a martyr until the pope says they are. [
That sounds rather like Hollary’s “basket of deplorables” comment.]
All that being said, I don’t think governments should trample on the legitimate exercise of religious freedom.
The church used to care about a person dying and their soul going to hell. The church no longer seems to believe hell yawns before anyone except perhaps Hitler or someone equally bad, perhaps someone to refuses to recycle. But the church has stopped making itself heard on the issue of homosexuality and one could say the church is really pretty ok with it now.
God bless Bishop Ramon Castro. He is fighting the good fight. I hope the Mexican people stand by him and refuse to allow him to be mistreated by the government.
Kathleen, oh no, perhaps I will get a dispensation from recycling because I am in an apartment complex? I know what you are saying, I know people who haven’t been to confession for 30 years, saying they haven’t done anything really bad. Wow, and I do terrible things daily! If you could blush to death in confession I would. They would be impatiently waiting for me to come out of there but I would be dead of blushing.
So, Calle’s Law still operates in Mexico! Thank God for the likes of Bishop Castro.
frjim4321 says:
And, “¡Viva Cristo Rey!”? Really? I think it’s a little early to place this prelate in the same class with Father Miguel. The traditionalists I know are pretty rigid in their opinion that nobody is really a martyr until the pope says they are.
I know of no one–traditionalist or otherwise–of that opinion. The pope does not “make martyrs”–he recognizes their martyrdom and declaring, enrolls their names among those who can have masses said in their honor.
Prayers for this good bishop. God bless him!
@ Kathleen, Fr Jim in his comments exemplifies your point completely. He is a priest who says he doesn’t see what all the fuss is about, get it. Souls be damned who cares, live and let live. It’s enough to make one cry.
The silver lining of real persecution is that one tends to get holy shepherds. Hirelings tend to leave for greener pastures.
Prayers for this bishop. He is brave and cares… unlike so many bishops and priests that are more concerned in worldliness and letting souls go to hell for fear of insulting them.
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