The Rappler does the dumb thing again

VATICAN CITY – A single mother, people who have been married before and couples who have been living together "in sin" were married by Pope Francis in a taboo-challenging ceremony at the Vatican on Sunday, September 14.

In another signal of the openness of his papacy, Francis asked to marry 40 people from different social backgrounds who would be a realistic sample of modern couples.

Popes very rarely perform marriages – the last one was in 2000.

Marriage "is not an easy road, it's sometimes a contentious trip, but that's life", the pope told the couples, both young and old, as their families gathered for the solemn two-hour ceremony.

"It's normal that couples fight. That always happens, but don't end the day without making peace, even a small gesture is enough," said the pontiff, who donned a red robe for the occasion rather than his usual white.  [Dear reporter, would you even care to research about liturgical colors?  It was red because it was not about Valentine's Day or because it is about love.  The Mass was held on the feast of the Triumph of the Cross and the liturgical color of the day is red.  Get it?]

One of the couples he married was single mother Gabriella and her partner Guido, whose previous marriage was annulled by an ecclesiastical tribunal.  [So?  What's wrong with that?  The guy is free to marry and there are no canonical impediments to their marriage.  Being a single mother doesn't make you ineligible to contract the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.]

The last time a pope performed a marriage was under the leadership of John Paul II in 2000, and before that in 1994.

It comes three weeks before a major synod of the Catholic Church will discuss the divisive issues of marriage, divorce and conception.

The church ban on allowing divorcees who have remarried to receive communion is one of the key topics up for debate, and resolving deep divisions over the issue inside the church is seen as a key test of Francis' leadership. [It is about the question of allowing people living in sin to receive Holy Communion.  This has nothing to do about these married couples.]

Francis has shown himself more open than his predecessors on the subject of marriage, and has spoken of more realistic attitude to social problems, raising the issue of broken marriages and abandoned women.  [The Holy Father called the attention of the Church to work to bring the lost back to the fold.  His message is always that of mercy.  I have yet to see a radical change in dogma and doctrine done by this Pope before I go gaga like the Williamson wing of the SSPX.]

Last January he baptized the child of a single mother in the Sistine Chapel along with the daughter of a couple who had not been married in a church. – Rappler.com  [Dear reporter, a church marriage certificate isn't needed for a baptism, ok?]


 ***

Rappler is officially now known as the Wrapper for Stinking Fish!

This is not only a piece of crappy journalism but it reveals the LGBT undertones of the Wrapper "partially" owned by Maria Ressa who we all know is a practicing....

The writer wants to paint a picture that Pope Francis is changing dogma by marrying co-habitating couples.  NOT!

He encouraged co-habitating Catholics to contract the Sacrament instead of continuously living in a sinful state.

This is not something new!

Parishes, Dioceses and Family and Life Ministries have been doing this a loooonnnggg time ago.

Encouraging unmarried Catholics to get married in the Church and a single mother getting his child baptized in the Church, NOT NEW!

Get over it, Wrapper!

Your brand of journalism is pathetic!