Belgian bishop desperately seeking the world's love

The Belgian Bishop Johan Bonny has called on the Church not to hide behind prohibitions. Today, he said, it is important to learn from one's fellow human beings and to live one's faith in a non-Christian environment.

Bishop Johan Bonny (67) of Antwerp has called on the Catholic Church to be more open to the world. The Church should not hide behind prohibitions, Bonny said on Tuesday evening in Bonn, where he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Catholic Theology. Instead of dreaming of a return to a Christian society that had perished, he said, it was important to learn from fellow human beings and to live the faith in a non-Christian environment. Bonny has been campaigning for a blessing ceremony for homosexual couples for years. He sees the guidelines of the Flemish bishops, published in 2022, as being in line with Pope Francis, who supports the bishops' own responsibility.

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The Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Bonn, Jochen Sautermeister, paid tribute to the Belgian bishop, saying: "You are saying out loud what many people have long hoped for and expected from the Church. You are not afraid to face the reality and realities of people's lives, whatever they may be." Theologically grounded, Bonny fought against church discrimination against people with different life plans, said the moral theologian Sautermeister.

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In his speech, Bonny traced the inner-church conflict between conservatives and reformers to two concepts that formed as early as the Babylonian exile of the people of Israel in the sixth century BC: One group did not want to integrate into Babylonian society, but dreamed of a return to Jerusalem. The other group found a new home in a foreign land and lived their Jewish faith there. According to Bonny, this second group contributed significantly to the spread of Christianity in the region centuries later. The bishop had visited ancient Babel in present-day Iraq a few weeks ago.

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Cathcon: Meeting people where they are and leaving them there.  Catholicism evacuated of any doctrine concerning faith or morals.