Bishop Shen Bin speaks about Shanghai, the Church in China and the universal Church

Bishop Joseph Shen Bin of Shanghai gave a long interview (15 pages) to the diocesan magazine in which he introduced himself, speaking about how he received the Catholic faith from his parents and how his vocation developed. 

Above all, his message is about how the Church can grow in China, on sinicisation as a "red line", on the relationship between Chinese Catholicism and the universal Church.

Chinese authorities unilaterally “transferred” the prelate last April from Beijing to the most important episcopal see of the Church in China, an issue that was settled in July when Pope Francis formally appointed him to the post.

The interview was conducted in August but published during the ongoing Synodal Assembly attended by two bishops from the People's Republic of China appointed by Pope Francis on the suggestion of the Council of Chinese Bishops, the body not officially recognised by the Holy See that Shen Bin himself presides.

Although he never mentions the synod, it is easy to see a parallel between the guidelines he indicates and the reflection underway in Rome. For the Church in the Chinese metropolis, which had been without its own leader for ten years, Bishop Shen Bin highlights the challenges of profound renewal.

“Shanghai is a modern and vibrant city, and I believe that the positioning of the Diocese of Shanghai should be in line with this city. In other words, the Diocese of Shanghai should be as modern and vibrant as the city of Shanghai. We cannot always stick to the old rules, think rigidly, be stuck in our ways, and live in the security of our own fantasies. We need to keep abreast of the times and move with the times while adhering to the principles of the Church's faith and good traditions.”

This “requires us to have the courage to make changes, to step out of our comfort zone, to broaden our horizons, and to be proactive.” Specifically, “In Shanghai, the life and development of the church requires us to be creative and imaginative, for the Gospel is ever new, and new wine must be put into new skins”.

Bishop Shen Bin notes that this Church today can count on 90 priests and about 80 men religious, as well as many members of the laity. He also acknowledges that the drop in vocations to the priesthood is now also being felt significantly in China.

“Why were vocations growing from the 1980s to 2000 and then declining after that? There are many reasons for this, and I think one of them is that during the years of growth in vocations, it was the older generation of priests who guided the Church, and their example and charisma attracted the young ones at that time and drew us into the Church; after 2000 it was us, the young priests, who came out, and perhaps we did not do a good job. This situation deserves our reflection and requires our efforts.”

The interview goes on to touch pastoral outreach; however, there is also a very clear focus on sinicisation, the political path traced by President Xi Jinping for all religions in China. “There is a profound lesson that we must learn from, and the mistakes we once made must never be repeated,” Bishop Shen Bin said.

“We must adhere to the principle of patriotism and love for the Church, adhere to the principle of independence and autonomy in running the Church, adhere to the principle of democracy in running the Church, and adhere to the direction of the Sinicisation of the Catholic Church in China. This is the bottom line, which no one can break, and it is also a high-pressure line, which no one should touch.”

Still, “we have many opportunities to feel that the Diocese of Shanghai is a member of the universal Church.” Hence, “we should have the courage to go out and show our confidence and openness as a member of the Universal Church.”

“Since the signing of the Sino-Vatican Provisional Agreement in 2018, the entire Church in China has opened up to the outside world,” he explained. In this regard, the bishop of Shanghai points to the participation of two bishops from the People's Republic already at the synod of 2018 and his presence that same year at the interreligious meeting promoted by the Community of Sant'Egidio in Bologna.

“In my dealings with the universal church, I found that the Chinese Church had more and more friends. It is my experience that we must go out and let the voice of the Chinese Church be heard by the universal Church, and that it is up to us personally to tell the Chinese Catholic story.

“I often say one thing to many of my friends from abroad: firstly, if you want to understand the situation of the Church in China, you have to listen to me because I am a Chinese bishop. I am the head of the Chinese Episcopal Conference, and I know more about the situation of the Church in China than other people do; and secondly, you must go to China to see on the ground, and you will see a completely different Church in China.”

“I think it is not enough just to go out, we have to invite [others] to come to China. [. . .] In the past, it was more about the outside world providing us with opportunities and air tickets. Now I can confidently say, I can provide you with air tickets and invite you to bring your friends to come to China to see what's going on. We now have the confidence to say, I invite you to come to China” and visit the Diocese of Shanghai.”

