When you’ve even lost woke Pope Francis, what’s left? Watch for furious Leftists to start characterizing the pontiff, hitherto a reliable ally, as a bigoted, hate-filled, right-wing extremist for daring to criticize “gender ideology.” In a strange turnaround for the pope, who has recently heartened the LGBTQ industry with some supportive statements that skirted the outer limits of Roman Catholic orthodoxy, Francis even characterized the trans craze as “dangerous.”
The Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported Saturday that Pope Francis called today’s fashionable gender madness “one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations” of our age. “Why is it dangerous? Because it blurs differences and the value of men and women.” For those who might not see that as actually dangerous, the pope explained, “All humanity is the tension of differences. It is to grow through the tension of differences. The question of gender is diluting the differences and making the world the same, all dull, all alike, and that is contrary to the human vocation.” Yes, and besides that, it is destroying people’s lives in ways they generally don’t realize until it is too late to undo the damage.
Pope Francis has actually said this before. CNA notes that the pope has in the past used the term “ideological colonization” in order to “describe instances when aid money for developing countries has been tied to contraceptives, abortion, sterilization, and gender ideologies.” Back in 2016, he lamented that “today children — children — are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex. Why are they teaching this? Because the books are provided by the people and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries. And this is terrible!”
Those were strong words, but in his new remarks the pope still doesn’t seem to grasp how evil this initiative really is, saying that he speaks out about today’s gender insanity “because some people are a bit naive and believe that it is the way to progress.” Some people who push this nonsense may indeed be a bit naïve, but others almost certainly know exactly the damage they’re causing yet pursue it for woke points or to make a buck. Still, the pope was spot-on when he said that gender madness advocates “do not distinguish what is respect for sexual diversity or diverse sexual preferences from what is already an anthropology of gender, which is extremely dangerous because it eliminates differences, and that erases humanity, the richness of humanity, both personal, cultural, and social, the diversities and the tensions between differences.” It would have been helpful if the pope had expatiated on just how dangerous and destructive these delusions are, but hey, can’t have everything.
Related: The Late Cardinal Pell Condemned ‘Toxic Nightmare’ of Creeping Woke Modernism in Church
Francis tacked back to his usual Leftist stance when he noted that it was important to distinguish “between what pastoral care is for people who have a different sexual orientation and what gender ideology is. They are two different things.” The Daily Caller pointed out Saturday that the pope “has made waves recently with some of his comments on LGBTQ issues, most recently saying that homosexuality, while a sin, should not be criminalized.” That’s fine, but he has drawn criticism for appearing to abandon the Roman Catholic Church’s traditional position on homosexuality and sexual morality in general. The Caller added that “in 2020, the pope said that he would be in favor of a ‘civil union law’ for same-sex couples, and in January 2022 encouraged parents to not ‘condemn’ their children over sexual orientation.” These statements can all be understood as being in line with the Church’s age-old “hate the sin, love the sinner” ethos. But in today’s confused age, they can also all too easily be understood as overturning the Church’s moral teachings, and for that Francis has been criticized more than once.
His new statements are going to gain him new criticism, but this time from the Leftists who have until now been busy praising his “courage” and “vision.” Leftist ideologues aren’t generally given to introspection, but the woke pope’s breaking ranks with them over “gender ideology” ought to give them pause. If someone who has gone so far to legitimize them and make their point of view mainstream in the Roman Catholic Church is not with them on this issue, maybe it’s not the slam-dunk human rights issue they claim it to be.
Maybe the pope’s words will move someone, even just one person, to reconsider going down the path of genital mutilation, pharmaceutical dependence, and a lifetime of psychological dislocation. Even just one would be a massive victory.
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