(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis’ claim that young people’s “lack of conscience” may render a significant number of marriages invalid, even if their invalidity can’t be “proved,” has been panned by one of LifeSite’s Vatican correspondents as “undermining” the sacrament of Matrimony.
Michael Haynes returned for another appearance on The John-Henry Westen Show to discuss the German bishops’ overwhelming approval of same-sex “blessings,” Pope Francis’ recent remarks on marriage and clerical celibacy, and the inconsistency between the pontiff’s words and actions vis-à-vis gender ideology.
Francis’ comments on marriage came during an interview last week with Argentinian news outlet infobae, the same interview where the pontiff pushed more confusion on homosexuality and the reception of Holy Communion and implied he was open to changing the precept of clerical celibacy.
Haynes believes that Francis’ marriage comments, grounded in his interpretation of something Pope Benedict XVI said ten years ago, are “almost the opposite” of what Benedict actually said. Plus, they appear to contradict Canon Law and the need to assume the validity of a marriage unless a tribunal determines it to be invalid.
“What seems to be the danger here is that Francis is trying to open up the door here to allowing people to say, ‘Well, my marriage isn’t valid,’ or so and so down the road, their marriage isn’t valid, based on aspects which are actually very hard to define,” said Haynes.
“In the case of doubts, validity of marriage must be upheld until the country is proven. Francis is trying to say it may be valid, it may not be, we don’t know, and it could be invalid even if we have no evidence,” he added. “It’s undermining the sacrament itself. It undermines the process by which young men and women enter the sacraments, if he’s going to take that position.”
WATCH: Clerics who believe Pope Francis ‘protects’ them are pushing heterodoxy without repercussions
As far as the German bishops are concerned, they recently approved same-sex “blessings” in a staggering 38-9 vote (with 12 abstentions). Bishop Georg Bätzing recently stated their intention to bless this grave sin regardless of how the Vatican chooses to respond.
“I think it really shows just how much the Vatican’s authority has slipped away, and the fact that these German bishops are so carefree and easy to just blatantly disregard the Vatican’s authority, which clearly stated in 2021 that the Church cannot [do] same-sex ‘blessings,'” said Haynes.
Furthermore, Haynes considers the Pope’s remarks on clerical celibacy to be “very dangerous,” precisely because of the recent actions of the German bishops. Not only have they approved same-sex “blessings,” they have also officially called for women deacons throughout the entire Church and declared that “intersex and transsexual” individuals should not automatically be “excluded” from the priesthood.
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