Pope: Missionary Day and sorrow for war victims in Gaza

On the Sunday in which the 97th World Missionary Day is celebrated, entitled "Hearts burning, feet on the move" (Lk 24, 13-35), Pope Francis, at the end of the recitation of the Angelus, returned to talk about the chosen theme, inspired by the passage of the disciples of Emmaus, from which in the Message for the current day he drew the essential stages of the conversion of the two disciples: listening to the Word, meeting with Christ and enthusiasm to get back on the path. “These are two images that say it all,” he said today, returning to the title. I urge everyone in the dioceses and parishes to actively participate."

There was no lack of appeal for what is happening in recent days in Israel and Palestine. “I am very worried, saddened. I pray and am close to all those who suffer: the hostages, the injured, the victims and their families. I think of the serious humanitarian situation in Gaza. It saddens me that the Anglican hospital and the Greek Orthodox parish were also hit in recent days", said Pope Francis, referring to the hall of the church of San Porfirio which was targeted on Friday by a hail of missiles which caused a massacre. But also to what happened on Tuesday 17th at the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza: another attack that caused hundreds of victims.

“I renew my appeal for space to be opened up: humanitarian aid to continue to arrive and the hostages to be freed,” he continued. Leaving it to be understood that the humanitarian aid arriving in the Strip from Egypt, through the Rafah pass, opened momentarily and then closed yesterday, is not sufficient until now. “War, every war in the world, I am also thinking of the tormented Ukraine, is a defeat! War is always a defeat! It is a destruction of human brotherhood. Brothers, stop!”

The Pope then recalled that for Friday 27 October he had called "a day of fasting, prayer and penance", to which he also invited other religions. The prayer meeting "to implore peace in the world" is scheduled in San Pietro, Rome, at 6 pm.

Pope Francis, before the Marian Angelus prayer, commented on the Gospel of the day. This is the episode (Mt 22, 15-21) in which some Pharisees and Herodians join together to test Jesus by asking him whether or not it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar.

“It is a deception - said the Pope. "If Jesus legitimizes the tax, he places himself on the side of a political power that is resented by the people, while if he says not to pay it he can be accused of rebellion against the empire. However, he escapes this trap."

He does so by responding with words that "have become common use". “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” (v. 21).

Despite the widespread use of this response - Pope Francis admitted - these are often words used in the wrong way "to talk about the relationships between Church and State, between Christians and politics", intended as to separate "earthly and spiritual reality".

"This is schizophrenia, as if faith had nothing to do with concrete life, with the challenges of society, with social justice”, added the Holy Father, explaining that “we must give back to society what it offers us through our contribution as responsible citizens, paying attention to what is entrusted to us, promoting law and justice in the world of work, paying taxes honestly, committing ourselves to the common good".

At the same time, however, we do not belong to any earthly reality. “We belong to the Lord and must not be slaves to any worldly power.”

Pope Francis concluded the commentary on the Gospel with a series of questions, addressed to all the faithful listening, urging them to respond.

Among these: "On the currency of this world there is the image of Caesar, but what image do you carry within you?", and "Whose image are you in your life?".

Finally adding: “May the Holy Virgin help us to recognize and honor our dignity and that of every human being”.

CWI : Operation Laonia (20)

Well Fintan, no doubt you are well rested and full of the joys post-Loughrea retreat etc., but you still haven't managed to get around to sending up the promised reply to the legal correspondence you have received (twice)...why?

Is it not true that you are now somewhat 'bored' with the Diocese of Killaloe and looking for pastures new?

One has to wonder would this have anything to do with the fact that you are not getting it all your own way there Fintan...especially with those objections being lobbed in against the proposed sale and development in Saint Flannans?

Or maybe it's also down to the questionable (and illegal) laicisations you perpetrated against two clergy, with a very strong sulphuric whiff of fraud (aka forged signature) around at least one of them?

Or maybe you are also aware of certain ongoing legal proceedings which now serve to totally undermine and expose the false narrative used by you and your clerical cronies in Westbourne so as to execute a laicisation?

Or maybe you are very aware of the legal and financial ramifications for you and the Diocese once all this becomes public knowledge...and we will play our own part in that...and are now preparing to hitch the cassock and run?

