Poland, Proms and Pseudo Marriage

First, some good news, much needed at present: Poland has almost – and we must admit, almost – banned abortion outright, making illegal termination of pregnancy for ‘fetal defects’, which was the purported reason for most abortions in the Catholic nation. Astounding, in our secularist era, and we should praise and give thanks to God that some have not gone completely over the cliffs of moral insanity.

We had a story briefly up about a prom dance held somewhere in Eastern Europe. What, you might ask? A prom dance, with actual, breathing dancers, face to face? Well, not quite. The video – which seems to have been taken down from Twitter – had the young participants dancing not a la Cinderella’s waltz, but rather awkwardly locking elbows backwards, stumbling around the dance floor back to back – giving a new meaning of ‘cheek to cheek’. Humorous, yes, but also disturbing – after all, walking backwards, and all things inverted, are a sign not of heaven, but of the other place, into which many aspects of this world are quickly devolving. Perhaps they still dance in Poland; if so, let me know, and I may be on the first plane out there.

As I reflected on the sad spectacle of couples not being able to look each other in the face, or the eyes, while engaging in the courtly ritual of dancing, I was reminded of the advice of our own dictatorial doctor, Theresa Tam, advising couples to wear a mask during sex. Hmm. I presume she means for non-married couples, given her unhinged moral principles, but one never knows with our new martial – and not so much marital – medical mandarins.

On that note of unions, and not looking at each other during moments of, ahem, ‘intimacy’, what was it the Holy Father actually said during the recent biopic? The story now is that he did not advocate for recognizing the ‘civil union’ of homosexual ‘partnerships’ – sort of a common-law deal – but rather exhorted parents not to kick their outed son, or daughter, out.

The Church has in no uncertain terms declared the illegitimacy of such accommodation, and that recognizing two persons of the same sex in any sort of quasi-marital status – with all the privileges and rights thereof- would be formal cooperation in something gravely disordered. (See a thorough summary of the Church’s official teaching on this matter here)

Further, we should keep in mind Gresham’s law, that bad money – counterfeit – drives out good. So too, fake marriage will always devalue real marriage, and the more fake, the more devalued. The ‘backwards’ attempt at ‘conjugality’ of same-sex couples provide no basis for any sort of union – in fact, they are the basis, if we believe Saint Paul, for something far worse. And if everyone is married regardless of what they do or promise, then no one is.

Recognizing civil unions of same-sex partners may seem pastoral and merciful, but ’tis not, and is in fact rather unpastoral and unmerciful to real couples – husbands and wives, male and female, the family God intended – struggling to ‘make a home’ and raise children against the headwinds of an increasingly secularized and anti-family culture. These the Church must support and value, while leading those with erroneous opinions and disordered views and practices back to the truth, which is the only thing that will set them free.

And, let us be reminded with the recent memorial of Saint John Paul II – who spent much of his energy and time on the true nature of marriage, and proclaiming to real families to ‘become what you are!’ – it is the task of our universal shepherd to proclaim that truth, faithfully and without compromise.

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Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk

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Payette’s Payout

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Three Easter Musical Gems: Bach, Palestrina and Byrd

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Saint Isidore of Seville, the Internet and Industriousness

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An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday

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