Word from the Vatican synod that the Catholic Church may ease its views on gays is overblown and already being pooh-poohed by some, according to Robert Royal, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing blog and president of the Faith & Reason Institute.
"I describe it as bizarre," Royal said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"There was a document that appeared … about gays, children of gays, the contributions they can make, [and] valuing the emotional support that gay couples give to one another."
The document, worked on by a coalition of 41 bishops, said gays had gifts to offer the church and their partnerships, while morally problematic, provided homosexual couples with "precious" support.
It also said the church must welcome divorcees and recognize the "positive" aspects of civil marriages and even Catholics who cohabit. The provisional document was produced at the halfway point of a two-week meeting on family life.
But it immediately caused a firestorm, according to Royal, and at a press conference at the Vatican on Tuesday the document was retracted.
"They said this was a working document, it wasn't a matter of a set of conclusions … not points that changed church doctrine in any way," he said.
"I have never in my life seen anything like this from one day to the next: a document that rolled out from the Catholic Church … on Monday and on Tuesday we were saying it's a working document and to not pay too much attention to it."
Royal — author of
"The God That Did Not Fail: How Religion Built and Sustains the West," published by Encounter Books — said Pope Francis is not about change church doctrine regarding homosexuals.
"This Pope is certainly a man who has a common touch. He knows how to speak to people and convey a sense of concern for everyone and he wants to exclude no one. He's also very ambivalent in his statements," he said.
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