Archbishop Gabriel Malzaire has made it clear that clergymen in the Diocese of Roseau, and also the Archdiocese of Castries, are not permitted to bless any sinful union but the church remains open to anyone who sincerely asks for a blessing on his or her journey to God.
He was speaking in light of a recent landmark ruling by the Catholic Church which approved the blessing of same-sex couples, as long as these blessings are non-liturgical.
The ruling, Fiducia Supplicans or Supplicating Trust, reiterated the church’s age-old teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman only. It also pointed out that it was not an acceptance by the Church of same-sex marriage, however, it created confusion in the minds of many Catholics, especially conservative ones, around the world.
Based on the confusion created, Malzaire made six points to Catholics in the Archdiocese of Castries and the Diocese of Roseau over which he has ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
“The Gospel presents Jesus as mercy par exellence,” he said in making his first point.
“Whenever he hobnobbed with prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners, he was always on mission and therefore brought many to conversion. Jesus never [condoned] any sinful condition but rather showed compassion to the sinner and told them go and sin no more.”
In his second point, he repeated the teaching of the Catholic Church which states that marriage is between a man and a woman only, saying this is unchangeable.
“This truth is deeply engrained in the tenet of the Holy Scripture, generally accepted in the psyche of and the practice of the Caribbean people and endorsed by the countries’ constitution,” the clergyman remarked.
In making his third point he said, “Rooted in the Sacred Scriptures the Church teaches that marriage is the union for life of one man and one woman that is open to life and so consequently the Church cannot approve, sanction or bless any irregular marital union such as common law unions, adulterous unions, polygamous unions or same-sex unions.”
Fourthly, he said the declaration made the “important point “that blessings from the Church must have an “ascending value,” which according to him means “it must tend towards the conversion of those who receive it.”
“Therefore, the Church will not endorse anyone who seeks its blessings for selfish and inordinate ends such as the acceptance of a sinful situation,” the man of the cloth stated. In his fifth point, the Archbishop said no clergyman in the two dioceses he has jurisdiction over should grant blessings to a sinful union.
“No clergyman in the Archdiocese of Castries or the Diocese of Roseau, for which I am responsible is permitted to grant blessing upon any sinful union,” he remarked.
In his sixth and final point, he said the Church is open to anyone who wants to be converted to Christ.
“The Church remains open, as its mission dictates, to anyone of any color, creed, class, persuasion or orientation who wishes to be converted to Christ for the salvation of his or her soul,” he stated. “As such we will bless anyone who sincerely asks the Church for a blessing on his or her journey to God for God’s sun shines on good and bad alike and His rain falls on the just and the unjust alike as Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter5 verse 45.”
…the Bishop and the Archbishop…!
Pope Francis, in an appearance on Italian TV on Jan.14 was asked if he “felt alone” after the publication of Fiducia Supplicans was met with some resistance. He responded: “sometimes decisions are not accepted, but in some cases, when you don’t accept a decision, it’s because you don’t understand.”
The Pope underlined that “the Lord blesses everyone” and that a blessing is an invitation to enter into a conversation “to see what the road is that the Lord proposes to them.”
“The Lord blesses everyone who is capable of being baptized, that is, every person,” he repeated.
“But we are to take them by the hand and help them go down that road, not condemn them from the beginning. And this is the pastoral work of the Church. This is very important work for confessors.”
“These non-liturgical blessings for couples in “irregular” situations offer an innovative contribution to the pastoral meaning of blessings; permit a broadening and enrichment of the classical…
I guess the next move will be to leave the Catholic Church and insist on charging for communion. Pope Francis advocates for a Blessing which is different from a Marriage. What has happened here has served to divide the Catholic Church in Dominica. Don’t stand for it and tell this man of the cloth to get a grip! What hypocrisy.
Traitor!!!!!!!!!. You were in dominica when skerrit and his gang bombarded the people of salisbury with expired tear gas and you did not say jack on behalf of the people, and the hurtful part about it is, salisbury is a catholic community.
Malzaire karma is a B , every time you walk and in you confession box you will hear the voices of people of salisbury crying for help and you did nothing and you have a dottish like Crazy T going on his radio show and say, Malzaire is our boy, man, the god i serve do’nt like ugly the prayers you say right now ,is trying to save your self. but god will save the people of salisbury and give them justice, pray for your self traitor.
Me would bless pm with eyes oped wide and forger all about what the bible says
Back in the days when Christianity was bring hijacked by Europeans, the Romans beheaded all bishops that disagreed with changes Constantine made to the Ethiopians Bible to what it is today after having achieved its purpose of enslavement/bondage of the Continent in their focus. Be careful bishop your name might be mentioned in the next revision.
BossMan when you take off that Robe dere you just like all of us yeh!!!
RastarMarn Sure at some point in the day you have to pull down your pants just like anyone of us to excrete the Junk out of you Vessel,,,
Doh come judge people Ras cause by doing so you have contradicting yourself as you are Sinful also,,,
All dem animals dat out dere commingling without no official status who is to say people cannot form whatever union dere is to form,,,
Doh get RastarMarn wrong yeh cause something like incest doesn’t get a pass no matter what jurisdiction you under but if Man and Man and WhoMan and WhoMan want Union leave dem alone nuh just as long as dey hangle deir bizniss in deir own privacy,,,
You cannot be no real rasta talking that crap. Rasta never support no homo. Besides if this people want to do their thing let them keep it to themselves. All the bishop saying is that they will not recognize or bless it in the church. These people always want “acceptance” and “tolerance” because they know deep down that their way of life is abominable.
what about the sinful union he has formed with this evil Skerrit government?
archbishop….hope the pope will not demote y or fire you..but all must talk more …I hope more catholic prist and bishop come out to support you…u all must say right is right…do you think this is right…when them lazy bunch take big salary increases and give to the rest of the population minimum wage…is this fair….say it as it is….say it in your church….call them bunch of vacabons….thief….they are not working for such increases….and tell d pope to free u all up and u all want to get married…
This is the problem we have the church is there to bring. people out of sinful ways and to christ. the church is not there to adopt political or societal standards.