Or is it that yourself and Cleo now no longer feel able to stand over your 'we believe you' empathy and tea session?

Well Fintan, no matter what happens, you will have to account to quite a few people yet for your failures...and that day of reckoning is a lot closer than you think.

Flippant responses from your Communications Officer, Lazarus Quinlivan such as 'there is more to this story' only serve to beg the question - so what is the 'more' side of this story?

And will it be the actual truth - or the Diocesan version of it - so as to avoid potential massive financial payouts?

Prayers for Peace and bells to be rung on 11 November

 

Pope Francis has called for Europe to be more creative in the way that we respond to wars around the world.  

The Holy Father has said that there is “a need for more prayer, for conversion, and an end to the conflict.”

The Bishops of Ireland are encouraging the faithful to follow in prayer the request of the Holy Father so “that during the month of October, the Rosary be dedicated to peace and reconciliation around the world.”  

Bishops also ask that a dedicated prayer for peace be included by parishes in the Prayer of the Faithful during the celebration of Mass in October. 

On Saturday 11 November, at 11.00am, coinciding with the end of the First World War, cathedrals and parish churches are invited to ring church bells as a call for peace and an end to war.

Blessed are the Peacemakers 

We pray to You O Lord, through the intercession of Your Most Pure Mother Mary, 

Give to the people suffering war and conflict the gift of peace, for you have given us all else: 

A peace that all of us share in the passion and wisdom that is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The peace of the Sabbath, and the peace that knows no evening. 

Stir up in the hearts and the minds of our leaders and politicians a longing for peace, 

That brings real joy and our hearts will be restless no more.Amen

Pope Francis in new interview: ‘Church has to change’ in favor of human dignity

Pope Francis, speaking in a new interview published by a media outlet in his native Argentina, said the Church must change “in favor of the dignity of the people.”

But in the same interview, conducted late last month and published Tuesday by state-owned news agency Telam Digital, he stressed that change must take place “without recanting the essence of the Church.”

“Since the Second Vatican Council, John XXIII had a very clear perception: The Church has to change. Paul VI agreed, just like the succeeding popes,” Francis said in the interview.

“It’s not just changing ways, it’s about a change of growth, in favor of the dignity of people. That’s theological progression, of moral theology and all the ecclesiastical sciences, even in the interpretation of Scriptures that have progressed according to the feelings of the Church,” he continued.

But, he added, using the image of a tree and its roots, “always in harmony. Rupture is not good. We either progress through development or things don’t turn out right. Rupture leaves you out of the sap of development.”

The pope went on to reference the writings of Vincent of Lérins, a fifth-century monk who stated that changes in the Church must be consolidating, growing, and ennobling.

“The Church has to change. Let’s think of the ways it has changed since the [Second Vatican] Council until now and the way it must continue changing its ways, in the way to propose an unchanging truth,” he said. “That is, the revelation of Jesus Christ does not change, the dogmas of the Church do not change, they grow and ennoble themselves like the sap of a tree. The person who does not follow this path follows a path that takes steps backward, a path that closes on itself.”

“Changes in the Church take place within this identity flow of the Church. And it has to keep changing along the way, as challenges are met. That is why the core of change is fundamentally pastoral, without recanting the essence of the Church.”

Pope Francis emphasized the role of dialogue. “I believe dialogue cannot be just nationalist, it must be universal, especially nowadays with the advanced communication systems we have. That is why I speak of universal dialogue, universal harmony, universal encounter. And of course, the enemy of this is war. Since the end of World War II up until today, there have been wars everywhere. That’s what I meant when I said we are living a World War in pieces.”

‘I’m going to do a heresy’

The pope’s on-camera remarks touched on a wide range of topics, including the Synod on Synodality, the Oct. 22 presidential election in Argentina, and his personal prayer life.

In answer to a question about his future travel plans, Francis alluded to the possibility of returning to his home country for the first time as pope — and perhaps continuing on to and even going so far as the South Pole.

“I’d like to go [to Argentina],” he said. “When it comes to more distant countries, I still haven’t visited Papua New Guinea. Somebody said that if I go to Argentina, I should stop at Rio Gallegos, then head to the South Pole, land in Melbourne and visit New Zealand. It would be a rather long journey.”

