Just recently, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on same-sex marriage. For some reason, Newsweek thought that this would entice the pope to change on this subject.
For example, here is what Newsweek tweeted a few weeks ago: “Pope Francis still is against gay marriage even as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments.” It showed a picture of the pope looking undecided.
On April 29, Taylor Wofford of Newsweek commented: “One day after the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges—the outcome of which may dictate the future of same-sex marriage in the United States—Pope Francis on Wednesday publicly affirmed his stance on so-called traditional marriage between men and women.”
Of course, the pope doesn’t have a “stance” on marriage, or on any other doctrine of the Catholic Church: he is the Vicar of Christ who defends and promotes the teachings of the Magisterium that have evolved over two millennia. Moreover, there is nothing “so-called” about traditional marriage—the union of a man and a woman in the institution of marriage has long been a staple in Western civilization.
It is astonishing that anyone would think that the Vatican might actually take its cues from the Supreme Court on the subject of marriage, or on any other issue for that matter.
In 2013, the pope said, “Two Christians who marry have recognized the call of the Lord in their own love story, the vocation to form one flesh and one life from two, male and female.” Last year, the pope described same-sex marriage as “a maneuver by the devil.” There is nothing “so-called” about those pronouncements—they are quite definitive.
