Dear Holy Father, If I were a priest....

....and a same-sex couple came to me with a child to be baptized, I would have to deal with them in a very specific way.

You have said, Pope Francis, through the verbiage produced by your recent Synod, that we would need to find a way to be pastoral to these people.  I am not a little perplexed by these words from the Synod fathers, approved by you.  You and I wish these people to lead good lives so that they will enter Heaven after they die, not Hell.  So the way to deal with this situation seems to me quite simple, even though it is delicate.

We must first take this couple aside and tell them the plain truth about their unnatural situation, that they cannot claim to be Catholics in good standing while living in a state of grievous mortal sin, that they cannot mock God by calling an unnatural relationship a "marriage" without fear of condemning themselves, that for the good of their souls and the souls of the innocent child they are presenting to me they must cease committing this sin of sodomy and try to live a life as befits a Christian.  I would tell them quite bluntly that I would be unable to give them the Body and Blood of Christ until they confessed their sins in the confessional and amended their life.  I would tell them not to attend Mass together, so as not to scandalize the Faithful.  I would offer them every possible help I could to wean them away from this destructive manner of living and try my best to help them become better Catholics.

And what about the innocent child?

I, being a lowly priest of average intelligence would have to consult with the best moral theologian I could find to get his opinion on whether or not I would be able to baptize that child.  Surely in the case of danger of death there would be no question; I would have to baptize him.  But if the same-sex couple refuses to abandon their sin, how must I decide on what to do with this totally innocent infant who presumably is not in danger of physical death but is most definitely in danger of spiritual death, if it is to be brought up in such a perverse household?  On my own unless I was a brilliantly-trained moral theologian I am not sure what I would do.

You, dear Pope Francis, via your Synod, seems to be suggesting something other than what I have proposed above regarding unnatural unions.  If that is true then all I can honestly say is that if the Church were to just go along with the situation as it is then these two sinners would be on a straight road to Hell, and very possibly, so would the child when it is grown up after living in such a warped, dehumanizing situation.

The destruction of  child by forcing him to live in such a nightmare world is too terrible to contemplate.

You also say in a recent interview that if parents are suddenly confronted with the news that one of their children has fallen into the sin of sodomy that the Church has "to find a way to stand by their son or daughter".  I must confess I had to read that several times before it sank in.

What does Your Holiness mean, exactly, by "standing by them"?

You didn't mention Confession at all, Your Holiness.  How does a parent "stand by" a person in such a state of rebellion against God?  Surely you are not implying by this statement that this mortal sin is a permanent, unchangeable way of life for them.  You surely don't believe in that pseudo-scientific rubbish that suggests homosexuals are somehow born that way.  If so, what does your statement mean?

If I were a priest and two saddened parents came to me asking what they should do in such a tragic situation I would encourage them first to begin a serious effort at constant, daily prayer, especially the rosary.  I would tell them to love their child - but not in a sentimental, non-judgmental way.  Rather I would tell them to be very judgmental: firm in stating the truth, yet loving in as only a parent can be with their child.  If it was a girl in this state I would advise the mother to carry most of the heavy load but I would also tell the father that a strong talk with his daughter would also be in order.  With a boy it must be the father who takes command and who, along with the mother, works to bring the boy to his Catholic senses.  It must be assumed that if a child brought this up to his or her parents boldly, and dare I say proudly, then that would be a sign that the rot has already gone quite deep and that this will be a horribly tough battle.  On the other hand if it is a secret sin that the parents have found out about then that calls for a slightly different strategy.

In either scenario the child must come to me, as a priest, for help.  It will be harder for the proud, out-in-the-open sinner to come but ways can be devised to bring us together.  Then it will be up to me to be a true priest and work with all my might to lead the child away from their own self-destruction.

That is what I would do, Pope Francis, if I were a priest.