Asked if it was “hard being the representative of God on Earth” at this time, Francis replied: “I’m going to do a heresy. We are all representatives of God. Every person who believes must testify to what they believe and, in this sense, we are all representatives of God.”

“It is true that the pope is a privileged representative of God,” he added, laughing, “and I must testify to an inner coherence, to the truth of the Church and the pastorality of the Church. That is, a Church that keeps its doors open for everybody.”

‘People without a sense of humor are boring’

Asked about his personal prayer life, the pope described it as child-like and “old-fashioned.”

“I maintain the piety I had as a child. My grandmother taught me how to pray and I maintain that simple piety of praying, as we say in Argentina ‘the faith of a coal miner,’” Pope Francis said.

“I’m not complicated when I pray. One might even say I have an old-fashioned spirituality,” he said.

“My religious consciousness has grown a lot, that’s different, it has matured, but the way I express myself to God has always been simple. Being complicated is not in me,” he said.

“Sometimes I say [looking up], ‘You fix this, because I can’t.’ And I ask the Virgin and the saints to intercede, to help me,” he said. “And when I have to make a decision, I always pray … to the light above. But the Lord is a good friend, he has been good to me. He takes care of me, as he takes care of all. We must pay attention to the way he takes care of each of us; he has a different style with each of us. That is beautiful.”

Pope Francis also spoke in the interview about the importance of having a sense of humor.

Responding to a question about what amuses him, he said with a laugh: “A sense of humor is a certificate of good health.”

Every day for the past 40 years, he said, he has prayed St. Thomas More’s “Prayer for Good Humor,” which begins: “Grant me, O Lord, good digestion, and also something to digest. Grant me a healthy body, and the necessary good humor to maintain it.”

“People who don’t have a sense of humor,” the pope said, “are boring.”

Synod participants say it’s ‘too early’ to decide on women deacons

Participants in Pope Francis’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality chosen to speak to the media said Friday that while various topics are being discussed, no decisions will be made on specific issues, and that it is too early in the process to rule on hot-button questions such as women deacons.

Asked during an Oct. 20 press briefing whether it was time to make a decision on women deacons, Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo said there are “differences of opinions” within the synod.

There are also differences as far as terminology goes, and one’s understanding of the idea is “highly dependent on the cultural background,” he said, saying, “we are talking about the same thing, but sometimes the understanding is completely different.”

“So, after three weeks, we got to know that there are big differences, and it is too early to make any concrete decisions at this moment,” he said.

Irish Sister Mary Teresa Barron, president of the International Union of Superiors General, said the question of women deacons is “on the table” but also hinted at differences, saying, “The beauty of the Catholic Church is that we have both ends of the spectrum in terms of what we believe.”

She declined to offer her personal opinion, but said the synod is evaluating the issue “within the tension that it does cause within the church” in order to determine “how to journey forward together.”

Archbishop Gintaras Grušas of Vilnius, Lithuania, president of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), told journalists that the synod discussion is much broader than “trying to focus in on one thing, to flip the switch yes or no.”

“Focusing on the various ministries in the church, possibly discovering new ministries in the Church, is part of the discussion,” he said, but indicated that a decision is unlikely.

“We very often try to get things down to black and white, yes or no, go or stop, but I think the discussion that’s happening is one of, how do we live Church in a completely different way, or the same way in a better dialogue,” he said, saying the development of a new internal process of discussion and reflection is the goal, which is “more than trying to say yes or no.”

Sister Houda Fadoul, a Syrian nun representing the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Middle East, pointed to her personal experience leading a women’s congregation in Syria, saying the important thing is that “each one of us, either man or woman, takes up their role and uses their gifts in the Church, no matter what it is.”

“To me it seems that for whatever concept involves the woman, we know well that it involves complementarity, parity. When each one has their place, and uses their gifts, we can speak of any concept,” she said.

Currently finishing its second week, the synod opened Oct. 4 and is set to close Oct. 29, bringing the first of two Rome-based gatherings to a close. The synod will culminate with a second Rome assembly in October 2024.

Participants are currently reflecting on authority in the Church, including the need for greater “co-responsibility” between hierarchs, clergy and laity, as well as the need to avoid clericalism and various forms of authoritarianism in leadership.

