The Holy See has confirmed that Bishop Johan Bonny, who publicly rejects the teaching of the Church on same-sex unions, will be attending the Ordinary Synod on the Family in October this year.
At the Extraordinary Synod last year Belgium was represented by Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, a courageous defender of the Catholic moral teaching. In accordance with canon law Archbishop Léonard submitted his resignation to the Holy See on May 6 upon reaching the age of 75. This resignation was accepted less than a month later.
In the run up to the Extraordinary Synod on the Family Bishop Bonny produced a manifesto, which called for radical changes in the Church’s approach to human sexuality.
In the light of Bonny’s attendance at the Ordinary Synod we are republishing our original response to his “Open Letter”.
In this document we note that Bishop Bonny:
- denies the reality of moral absolutes in the name of “proportionalism”, an approach to morality always condemned by the Church
- contradicts those teachings of the Second Vatican Council which uphold objective morality and moral absolutes, including in the area of sexual ethics
- quotes selectively from the Second Vatican Council, omitting crucial material which rejects the bishop’s approach
- rejects natural moral law, which the Church has upheld throughout its history
- effectively denies the indissolubility of marriage, by reducing it to the subjective decisions of couples
- offers no real support for couples in difficult situations
- ignores the needs of children, including the need to be protected from damaging effects of parents’ irregular situations
- gives no criteria for worthiness to receive Holy Communion, and no explanation how mortal sin could possibly be compatible with receiving Holy Communion
- fails to define “conscience”, even though it is a key topic in the Letter
- appears to endorse use of IVF, despite the fact that IVF has been repeatedly condemned by the Church, and typically involves the destruction of human life
- implies support for the myth of world “over-population”.
The full text of Voice of the Family’s response to Bishop Bonny, originally published on 3rd October 2014, can be read here. |
