An openly gay priest on Sunday urged Catholics to go against the Pope's wishes and vote "no" a November ballot measure that would enshrine Minnesota's same sex marriage ban in the state's Constitution.
Father Bob Pierson argued that Paragraph 1782 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church allows Catholics to make their own decisions in cases where their conscience is not in agreement with the church's doctrine.And it's a lovely thing to rebut the argument of one's opponents using the words of their big boss.
The priest recalled that a "young theologian" named Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope, used to teach that people should follow their own inner voice
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"Our Holy Father taught in 1967 that we must obey our own conscience, even if it puts us at odds with the Pope," Pierson told the crowd of about 200 Catholics at an event in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina. "I doubt that he knew that he was going to be Pope when he said that."
Thanks to Paul (A.)
