NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

    CHICAGO (CWNews.com/LSN.ca) - Media reports of the appearance of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago at the recent conference of the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian & Gay Ministries failed to report his "surprising" intervention at the beginning of the conference, according to a national Catholic newspaper.

    The Wanderer newspaper reported this week that the cardinal gave an unscheduled address at the NACDLGM conference opening. For his decision not to cancel the conference, as had been requested by many faithful Catholics, the cardinal received a standing ovation as he approached the microphone. But the enthusiasm was severely dampened as he presented an orthodox message calling the organization to submit to the Church's teaching against homosexual sex.

    The cardinal said that the conference "could not be to criticize or mount a movement against" the Vatican's teaching, nor would it be "a gathering place for Dignity and others who are publicly opposed to Church teaching." He further stated that the "Church's teaching, the teaching of Jesus Christ, from Divine Revelation [is that] the gift of human sexuality is oriented toward uniting a man and woman in marriage for life, for their own unity in Christ and for the giving of new life to children."

    "That teaching," he said, "will not change because it cannot change, based as it is in faith and in human nature itself. To deny that the power of God's grace enables homosexuals to live chastely is to deny, effectively, that Jesus has risen from the dead."

    The cardinal warned the NACDLGM members that the "organization is at a crossroads. You are without an episcopal moderator; when you ask for another, you will have to explain who you are and make clear your purpose and your goals in the Church."

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