Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel also hosts a “question and answer” section. In one of the questions, someone wrote to him the following query:
“What is your view of Pope Francis’s controversial comments on homosexuality which I am puzzled as to the direction of the Catholic Church.”
This is the reply that Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel gave:
“I don’t like to talk about, you know, other Apostolic churches. That is definitely not my intention. I’m sure, if you are a Catholic, and a beloved Catholic person, I’ll say that, a beloved Catholic person, I’m sure that if you look at the Conservative Catholics within the church, within the Catholic church, you will see how they are responding to certain actions being made by the current Pope Francis. So, within the church, people are not happy. People are questioning. People are concerned. People are wondering what has become of our beloved Catholic Church? Where is the Pope leading us to? Where is he taking us? Homosexuality has got nothing to do with Catholicism nor with Orthodoxy or any other groups. Homosexuality has to do with the word of God and how God reacts to such behaviour and lifestyle, and how He reprimands and judges those who choose to live in such lifestyle. So, when we look at the word of God, it’s got nothing to do with any church leader. It’s got to do with Jesus Christ who is the sole head of the Church, and will always be the head of the church. So, when any church leader comes and says ‘It is okay. You can embrace this kind of a lifestyle ..’ [he opens his arms] I rest my case. I rest my case. What is there to say? If you’re a true Christian, you should really figure this one out yourself, because the Lord is the teacher, after all.
We need to pray. That’s all I’m going to say. We need to pray, and ask the Lord Jesus to have mercy on His beloved Church, whether it be Catholic, Orthodox, it is His beloved Church, and the Church is one. We have divided the Church but to Christ it will always be one. It is His bride. Christ has one bride and the Church is the body of Christ. Christ has only one body. Not bodies. Only one. So you can call yourself Catholic, you can call yourself Orthodox, Christ will come and say ‘You’re my child.’ Well, you can say you’re my child, you’re a good one, you’re a naughty one, but you’re my child. He sticks with us. So, the Lord is stuck with the Pope, whether that Pope is holy or otherwise, because He purchased everyone that confesses and professes Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. He purchased us with His precious blood. So, he stuck with the Church leaders and I’m sure throughout the history of Christendom, there has been so many Church leaders that were Judah Iscariot. The Lord chose twelve apostles, and one of the twelve sold the Lord with thirty pieces of silver, and Judas did not just die over 2000 years ago. There are plenty of Judas Iscariots of our time and age. Simon denied Him, so many deny Him. All of us are Simon. All of us are Philip. All of us are Bartholomew. All of us are John. All of us are Judas Iscariot. All of us. But each one does it in a different way. However, when someone, holds such a highly, regarded position, then whatever actions are made by that position, can have tremendous outcomes and consequences.”
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel replies to the question ‘What is your view of Pope Francis’s controversial comments on homosexuality?’ (part one)
Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel also hosts a “question and answer” section. In one of the questions, someone wrote to him the following query:
“What is your view of Pope Francis’s controversial comments on homosexuality which I am puzzled as to the direction of the Catholic Church.”
This is the reply that Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel gave:
“I don’t like to talk about, you know, other Apostolic churches. That is definitely not my intention. I’m sure, if you are a Catholic, and a beloved Catholic person, I’ll say that, a beloved Catholic person, I’m sure that if you look at the Conservative Catholics within the church, within the Catholic church, you will see how they are responding to certain actions being made by the current Pope Francis. So, within the church, people are not happy. People are questioning. People are concerned. People are wondering what has become of our beloved Catholic Church? Where is the Pope leading us to? Where is he taking us? Homosexuality has got nothing to do with Catholicism nor with Orthodoxy or any other groups. Homosexuality has to do with the word of God and how God reacts to such behaviour and lifestyle, and how He reprimands and judges those who choose to live in such lifestyle. So, when we look at the word of God, it’s got nothing to do with any church leader. It’s got to do with Jesus Christ who is the sole head of the Church, and will always be the head of the church. So, when any church leader comes and says ‘It is okay. You can embrace this kind of a lifestyle ..’ [he opens his arms] I rest my case. I rest my case. What is there to say? If you’re a true Christian, you should really figure this one out yourself, because the Lord is the teacher, after all.
We need to pray. That’s all I’m going to say. We need to pray, and ask the Lord Jesus to have mercy on His beloved Church, whether it be Catholic, Orthodox, it is His beloved Church, and the Church is one. We have divided the Church but to Christ it will always be one. It is His bride. Christ has one bride and the Church is the body of Christ. Christ has only one body. Not bodies. Only one. So you can call yourself Catholic, you can call yourself Orthodox, Christ will come and say ‘You’re my child.’ Well, you can say you’re my child, you’re a good one, you’re a naughty one, but you’re my child. He sticks with us. So, the Lord is stuck with the Pope, whether that Pope is holy or otherwise, because He purchased everyone that confesses and professes Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. He purchased us with His precious blood. So, he stuck with the Church leaders and I’m sure throughout the history of Christendom, there has been so many Church leaders that were Judah Iscariot. The Lord chose twelve apostles, and one of the twelve sold the Lord with thirty pieces of silver, and Judas did not just die over 2000 years ago. There are plenty of Judas Iscariots of our time and age. Simon denied Him, so many deny Him. All of us are Simon. All of us are Philip. All of us are Bartholomew. All of us are John. All of us are Judas Iscariot. All of us. But each one does it in a different way. However, when someone, holds such a highly, regarded position, then whatever actions are made by that position, can have tremendous outcomes and consequences.”