Andrei Tkachev on the Pope's backing LGBT: Shame on the Christian world
The Pope's speech endorsing same-sex unions casts a shadow of shame not only on Roman Catholic Church, but on the entire Christian world, the ROC priest believes.
Shame on the entire Christian world – this is how the Orthodox preacher Archpriest Andrei Tkachev commented on the situation with the narrative of the head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Francis in support of LGBT unions on the air of the Tsargrad TV channel.
According to the clergyman, “despite the fact that we have not had Eucharistic communion for more than a thousand years, that we have mutual claims and we went our separate ways,” the Pope, who has a tremendous influence on civil life and public morality, “must preach Gospel".
“Speaking from his balcony Urbi et Orbi – to the City and the World – the pontiff does what, for example, no Eastern Patriarch does,” the archpriest noted. In the second millennium, we have no one to put next to the Eastern Patriarchs in terms of the degree of influence on civil life with the Pope, because we preach mainly to our own parish, inside our religious premises, and this does not have such a universal significance, does not produce such a worldwide resonance as the case of the Roman pontiff. It must be admitted that his influence in the second millennium, after the separation, this great tragedy of the 11th century, is unprecedented in civil, public life, public morality – whatever – in comparison with our Eastern Patriarchs.”
In his opinion, the Pope should talk about repentance, prayer and the Holy Gospel, but instead "he begins to devalue his papal dignity to talk about all kinds of perversions."
“In principle, in our godless time, he should say things that relate to repentance, because this is the only way to be saved for the devastated, wild, puffed up people, who are drowned in comfort not used to working. It should be about prayer that always unites us with God, even if we are at the bottom of hell (...) True though, the pontiff speaks of mercy, because Catholicism is very social, but repentance, prayer, Holy Scripture, some liturgical things – this is all said Urbi et Orbi to the whole world ... If something should be expected from him at all, then it should be such Christian messages to the maddened world.”
The main problem is, the clergyman believes, that “there is no evangelical grace, there is no courage in preaching the Word of God. There is cowardice, betrayal and deceit, everyone is afraid to say a word for Jesus, even these people who climbed so high."
“Shame on the Christian world! And now I do not separate myself from him – this is our common share of shame. It is the Gospel that must be preached from the rooftops, rather than the stuff coming from the balcony of the most important preaching residence. Weep, Christians, everything is very bad,” the archpriest summed up.
As reported by the UOJ, on October 21 in Rome, the premiere of the documentary "Francis" took place, in one of the episodes of which the current head of the Vatican proposed to legalize same-sex civil unions. Subsequently, they began to say that the phrase of the Pope in the film was deliberately mistranslated in order to influence public opinion of the conservative Catholic wing in the United States before the elections.