Evangelization of the digital world has also been a key point of discussion, with many participants noting that young people are increasingly online, making the internet a new form of “mission territory” for the Church.

Synod organizers have said that not only will participants in the current synod draft and approve of a synthesis document summarizing the monthlong discussion, but they will also publish a letter to the People of God about the experience of the synod process.

Asked Friday about the differences of opinion that have been expressed on various issues and whether there were any topics that held a general consensus in the synod hall, Grušas said the synod is not about specific issues, but rather, “The theme everybody is united on, and that the Holy Father has really moved us on, is synodality itself.”

“When it comes to the specifics of making a decision or conclusion for topics themselves, I don’t think that will happen in this phase or in 2024,” he said, saying the big questions on hot-button topics such as the status of women and the inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals “won’t go away, they’re part of the Church, but the synod isn’t trying to make decisions on doctrinal or dogmatic issues.”

Grušas said the goal was to let participants in the process have their say and let issues “bubble up” along the way, but he insisted that “there is no preconceived notion of how this is going to end, which really requires a bit of faith in walking out into the unknown.”

“As much as people would like to have some decisions made, I think here it really is the process more important than the conclusions,” he said.

Fadoul echoed the sentiment, saying the synod is “not so much about the topics,” but the methodology of the discussion in bringing people together and listening to what they say, praying on it, and then making a decision “without prejudice.”

Drawing on the Asian cultural tradition of taking off one’s shoes before entering a home, Kikuchi said this reflects a sense of welcome and hospitality, because “have to take off your shoes and be free from daily life, free from the very worries, to enter the house.”

A goal of the synod, he said, is that “we want to be the Church welcoming all the people.”

“First, welcome all the people, then let’s talk about your problem in the Church. Take off your shoes, come in. Don’t stand outside, come into my house and let’s talk about your life. That’s what we want to introduce, to implement, in the Churches in Asia,” he said.

Kikuchi specifically raised concern about the need to reflect on how to better involve the laity, especially in decision-making roles, noting that it was difficult to ask them to leave their jobs and families for a month to take part in the synod.

“We have to really think about how to do it, and I think this is really lacking in clerics because we don’t have a family,” he said.

Participants also said the need for more formation at all levels, for bishops, priests, religious, seminarians and laity, has been a universal concern, and that it will take time to implement changes when they go back to their dioceses and settle into their routines.

Church hierarchy has 'nothing to fear' from synodality, cardinal says

The Catholic Church's synodal process, intended to actively solicit input from all its members, is not a threat to the hierarchy, a cardinal said.

"The hierarchical structures of the church have nothing to fear from a process that begins with listening," said Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

During a synod briefing at the Vatican Oct. 19, the cardinal said that "it's impossible that that should damage the hierarchical nature of the church," adding that it is an act of faith and hope to believe that "radical listening" will improve the functions of the church's structures.

Synod members spoke to reporters the day after they began discussions on participation in the church's life and mission, responding to the question, "What processes, structures and institutions in a missionary synodal Church?"

"The exercise of any structure or ministry or authority of the church must be based on a fundamental conversion of heart," Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, said during the briefing. Rather than begin by reorganizing church structures, "I'm more worried about how it is that we will inaugurate a deep thirst to become a people, baptized and ordained, who are focused on serving one another in the heart of Christ."

Archbishop Dabula Anthony Mpako of Pretoria, South Africa, said that "synodality coexists with the hierarchical structure of the church."

"I think we have all accepted that in the Catholic Church, synodality has unique character. It is a synodality, at the center of which there is the chair of Peter, the pope," he said. "At the end of the day, hierarchy goes together with synodality."

Discussing the novelty that members of the synod who are not bishops or even priests have the right to vote at this assembly, Czerny noted that the "identification between orders and offices is something that is being overcome."

"We're understanding orders not to be necessary for every office which until now has been headed by a cleric" and in some cases only bishops, archbishops or cardinals, he said. "There's no danger to the nature of the church because there are responsibilities which are already being and which perhaps increasingly will be entrusted to non-cardinals, non-bishops, non-priests."

Asked about the belief held by some members of the church that the outcome of the Synod of Bishops is predetermined to advance progressive positions, Flores said, "I do not see a conspiracy."

"I have simply heard honest, sincere, faithful, charitable conversations 'sub tutela Petri' — under the care of Peter," he said, adding that such discussions are "not a threat to the faith."

