The Pope, the Synod, and Hope for Inclusion of LGBT Community: Baby Steps or Giant Steps, A Seismic Shift: Acceptance of Women Priests!

Bridget Mary's Response:
Amen to Pope Francis' call for acceptance of LGBT. I look forward to the day that the pope will praise women priests as " beloved sisters and partners" living Jesus' vision of Gospel equality! Now that would bring  a seismic shift in the Catholic Church!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

http://judyabl.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/the-pope-the-synod-and-hope-for-inclusion-of-the-lgbt-community-baby-stepsumbrella-steps-or-giant-steps/

"When Pope Francis recognized the gifts of LGBT Catholics and the positive nature of their unions he turned the conservative RC world upside down. This, one priest reflected, is the same as Jesus did with those on the margins in his time. He included all. We shall have to see if baby steps, or giant steps or even “Umbrella steps” (another step involving turning around, to cross the line in the old game of Red Light Green Light, will come out of this Synod. In this street game the players ask the leader: May I take a  baby, giant or umbrella step and the leader would say what kind of step could be taken..." Judy Lee, RCWP

Jesuit Fr. James Martin, who strongly condemned Catholic fear and hatred of LGBT people as “scandalous and sinful” last week, writes about the “revolutionary change” happening in the relatio. Stating on Twitter that similar statements about gay people and their relationships would have led to his silencing only five years ago, he adds at America:

“This is something that even a few years ago would have been unthinkable, from even the most open-minded of prelates–that is, a statement of outright praise for the contribution of gays and lesbians, with no caveat and no reflexive mention of sin…That any church document would praise same-sex “partners” in any way (and even use the word “partners”) is astonishing…Nowhere in the document are such terms as “intrinsically disordered,” “objectively disordered,” or even the idea of “disinterested friendships” among gays and lesbians, which was used just recently…

“Clearly Pope Francis’s call for openness at the beginning of the Synod has allowed the bishops to listen carefully, to speak their minds and to be open to new ways of thinking.  As was the case at the Second Vatican Council, the participants may have gone into this Synod not expecting much openness or change, but the Holy Spirit is afoot.”