Josip Vajdner: What Can the Catholic Church Say About the Parade?

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Unlike the relativistic cliché of „independence“ the positions of the Catholic Church are in principle „dependent“ - determined by Holy Scripture, Tradition and Church teaching. This is where answers should be sought regarding the topic of the gay parade in Sarajevo.

This is stated in an opinion piece by Josip Vajdner, as reported by the Catholic News Agency.

In his opinion piece titled „What Can the Catholic Church Say About the 'Parade'“?, Vajdner, among other things, states:

'The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the venue for a gay parade on Sunday, September 8, 2019, which, by all accounts, will also be attended by like-minded individuals from neighboring countries. According to media reports, more than a thousand police officers and security guards from security agencies have been engaged to secure this event. The main thoroughfare in Sarajevo will, therefore, be „hermetically sealed“ so that the „LGBT population“ and their supporters can march, essentially putting their sexuality in the foreground.

Although the servile means of communication, under the guise of fighting for human rights, have in a certain way prepared people for this event, many are still, to put it mildly, confused. They feel deep down that all of this is simply „not right,“ and they also discern that violence would not be, as it never was, an adequate response. Therefore, not a few are asking what the Church has to say about all this.

The Catholic Church in Sarajevo, the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, as well as anywhere in the world, cannot say anything intelligent and authentic without relying on its own foundations, namely Holy Scripture (the Bible), Tradition (the teaching of the Church Fathers), and the teaching of the current Church Magisterium. Anything that would disregard these givens would be the personal opinion of an individual, a member of the Church, and not the Church as such.

In the context of the topic of homosexuality, which is also the reason for the parade, Holy Scripture, through the pen of the Apostle Saint Paul, unequivocally states in several places that it is a depravity, which is one of the criteria for not attaining the kingdom of heaven. The Apostle uses the term „men who have sex with men“ for this phenomenon of same-sex attraction.

Thus, it is unequivocal that the Bible perceives homosexual acts as a grave sin and, as can be seen, as contrary to nature. It is obvious that any opposite conclusion or relativization would be a mere distortion of biblical teaching.

And the Church is aware of this. Just as it knows that man is much more than the banalized sexuality through which he is presented in parades. Therefore, when speaking about homosexuality, it has in mind persons who have same-sex inclinations and respects them in their dignity as God's creatures, but it denounces the sin.
Thus, in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (a compendium of Catholic doctrine) from 1994, within the discussion of the Sixth Commandment of God – You shall not commit adultery!, it recalls that Tradition has always „declared that 'homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.' They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved“ (no. 2357).

However, at the same time, it states that the homosexual "psychological genesis remains largely unexplained," but that such persons do not choose their condition and therefore „must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition“ (no. 2358).
Therefore, it recommends abstinence from homosexual acts, i.e., chastity, „by the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection“ (cf. no. 2359).

That is why the pompous announcement that the Catholic Church, at the Third Extraordinary Synod of Bishops held in October 2014 in the Vatican, was changing its view on homosexuality is nothing more than sensationalist material of a propaganda nature.

As a clear response, one can read in the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, signed by Pope Francis on March 19, 2016: „In discussing the dignity and mission of the family, the Synod Fathers observed that, regarding proposals to place unions between homosexual persons on the same level as marriage, there are 'absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family.' The Synod considered it entirely unacceptable that local Churches should be subjected to pressure in this matter, and that international bodies should make financial aid to poor countries dependent on the introduction of laws to establish 'marriage' between persons of the same sex“ (no. 251).

Gay parades allegedly seek „rights“ for homosexuals and equate them with human rights. However, it is all too clear that, according to Church teaching, the one has no essential connection with the other.

The Church, as can be seen, does not trivialize sexuality but views it in the totality of the person as a gift from God. Therefore, it calls man to chastity regarding sexuality and emphasizes that there are three forms of this virtue: one is marital, the second is widowed, and the third is virginal. Everything beyond that, broadly speaking, is a matter of sin.

Therefore, the Catholic Church will never be able to support any demands that are fundamentally based on relativizing or even amnestying sin. Hence, it cannot support the gay parade nor find justification for it.

In conclusion, it can be stated that holding this event in Sarajevo is a disgrace for this city, but at the same time, it should be emphasized that an even greater disgrace would be if, God forbid, someone were to suffer in the riots caused by it.'