A Catholic priest sued for criticising LGBTQ+ lobby in the Church
Lately, the lawsuit of the Christian-democrat Päivi Räsänen has attracted significant attention in the media. She was brought to court for quoting the Bible, and the Christian world anxiously awaits the court's judgment. If Räsänen is found guilty, that could mean the end of a Christians' liberty of speech.
Many say that the Finnish lawsuit has historical importance because if Räsänen loses her case, a new world could emerge, where quoting the Bible counts as a crime. However, she is not the first Christian in the 21st century to be brought to justice for defending the teaching of the Bible.
On the 27th of July, Fr. Dariusz Oka, professor at Cracow Catholic University, was fined by the Cologne District Court €4,800 for “inciting hatred through his article in a German magazine on alleged homosexual influence in the Vatican”.
In a study published in the German “Teologisches” review, he firmly criticises the spreading of the LGBTQ+ lobby within the framework of the Church. According to him, the main targets of the lobby are youngsters.
He had been denounced by another priest, Wolfgang Rothe, who posits that “homosexuality is a living image” in the Church. His behaviour also led Oka to publish the article after Rothe blessed a homosexual sauna. In 2004, there were photos of Rothe spreading in the media, which showed him kissing young seminarians on their lips.
According to the Italian Pro Vita e Famiglia, the first paragraphs of the study in question are quotes from Pope Francis. Fr. Oka writes in his research that according to Bishop Oscar Maradiaga, Pope Francis is aware of the presence of the LGBTQ+ lobby in the Church, and he is making efforts to “solve this problem”.
Photo: Pixabay
