German ‘Radio Vatikan’ Undermines Moral Magisterium with Graphic Homoeroticism

On July 2, Radio Vatikan, the German branch of the official Vatican radio station, published a highly troubling article which summed up the claims of the theologian and president of the European Association of Catholic Theology, Father Martin Lintner, OSM, of Brixen, Italy.

Father Lintner claims that the Church’s attitude toward homosexuality is changing and softening. As the title of the article of Radio Vatikan says: “Moral Theologian: ‘Church’s Teaching on Sexuality is changing.'” Quoting Lintner, Radio Vatikan says: “Theology and Magisterium ‘perceive sexuality more and more in its personal and integral dimension.'”

Radio Vatikan quotes from Lintner’s recent article in the Christian journal Die Furche (The Furrow), in which Lintner claims that, with reference to the Second Vatican Council, “sexual conduct [has to be understood] as bodily communication.” His Modernist thesis further contends that one has to separate this “bodily communication” aspect of the sexual act from its procreative meaning. Lintner explicitly rejects the arguments based on the natural law about the moral use of the marriage act and he tries to introduce a “personal way of argumentation” concerning sexuality.

Radio Vatikan reports Lintner’s words that there is hope for a change within the Church:

“Nevertheless: Not only the discussions during the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops last fall 2014 as well as the recent working paper for the upcoming Synod on the Family in October 2015 show according to Lintner a ‘change of mind’ in dealing with homosexual persons: ‘The Church becomes more sensible toward the experiences of suffering by the concerned persons and by families in which homosexual persons are living.’ This development seems to the moral theologian from the South Tirol — and a member of the Servite Order — ‘significant, even if the Church stresses that a homosexual partnership has to remain different from a marriage.'”

The article on Radio Vatikan displayed an offensive photograph of two women kissing, one of them wearing a rainbow flag symbol on her wrist. 

With these quotes, statements, and provocative graphic content, Radio Vatikan promotes the liberalizing agenda to undermine the Church’s perennial and infallible teaching on marriage and the family.

It is important to note that this media outlet is run by the Holy See. As Radio Vatikan states: “By virtue of its Statute, Vatican Radio is the broadcasting station of the Holy See, legally based in the Vatican City State. It is a means of communication and evangelization created to serve the Pope’s Ministry. It was established by Guglielmo Marconi and inaugurated by Pius XI (Radio message Qui arcano Dei) on February 12th 1931.”

It is likewise important to remind the readers that the head of the German branch of Radio Vatikan (which is partly funded by the German Bishops’ Conference, according to kath.net), Father Bernd Hagenkord, S.J., had participated at the much criticized 25 May Day of Study at the Gregorian University in Rome, organized by the  Presidents of the Swiss, French, and German Bishops’ Conferences. 

After widespread cries of criticism and shock that a Vatican media outlet would publish a photo of lesbians kissing, the picture was removed for a few days from the website of Radio Vatikan. Father Hagenkord, however, after first removing the article, posted the whole article again with the picture, saying that it was “not really a scandal.” About the picture, he merely said: “Perhaps not chosen well, because it also does not really fit to the article, but [it is] not really a scandal.” Hagenkord then proceeded to say, in his own statement of 6 July, that he was surprised by the indignation of Catholics about the article and photo. He complained that this showed a lack of charity.

There are people out there, he said, “who cannot bear it that some people are different. And then we are astonished (we = society, we = churches) that homosexuals feel discriminated against? Still today.” And he continues: “It [this indignation about the article] is not at all about the homosexual partnerships, but it is about getting artificially upset and (I say it consciously) about being indignant and about raising oneself, without measure, above others.”

The last report is that Father Hagenkord, a second time, removed the picture. But not the article.

Dr. Thomas Williams has an article about this same subject on Breitbart (warning: Radio Vatikan’s objectionable picture shown in article.)

And Journalist Edward Pentin sent out a related “Tweet”: