Gov. Christie's Misunderstanding of Catholic Teaching.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie may very well be a Catholic - he says he is and I'll take his word for that. But, one thing is certain. Gov. Christie does not have a thorough understanding of Catholic teaching, particularly when it comes to homosexuality.

From an article in Bloomberg ,
"Christie told CNN’s Piers Morgan in 2011 that while he is Catholic and his church believes homosexuality is a sin, he doesn’t share the view. 'If someone is born that way, it’s very difficult to say then that that’s a sin,' he said, a quotation reproduced in today’s statement".

The inclination to homosexuality - if someone is born that way, to use Christie's words - is not a sin, according to the Catholic Church. It is the acting out of that inclination that is sinful. Just as being born heterosexual in itself isn't sinful, there are a whole lot of heterosexual acts that are.

It is telling, however that Christie calls himself Catholic but has no problem disagreeing with what he believes the Church teaches. He has all the makings of a cafeteria Catholic if ever there was one.

Of course, the writers of the Bloomberg article don't understand Catholicism any better. Referring to a now famous quote of Pope Francis (taken out of context) they write:

"In July, the faith’s leader, Pope Francis, opposed a stance by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who had written that gays shouldn’t be priests."

Sorry, Elise Young & Stacie Sherman, Pope Francis hasn't "opposed a stance by his predecessor". This has been discussed and explained often, yet those who don't want to understand won't understand.

The Fox News article on Christie signing a bill banning gay conversion therapy didn't get the facts exactly right either.

"In signing the ban, Christie reiterated his belief that people are born gay and homosexuality is not a sin, a position he first stated in a 2011 interview with CNN's Piers Morgan. That view is inconsistent with his Catholic faith, which teaches that homosexual acts are sins".

The Church does teach that homosexual acts are sinful, but the Church also teaches that being born "gay" is not. Is this point too subtle for journalists?

I guess it would be too much to expect reporters to read the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Then again, I guess that would be asking too much since we can't even get Catholics to read it.