Mpako said that viewing the synod as a threat to the church "doesn't connect with the reality as I know it."

"I think the desire for a more synodal church that encourages the participation by all is something that many of us have been calling for," he said.

The pope just opened the door to blessing same-sex couples. This nun secretly blessed one more than 15 years ago

When Sister Anna Koop blessed a same-sex couple 15 years ago, it seemed natural to do so. 

The couple — one a friend of Koop's — were very much in love, and "Jesus did not say love was confined," said Koop, now 85. 

The Roman Catholic nun knew she might face consequences from the church, but went ahead with the private blessing — not a sacramental marriage, she noted — regardless. 

She just "blessed the love they celebrate."

With Pope Francis's statement earlier this month there could be ways to bless same-sex couples, she feels her decision 15 years ago has been affirmed.

His remarks were published in a letter in July in response to five retired cardinals who published "dubia," or doubts, about what would happen at the synod, a three-week meeting that draws bishops, cardinals, priests, religious and lay people, from around the world attend to discuss hot-button issues. 

Topics include whether priests should get married, women should be able to become deacons and how the church will handle LGBTQ matters.

The five conservative cardinals feared that Pope Francis would change doctrine or discipline in the church. Pope Francis released his response more broadly at the beginning of the synod at the Vatican, in Rome. 

The pope's remarks came with caveats: Same-sex blessings shouldn't be seen as elevating same-sex unions to the sacred place of heterosexual marriage, he said. While Pope Francis has previously endorsed same-sex civil unions, but same-sex couples can't undergo the sacrament of marriage, which is reserved for heterosexual couples.  

The landscape for LGBTQ members of the Catholic church is confusing, said Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, a nonprofit that advocates for Catholics in the LGBTQ community. 

She told CBS News that much depends on where the congregation is located and the bishop's interpretation of Catholic doctrine. 

The pope's comments seem to be the start of a process, Duddy-Burke said, and many LGBTQ Catholics and their supporters are excited for further advancement. The church has to go through a huge culture change to survive in the modern world and "we have to decide as a church how to move forward," she said.

Some priests and nuns are moving forward on their own. Last month, several Catholic priests in Germany held a ceremony blessing around 30 same-sex couples, reported the Associated Press.

In America, the landscape is complicated. In the 2023 National Survey of Religious Leaders, 40% of U.S. Catholic priests answered "yes" to the question: "Would you perform the wedding of a same-sex couple if your religious group allowed it?" 

And that "suggests that a large minority of U.S. Catholic priests personally support same-sex marriages," said Marc Chaves, a professor at Duke University specializing in the sociology of religion. 

However, there are few public blessings of same-sex couples by priests and pastoral workers. 

More than 200 priests and pastoral workers were contacted by New Ways Ministry, which ministers to the LGBTQ Catholic community, about performing same-sex blessings, but most wouldn't talk publicly to CBS News. 

The pope met with the organization's co-founder, Sister Jeannine Gramnick, on Tuesday.

And while the pope "opened the possibility of priests blessing one or more persons when asked" and "priests and pastoral workers will feel more comfortable responding to requests," Bishop John Stowe of Lexington, Kentucky, told CBS News, the pope "has not actually given that permission yet but rather is encouraging its study and discussion at the synod which is underway." 

As it stands, priests can still be excommunicated from the church for performing these blessings – the worst possible punishment – or can be barred from performing the sacraments. 

The pope has been consistently open to the LGBTQ community to show them "they are loved by the church and not rejected outright, Stowe said. The pope "wants to keep the lines of communication open and he encourages their participation in the life of the church," said Stowe. 

Some conservative bishops have not supported the pope's outreach or positions. In a pastoral letter issued on September 26 Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas said while " such a blessing would not be licit" it "would undoubtedly cause confusion"  and "cannot honor God who is truth by attempting to offer blessings which run counter to His truth."

Koop, who became a nun in the late '60s, spent almost her entire career in Denver focusing on housing and homelessness issues while ministering to the poor. 

She keeps in touch with the same-sex couple, who are still together and have two children. 

Koop said she never experienced consequences from the church for her actions.

She said she doesn't regret performing the secret blessing.

"I did it once and I would do it again," said Koop.