There is the church and there is politics and there is the whole of society which includes the church and includes.govermnent and laws as well.
The church should not adopt societal issues – the church should not be in the “if you cannot beat the.join them.”
The church should not be “going into worldly pleasure” business. The weed smoking business what happens?
There are states where hard drugs are legalized in small amounts already In the United States it is far from our sight but it is there. What do we do then? we have to prepare for these things. Oregon.
May your words usher you into His Kingdom dear bishop. The church of Jesus Christ needs more men of your faith and persuasion. Stand up for truth and integrity.
If you be martyred defending the church your king died to give to you. Greater your glory in heaven.
Your King and Father is crying for men like you. Like Isaiah you go for Him. Let Him send you. You have no idea how many clergy and laity you have rescued with your words.
There is rejoicing both in Heaven and on earth from those words of yours.
May you be blessed now and forever. Amen
For a church that has so much blood on its hand, this is a bit rich coming from the archbishop.
That institution has destroyed so many indigenous cultures, Black people’s cultures, homosexuality inflicted on young boys, abortions rampant among nuns. That church should be the last to preach to people about morality. They are anything but..
I was born catholic, but the only time you will find me inside that church is for weddings or funerals.
A lot of those indigenous cultures were worse, if we’re talking about morals. They practiced ritual sacrifice (some of them cannibalism), indiscriminate killing and pillaging, lack of respect for life and property, idol worship etc. And also the church didn’t “destroy” these cultures. In most cases people willingly converted. In most of the cases where force was used it was by the kings of the people themselves, who once converted decided to force their people to convert as well. Which ultimately is just a result of their already violent culture.
Those cases of child abuse and other scandals are not the norm for the church but rather just the cases of sick people who used their position to take advantage of others and then of course these scandals are blown out of proportion to tarnish the name of the church
The Bible teaches iñ 1Corinthians 14-16 that God is not the author of confusion. At this point and time iñ history, the false doctrine, and philosophy of Roman Catholism has exposed itself!
Your Papa (pope) and a pile of homosexuals in Vatican has condone homosexual (buggering), no matter how you pretend to white wash it you can’t change what the devil under who’s control people like you are exposed!
You can run your mouth off about blessing. You and all mascaquràding as priests has no power to bless anybody.
Blessing is God favor and protection to those who serve and worship him.
Repent: Change your mind from the ideology and doctrine of Rome, get yourself a wife and children, the disciples of Jesus were married with children.
The Bible teaches some men are born Eunuchs while others are made Eunuchs: which one are you!
Did you allow a bull-pooping Papa (pope) turn you into a Eunuch?
I am a Eunuch with no High School education. Is that fine with you? I did not spend an hour in High School. Like a good Neighbour, Skerrit is there, as always. Let it toofay you.
“Like a good Neighbour, Skerrit is there, as always. Let it toofay you.”
Good one!
Weh Weh Son Fu Ma John !!!!!!There is so much truth you have spoken, I never agree with you until now. For sure if he wants to preach on what is right and what is wrong. He needds to make a change. All unrighteousness is sin. Okay he touches on this homo stuff what about the other issues. Th men are creating acts that is ungodly. Here me my people stop calling these men in ROBE Fadar!!!!~!~The bible said let every man have his own wife. Some were made to be Eunuchs but some are burning in LUST. I know for sure whatn I am saying. These Priests are Mere men. God gave them this desire for companionship. Sexual desires. Ok Bish/ it is not only the blessings because the blessings comes from God not the priest. Go multiply and enjoy intimacy not secretly going at Porn or other men to fulfill your desires. Let the truth be told.
I appreciate the recognition!
Recognizing me the way you have tells me that you must be from Wesley!
I am indeed the little boy Son Fu Ma John.
You are nothing but a creep and a bum from Wesley. You are a nobody.
Goodness, we didn’t expect the Spanish Inquisition. But then no-one does …
The Archbishop has me scratching my head. As per the headlines: Archbishop Malzaire forbids blessings of sinful unions in the Diocese of Roseau. yet in the last paragraph, “.. the church remains open… to anyone….who wishes to be converted to Christ…as such we will bless anyone who sincerely asks the church for a blessing….”🤔. Matthew chapter 5 verse 45 about God sending rain to fall upon the just and the unjust has absolutely nothing to do with anyone in a sinful relationship asking God for a blessing. Jesus was simply using God’s all-inclusive general kindness and mercy to teach His disciples why they needed to love, forgive and to pray for even those who were their enemies. The Bishop needs to read Acts 2:38; 3:26; Romans 1:26,27.
Did the bishop read the decision of pope? or is he bresking away from the chuch?
He read the Bible, the catechism of the Catholic Church and he condemned any teachings or decisions that contradict the two
The pope’s decision makes him look desperate like wanting to increase the church membership. I don’t. think.he thought deeply before.making his decision.
How do you know that the men and women who are being blessed are not more sinfull than the same sex unions? let God be the judge.
We will let God be the judge but by the same token we will not marry two men or two women as husband and wife. We believe in the union of marriage as of a man and a woman.
Well if we know nothing else we know for sure that the people in the “same sex” union are already commiting a sinful act. The “union” itself is sinful and I must say huge respect to the Bishop for standing his ground on this issue. The marxist pope need to go and sit himself down somewhere