Pope Francis, according to the Catholic News Agency, declared in an interview released on October 21, 2020, that he favors the legal recognition of LGBT relationships in the form of “civil unions” [1]. This would appear to be a break from the Church’s previous position on this issue, as articulated in a 2003 declaration by the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then headed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (the future Benedict XVI), which stated:
The Church teaches that respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behavior or to legal recognition of homosexual unions [2].
The public position now expressed by Pope Francis is actually nothing new for him. While cardinal of Buenos Aires, Argentina, he urged his fellow bishops to argue for gay civil unions while at the same time launching what gay activists described as a “war of God” against Argentina’s legalization of gay marriage [3].
What is more, it can’t be forgotten that this is the same pope who, five years ago, met personally with Kim Davis, the clerk in Rowan County, Kentucky, who used her office to deny marriage licenses to gay couples [4], withholding from them the legal recognition granted them earlier that same year by the U.S. Supreme Court [5]. At their meeting, Davis and the pope hugged each other as the pontiff said to her, “Thank you for your courage” [6].
One might truly marvel at what appears to be a case of flip-flopping—or at best doublespeak—on the part of the current pope, who early in his pontificate responded to the gay issue with his now-famous rejoinder, “Who am I to judge?” [7]. Yet, as he did while cardinal of Buenos Aires, Francis has consistently upheld, as pope, the Church’s opposition to same-sex marriage, declaring in his final Mass in Philadelphia before ending his 2015 American journey that “God is revealed through the ‘covenant of man and woman’” [8].
What to make of it?
How should Seventh-day Adventists, with their perspective on current and future events guided by inspired prophecy, regard this development?
First, let us remember the Bible’s clear teaching regarding the wrongness of any sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual monogamy. Whatever spirit of tolerance is imperative so far as a pluralistic, non-theocratic society is concerned, the position of God’s Word on this issue remains clear, and the remnant church of Bible prophecy dare not soften, moderate, or shift its posture relative to Biblical sexuality standards.
Second, our Bible-based opposition to the LGBT lifestyle is in no way inconsistent with upholding the right of free people in a free country to govern their lives differently if they so choose. Whether we support gay civil unions, gay marriage, or any other semantical construct so far as legal relationships outside the church are concerned, such tolerance stands in full harmony with our Biblical stance regarding the immorality of LGBT behavior. The same Bible which condemns such conduct without qualification (Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27; I Cor. 6:9-10; I Tim. 1:10) also declares, in the words of our Savior, that His kingdom “is not of this world” (John 18:36).
Third, one can hardly doubt, to be sure, that the pope’s position on gay civil unions is very much in the minority so far as the Catholic hierarchy is concerned. Conservative Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island, responded: “The pope’s statement clearly contradicts what has been the long-standing teaching of the church about same-sex unions, The Church cannot support the acceptance of objectively immoral relationships” [9]. Ed Mechmann, director of public policy at the Archdiocese of New York, said in a blog post that the pope had simply “made a serious mistake” [10]. (So much for papal infallibility, it would seem.)
Fourth, the current pope’s vacillation on this issue won’t likely cease as the future unfolds, and he isn’t going to be pope forever. But of one thing Seventh-day Adventists can be certain, and that is the “sure word of prophecy” (II Peter 1:19). Under divine inspiration, Ellen White has stated: “And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes” [11].
Fifth, we cannot let our eyes wander from the lodestar of inspired prophecy so far as the great issues of the last days are concerned. The immoral onslaught of contemporary Western culture can easily distract us, but we can’t permit this to happen. Ellen White states that as the final crisis unfolds, “The sins of Babylon will be laid open” [12]. And at the top of this list of sins, the modern prophet speaks of “the fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority” [13]. Letting citizens of a free country commit consensual transgressions isn’t found on Ellen White’s list. By contrast, it is the use of civil power by the church to enforce her dogmas—not the tolerance of diverse choices by the secular state—that will assure the conquest of America by the Antichrist of Bible prophecy:
Let the principle once be established in the United States that the church may employ or control the power of the state, that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in short, that the authority of church and state is to dominate the conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured [14].
REFERENCES
1. Allison Hope, “How to read Pope Francis’ message of love for LGBTQ people,” CNN, Oct. 21, 2020 https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/21/opinions/pope-francis-civil-unions-lgbtq-families-hope/index.html
2. Ibid.
3. Nicole Winfield, “Francis becomes 1st pope to endorse same-sex civil unions,” Associated Press, Oct. 21, 2020 https://apnews.com/article/pope-endorse-same-sex-civil-unions-eb3509b30ebac35e91aa7cbda2013de2
4. Jim Yardley and Laurie Goodstein, “Pope Francis Met With Kim Davis, Kentucky County Clerk, in Washington,” New York Times, Sept. 30, 2015 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/us/county-clerk-kim-davis-who-denied-gay-couples-visited-pope.html
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges
6. Yardley and Goodstein, “Pope Francis Met With Kim Davis, Kentucky County Clerk, in Washington,” New York Times, Sept. 30, 2015 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/us/county-clerk-kim-davis-who-denied-gay-couples-visited-pope.html
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Winfield, “Francis becomes 1st pope to endorse same-sex civil unions,” Associated Press, Oct. 21, 2020 https://apnews.com/article/pope-endorse-same-sex-civil-unions-eb3509b30ebac35e91aa7cbda2013de2
10. Ibid.
11. Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 581.
12. Ibid, p. 606.
13. Ibid.
14. Ibid, p. 581.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan